Its the little things that can serve as big reminders! 

Jeannie and I have been together for some time now….over 10 years to be exact. She has seen my boyfriends come and go and then come again and then go…heck she has outlasted all my dating relationships. She watched me purchase my first home. She has loved on both Duke & Chief. She stayed with me through my battle with cervical cancer. She has followed me to  2 different facilities different from the one we started in (The Hills). She is exactly 40 years and 1 month older than me, but that is just a number. Don’t let her fool you. She is fiery woman with a heart of gold!  

Since she has moved south, she now comes to CrossFit Jaakarhu to train with me. One day a week we do more of a traditional style workout and the other she does a crossfit style workout. I recently got her her own set of dumbbells to have at the gym, and she even let me monogram them for her. Swoon 🙂

About a year ago, I convinced her to get a puppy for a companion. I even convinced her to get a high energy breed. As most puppies are, Ellie (short for Eleanor Rigby from the Beatles song), was a terror. Jeannie would walk in with all these scratches and bruises from Ellie jumping on her. Full year and some time later, her and Ellie are besties and travel together on long road trips.

Jeannie was one of the official FitBit owners in our group. She had one long before I did. But it wasn’t till recently, that I discovered FitBit and decided to create the group of us. I will tell you what as a trainer, it is fun to see how many steps your clients/athletes are taking on days you don’t see them. I have an ongoing Weekly Challenge as well as a Weekend Warrior Challenge with my clients. I know I have said it a few times, but it sure has strengthened the bond not just between me and my clients but between my clients (are they ganging up on me?). I wrote a whole post on that, you can read it HERE. Jeannie joins in on all the challenges (maybe she is forced or guilted into it). It has been AMAZING to watch her go from a consistent low step count to challenging me, if not beating me on some days. One day Fitbit gave me a notification that she was way past me in steps. I got on Facebook and saw she had gone to the trail with Ellie to walk and play in the dog park, just her and Ellie. Old Jeannie would have never done this.

Today was great….she told me that she got bored in the dentist’s office while waiting and got up and walked around to get some steps in and even did some squats!!!! I think I would have paid money to see this, LOL. This is also the lady that now knows a route around her house that will give her 77 steps. She ALSO told me today that she was going to the doctor because they were LOWER her BP meds…this is HUGE! This means that whatever she is doing her heart is working more efficiently. While many people are having to up their BP meds, she is lowering it.

I don’t have a scientific way to prove that getting a dog and joining a Fitbit challenge or tolerating your trainer for over 10 years will lower your BP….I’m just saying it is a coincidence, don’t you think?

I’m not writing this post to brag on myself as a trainer (even though I’m a pretty cool one)..or tell you to get a puppy (but you really should) or to get a Fitbit and challenge all your friends (you’d be a lot cooler if you did), I’m writing this because even after over ten years in this industry and over ten years with Jeannie, these things…these little moments of mental and physical success…still tug on my heart strings to remind me that I’m doing right. These are the moments I want to remember forever.

THANK YOU Jeannie for trusting me with your fitness and sticking with me through it all!