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Denise and her dog Ginger have been part of Leash Your Fitness since the beginning. She’s always been active, but slowly her lifestyle took her to eating out a little too much and not being as active as she once was, slowly she started gaining weight.
Recently something clicked and Denise decided to get her health back! She lost 30 lbs, gained muscle, and completely changed her body! It took time and she did much of this on her own, but credits having a supportive group of active friends in addition to her own hard work. It just goes to show that you CAN do this, it’s just more fun with friends! Here’s what Denise had to say about her new lifestyle:
You’ve always been an athlete, being part of the Triathalon Club of San Diego and working out with Leash Your Fitness, but you’ve made some big changes recently. How much weight have you lost since the time you consider you “started”? What else has changed for you?
Right now I’m at 30 lbs lost. I’ve also added muscle so my body shape has changed. Getting back to running has made the big difference. To see change you need to push past your comfort zone. Wanting to stay injury free now that I’m older has helped me incorporate stretching which has improved my posture. The healthy eating has improved my hair and skin, my hairdresser had made comments.
We love how you always have a great new kitchen hack or healthy recipe you have tried – will you share your favorite with us?
Cooking allows me to control what I’m putting in my body. I try to avoid processed food and things like sugar and dairy in my day to day diet. Eating this way is a lifestyle and I allow myself to eat out with friends on the weekend and not feel guilty. I do food prep on the weekends so I have things ready and just as easy as processed. A yummy fall recipe is to cook up some chicken sausage, cubed butternut squash and thinly sliced Brussels sprouts. I then mix with cooked quinoa. It’s a one dish meal that you can bring for lunch. It’s good with a sprinkle of parmesan.
You completed your first Spartan race AND Ragnar Trail race with the Trail Dogs this year (back-to-back in 1 week!) – how do you feel about achieving that and how does it affect your future race goals?
That definitely got me back to wanting to race again. For me that is the motivation, there is always ways to challenge yourself either by a longer distance or going faster. This was also done with the best group of friends that also motivates me to show up and push harder.
[Since running with the Trail Dogs, Denise has taken a minute and a half off her mile time, going from an 11 minute per mile pace on a previous 8 mile run, to a 9:30 pace last week!]
How has your Pitbull, Ginger played a role in your healthy lifestyle?
The obvious she brought me to LYF but having a dog just gets you out, even if it’s not a run, it’s a walk, a hike or paddle boarding. She’s always up for getting out and exploring.
What is your next racing or fitness goal?
The main goal is the Triple Crown, three half marathons in 2016: Carlsbad in January, La Jolla in April and AFC in August. I’m sure there will be other races in between. The fun is finding new races and challenges.
What advice do you have for someone who might think eating healthy and working out regularly are not achievable for them?
You want it to be a lifestyle so do it slowly. Educate yourself. That is where the nutrition came into play, once you learn how bad some foods are for your health, you just don’t want to eat that way. And allow yourself to go out for pizza or ice cream on an occasion so you’re ok mentally with this. I think finding a group that you enjoy will help you stick with an activity. I look forward to seeing my running group, this is my idea of social time. Try signing up for something so you have a goal.
Denise has inspired us all to push ourselves harder and educate ourselves about healthier cooking – she’s truly made the leap to living a healthy life and we couldn’t be happier for her! We know she will do great in her upcoming races because she makes sure she is prepared and isn’t afraid to push herself. Nothing can stop her!
If you need a run group or fitness group to inspire and motivate you, please JOIN US!
We have an on-line Healthy Habits Group, a Trail Running Group and of course our monthly classes and events are full of ladies who will inspire you to get and stay fit!
