When I see Michelle all I think of is WOW…her transformation has been amazing! Michelle joined Follow the Leeder gym in the summer of 2012, and has been a force of determination ever since. I remember when she first started and was only able to do step ups on the box, but so badly wanted to do a box jump…and now she’s fearlessly jumping over tires and boxes. Michelle is a machine, when she sets her mind to do something, she succeeds. She went from walking to running the kids to school, to 5 kms runs on the Goose and then we ran the Times Colonist 10kms together, she was amazing! This past summer Michelle ran, crawled and climbed her way to the finished of her first Mud race with Mel’s Mudders. This past September, she started the Advanced Crossfit training classes on Wednesday night’s, preparing for the Crossfit Open competition this March. She can Clean, Snatch and Dead-lift some pretty heavy weight. Just this last week, Michelle got her first pull up…pretty frick’n awesome! Since Michelle started she last lost 75lbs…more than the weight of all those Wall Balls in the picture!
I am so proud of you Michelle, you inspire the peeps on a daily bases. I love that you are fearless with your goals and that you give 100%. Can’t wait to see all the awesomeness this year will bring for you!
Michelle’s Journey
“Two years ago I was sitting on the couch unhappy with myself and depressed because I let myself go. I needed to do something, to get myself back. I decided to try Mel’s Boot Camp at Follow the Leeder gym. I had never done a boot camp workout before and had only seen it on TV…while eating chips. I had injured my knee a couple years prior and was nervous about starting to exercise again but figured I’ll try and see how it goes.
I fell in love with it from the start. I really liked the fact that it was at a set time and that hour, was for ME . I made me a priority, which is hard to do as a mother of two and working full time. But, I felt I was important and realized, it was important for me to show my kids a “healthier me”. In the beginning, it was really tough and I was really sore but it was worth it! I realized, I had to put in more effort than scooping ice cream out of a bowl. In the beginning, running was tough and those box jumps were my nemesis but after a while I started to see improvements, even if they were small. As my confidence increased and with the added support of the other boot campers, I started to try things I’d never done before but always wanted to. I started running and then completed a 5km, 8km, 10km and 2 mud runs. It felt amazing…finally completing a goal I had wanted for so long.
The community that Mel has created at Follow the Leeder is awesome! Mel’s peeps are very supportive and keep me accountable, which makes life just a bit easier. They have cheered me on and we have become great friends throughout this journey of mine.
Now, two years later, I feel stronger and I feel like I’m a better mom and wife. I am a healthier ME.”
