Establishing a healthy lifestyle takes hardwork. It means changing different aspects of your life like what you eat, what time you sleep or even what you do on Friday nights. Sometimes, it is not even always clear where to begin, but for our Athlete of the Month Jerri Tiebesl, the first step is to believe that you can make the change that you want.
Jerri is a manager from a knowledge-process company in BGC. Prior to joining Primal Ape, Jerri was living a sedentary lifestyle because of her busy work schedule. “I stopped working out because of my work schedule. I had to stay 12 to 15 hours a day, five days a week, other times I had to work on weekends. I was stuck on the sedentary lifestyle and complaining about my breathing as I could not walk longer than five minutes,” said Jerri.
Jerri knew that she needed to do something, that’s why she decided to join Primal Ape. “I wanted to prove something to myself and see what I’m capable of. I was brought to ER last year because I could not walk, I felt so weak and I don’t want to be in that situation again,” she said.
While the Internet makes it seem that lifestyle change to be that effortless, Jerri knew that was not the case. “It takes discipline and commitment, everybody can start but without discipline it would be difficult to finish what you started,” she said.
Jerri worked out five to six times a week and committed to a healthy diet. She joined the Beach Body Challenge last May 2018 and ultimately won the competition.
Beach Body Challenge is a 30-day fat loss competition. Participants were weighed in at the start, middle and the last day of the challenge and the participant with the highest fat loss percentage wins the challenge. Participants also get additional points by attending WODs and get deductions when engaged in “unhealthy” habits.
“Winning the competition was a great experience. It made me realize that I can do anything if I put my heart and mind into it,” Jerri said.
Good nutrition and exercise are the base of a healthy lifestyle. It’s not always easy to change habits, but starting slow and setting small, attainable goals can help make the transition less overwhelming.
“When you make a decision to switch to healthy living, go for it! In the end, it will be worth it,” Jerri said.