Tracy Fenty

"I will never look back and will never be the person that walked through that door 9 months ago. I want to be running half marathons when I am 80. This May, I will be running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon, stronger than ever! I may even try a Triathlon, who knows?"

Happy Momma

When I walked through the doors of NWFC 9 months ago, I was an over-weight, out of shape mom of two, closer to 50 than 40 and pretty depressed about how I had let myself go. I wore clothes to hide my flab, was tired all the time and had zero energy. I loved to cook healthy food, but wasn’t making healthy choices when I made meals for myself. I made excuses as to why I couldn’t exercise or put myself first. I was creating an image for my family that I didn’t like or respect and I was setting a horrible example for my kids. I knew that I had to change. My New Year’s resolution was to start running (something I absolutely hated) and my goal would be the Girlfriend’s Half-Marathon in October. Now it was March and I knew that it was time to be my word. I registered for the “Learn How To Run” class at the Vancouver location and decided to hire a personal trainer to work with me here in Portland. Little did I know that this decision would alter not only my life, but my family’s as well. When I first met Carol, I was embarrassed about my weight and how I looked. She took my measurements and to my chagrin, I was officially “obese.” It was just the thing that I needed to hear to get ready to change. That day, with Carol’s help, I set a goal of how much weight I wanted to lose and what the path to get me there looked like. I was motivated, even excited. I knew that this time, it would be different. And I was right. I started out not being able to do much. Carol took it all in stride. She became my cheerleader and my friend. Through her guidance and wisdom, I started to see a difference, not only in how I looked, but even more importantly, how I felt. I woke up every day energized and excited to start my day. I became someone who looked forward to workouts and running became something that I “had” to do everyday. I was addicted! Before, I made excuses as to why I didn’t exercise. I was extremely busy with “life,” trying to juggle everything and not doing a very good job. Now, I am managing my time so that workouts become a priority and everything else fits around them. I became an expert at anticipating where obstacles might pop up for me and how I could overcome them. I will never look back and will never be the person that walked through that door 9 months ago. I want to be running half marathons when I am 80. This May, I will be running the Rock and Roll Half Marathon, stronger than ever! I may even try a Triathlon, who knows? I see now how I was holding myself back and now how I can do it all. My kids now have a mom who is energetic, excited about life and who can do fun, active things with them. My husband has the woman that he married back, happier and healthier. I have learned that we cannot let fear or embarrassment rule our lives and make our decisions about our health and ourselves. We must live in the here and now, seeing (and believing) the potential that each of us has and honoring it through caring for and loving ourselves. It is a gift that we not only give ourselves, but those in our lives as well.