Greg Balderson

In December of 2009 after a 3 year hiatus from any consistent exercise I was overweight, stressed out and consistently binge drinking. It was time for a change. I joined Pure Health and Wellness (“Pure”) and signed up for their fitness competition, committing to three 1 hour workouts per week for 12 weeks. Pure’s facility is located close to downtown and is set up specifically for personal training. For most of my workouts I was the only person in the gym working out with my trainer Shannon. The gym has everything that we needed. We put together a set of goals based on what I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to build muscle and lose weight, getting to an optimal weight of 185 lbs, that’s losing 37 lbs. Shannon put together a workout program tailored to my goals as well as offered significant nutrition advice. With a workout and nutrition plan all I needed to do was show up 3 times a week and modify what I was eating and cut back on drinking. I remember thinking, 3 hours a week; modify my nutrition, no way can it be that simple. Within a couple weeks of working out I was noticing a huge difference, losing fat and feeling much more energetic. I noticed how much my eating habits affected how I felt and it became easy to make healthy choices. My friends started noticing that I was losing weight; I began getting random smiles from cute girls and by confidence greatly increased. The part that was most amazing was how easy this was. Don’t get me wrong the workouts were intense, but I always walked away feeling amazing. The time commitment was easy, I mean who doesn't have 3 hours per week. I noticed that my productivity at work increased, playing hockey and sledding was much easier and I was able to do way more with my body without feeling exhausted. With less stress I was drinking less and when I did drink I was focused on healthy moderate drinking. I wasn't spending whole weekends drinking and hungover and was saving a considerable amount of money. As the workouts progressed I continued shedding weight and it became clear that Shannon’s program was going to give me what I needed to reach my goal. At the end of the competition I weighed in at 183 lbs, 2 lbs under my goal. I felt amazing and looked like a different person, a confident, healthy person. The 12 weeks really changed my life. I am still working out 3-4 times per week, going to Shannon once per week and working on my own the remainder. I feel great and still look great, just in time for summer. Thank you Shannon.