In October 2020, I walked into Revive Fitness and Lifestyle Management looking to change my life. I was facing the magic age of 65 years in a few short months and knew that I had to make changes as the “golden years” were staring me in the face. I was paired with Chrissi Pfeil for personal training, and our journey together began. At that time, I was 194 lbs. and needed to work on weight/fat loss and strength training, which I had avoided most of my life (I was a former team sports athlete and had always been a runner and cycler). I received some nutrition guidelines from Arnold Kovalvski and began training with Chrissi 2 days/week, 30 min sessions. In Jan. 2021, I was down to 164 lbs. and increased my training to 3 days/week, 1 60-min session and 2 30-min sessions. That schedule quickly advanced to 3 60-min sessions, and now in April 2021, we are training 4-5 days/week, all 1-hr sessions with a goal of competing in bodybuilding in the near future, potentially during the 2022 season. Chrissi has been an integral part of my journey of ‘finding myself’ after years of raising children and climbing the career ladder of academia. I have fallen in love with the sport of weightlifting/bodybuilding and marvel at the changes in my physique week to week. She is my task master, affectionately known as my “booty smasher”, and is not only an incredible trainer, but has become a great friend and confidante. I am currently at 150 lbs. and 22% body fat with a current focus of maintaining weight while slowly continuing to lose body fat and gain lean muscle tissue. Every training day together has been both challenging and exciting, bringing joy to my spirit that was lost for quite some time. I am truly “living my best life”…and spending each day with my coach and friend Chrissi is one of the best parts of this phase of my life….and the journey together continues…stay tuned…the best is yet to come!