Q: What was your goal when you originally signed up with us?

Liza: I had a few goals! Nutrition is a big part of why I came. I needed some direction in knowing which things to do to get my body in shape. I wasn’t super knowledgeable about lifting, or different exercises to do. I wanted to know because I had been through some health issues recently.

Liza: My health, in general, is very important to me! I kind of got into a rut of feeling tired too often, and it was difficult to do the things that I wanted to do in my daily life. I wanted to have more energy, strength, and flexibility to move around without feeling uncomfortable.

Liza: Pretty much my entire adult life, at different levels! I would say the most recent period of thinking about this probably started a few months before I signed up here. I was sort of waiting to be done with some of my medical treatments before I got too involved in anything, but I was thinking about it before I could actually dive in. I was waiting for the time when it would be appropriate to start something new.

Q: What would you consider the top one or two things that were holding you back from starting the program?

Liza: For me, it was specifically the fact that I had so many health issues going on that I couldn't start something new until I was done with some of those treatments. That was one thing, and I think that was really the main thing because otherwise I was ready to do something! I felt like I was tired of being heavy and slow and tired and I wanted more energy. So, I was otherwise ready!

Liza: I have, yes! I’ve done weight watchers and a "Whole 30" eating plan a couple of different times. As far as fitness, I was walking and jogging for a while. I did a good amount of yoga before this, but never really did strength training. I went to “Curves” for a while, where there was a little bit of strength training interval with cardio, but it wasn't as in depth!

Liza: I originally found out about Green Rocks a long time ago, pretty much when you started it, because we knew each other then. And then this most recent time, when I was ready to get more in depth with a personal trainer, I asked around in my mom’s group if anyone had a suggestion of a personal trainer. One of my friends mentioned you, and I was like "OH YEAH, Melissa!" It reminded me that you had this business going on, and that’s when I contacted you.

Liza: When I first signed up I felt very hopeful that it would be something that I would like and stick with, and that it would help me make the changes that I wanted to make! I felt encouraged because it was different from anything that I had tried before, so I didn't have a preconceived idea that "oh, I tried this before and it didn't work so well, or I didn't stick with it". It was something different, so I felt hopeful that it could work for me!

Q: Why did it make more sense to you that you could stick to this program?

Liza : For one thing, strength training was a type of fitness that I was interested in, but I hadn't really committed to it any other time. I felt like it was something I could do and be successful at, but I didn't know what I needed to know to be able to do it yet. So, I felt like it could work for me! I was a fairly strong person for the level of health that I was at when I started, but I knew that I could definitely improve on it! As far as the nutrition, it was intriguing to me because it was very different from any other nutrition approach that I had tried before, and because sugar cravings and having a sweet tooth were not viewed as a negative. That really resonated with me because I crave sweet things a lot. I’m noticing that it’s a mindset issue where I've been conditioned to kind of chastise myself for that. Negative self-talk is never helpful in the process, but sometimes you don't even realize it's going on until you confront it. So that whole idea of sugar not being the devil felt very good to me because it sounded like I could be gentle with myself and get healthy at the same time.

Q: How do you feel about the program in this moment now after being with us for a couple of months?

Liza: I feel really good about it! It's a source of pride and confidence for me. First of all, I’m more knowledgeable about strength training and fitness, which feels good to me. As far as my actual physical improvement, it’s very obvious that I’m stronger than I was in a lot of different ways. I can see muscles that I couldn't see before. I feel less aches and pains in my daily life than what I had before. I can see, because I’m tracking my exercises, the improvement that I’m making over time. Something may have been hard to lift at the beginning, and now I’m way above that weight and doing it more frequently. It even feels the same as a lower weight felt at the start. So, it's good and I’m proud of it! It's a positive feeling because I can see the progress that I made and I don't dread coming here. I look forward to it!

Liza: I feel good and I feel more hopeful about the future! In the past, I think I looked at the types of exercise that I was doing, especially cardio, as strenuous. As I was doing that, it felt like I was forcing myself to do it even though I didn't like. It felt discouraging to think about my future, having to make myself do that from now until forever, because it was unpleasant. Who wants to think that they’re going to have to do something unpleasant every week for the rest of their life in order to have a chance of being healthy. So, now I feel more hopeful because I feel positive about strength training. I like doing it, so it doesn't feel like a chore. It feels like something good I'm doing for myself, not like I have to make myself do it, or punish myself. Like if I eat ice cream then I have to run for an extra hour this week. If you look up how many calories you burn by running, you could never run enough to burn off the things that you think you need to burn off anyway. It doesn't work like that! So yeah, it feels more hopeful to have the type of fitness that I enjoy, and to think about keeping up with that for the rest of my life.

Q: What do you love the most about being here at Green Rocks?

Liza: Certainly, the personalized attention is what’s most important to me! Like I said, I came into it not knowing much about strength training. I like having someone there to correct my form if I get off track, or to ask questions if something isn’t feeling right. I like the encouragement of having someone there! I think I really needed one on one attention when I started, and I feel like semi-private now works well for me. I don't need someone every second of my workout, but I do need to check in with someone at least once during my workouts. The trainer’s attention is probably what makes the most difference for me.

Liza:  I would say that Green Rocks doesn't feel like what I thought personal training might feel like. It's not like some kind of buffed muscle guy yelling at you to do things. Although they are buff, they're not yelling, and it's a very encouraging and positive community environment. It feels more like a small family than like being a customer who comes in, leaves, and doesn’t hear from them again until they’re back the next week. The community atmosphere is really beneficial! The other piece of advice I would give is to utilize their knowledge and background to help you. Ask all the questions that you have, and make sure to understand why you are doing what you're doing. Make sure that it makes sense to you. If you don’t understand it, ask about it!