Name: Amy Newton
Dog’s Name: Gunner
Age: 37
Dog Age: 5 ½ months
Height: 5’ 4”
HEALTH STRUGGLES:
I always played sports (softball, basketball, volleyball) when I was younger….all the way through 3 years of college softball. We had a pretty structured workout plan that including weight lifting and running 3 miles 3 times a week in the offseason. It kept me in decent shape. I was never super skinny but never crazy overweight. After college the pounds crept on……then I got married….gained a bit more…..then I got pregnant. I didn’t gain at ton with my first son but around the beginning of my third trimester, I developed gestational diabetes. My overnight fasting number would not come down. For 10 weeks I became pill and insulin dependent. ….a few days after delivering I was back to normal. Almost 4 years later I delivered a second son. By the end of that pregnancy I was a gestational diabetic again, had high blood pressure and developed Bells palsy in my final month. Scary! I’ve yo yo dieted the past couple of years (my youngest just turned 3). However, now I have decided it is time to take care of Mom. I am happy to report that I just had a yearly physical and all my lab work came back perfect. I have not had any signs of diabetes since delivery and the high blood pressure corrected a few months postpartum. Thankfully the bells palsy went away and I got my normal smile back. I just am not where I want to be physcially. I want to be comfortable in my own skin. I want to be able to reach in my closet and feel good in anything I put on. I’d like to lose about 30-40 pounds in the next year. I think if I could do that, I’d be more happy about myself. I know that I am now twice as likely to develop diabetes in the future, so I am doing my best to keep it away.
FOOD STRUGGLES:
My husband and boys LOVE junk! L It is so hard to eat healthy with temptation all around. I am trying to change it for all of us. My boys are great fruit eaters but still like doritos and funyuns. I love CHOCOLATE! J I am just trying to make better eating choices as I know nutrition is 80% of the battle.
SOCIAL STRUGGLES:
Last fall I was having trouble getting to evening classes with my son’s busy sports and cub scout schedule. In the winter I finally decided that the early morning workouts were going to have to work for me. I am not a morning person! I think I have adjusted well for the most part. My husband does lawn/landscape work and now is trying to start earlier so Jill’s 5:30 class allows me to get my workout in and be home with the boys before he has to leave. With one in sports and another that will be in the short future, I think I have accepted the fact that I am going to have to become a morning person.
DOGGY STRUGGLES:
Gunner is just a pup and has learned a lot in his short life. He blends well with our family and thankfully gets along with our older dog. However he does need some work. Our biggest struggle. Listening! Getting him to come when called. We live on a busy street (Fowler St.). Our older lab knows boundaries. Gunner is still learning.
Gunner also is learning commands: sit, down, stay, etc. Just honing these skills and doing them when first asked is a challenge.
OUR GOALS
ME:
For the summer I’d like to shed 10-15 pounds.
Become more comfortable running again. Maybe work up to 5K’s.
Lose my “mom” belly.
Drop a clothing sizes.
Be comfortable in my skin
GUNNER:
Learn all the commands in Jill’s program and do them quickly and on the first try.
Listen better!
ABOUT TDBC
I think the thing I like best about class is Jill is always changing it up. We do 10 minutes of cardio and then to the mats/weights. Then we do drills and commands with the dogs with more cardio. It is constantly changing and keeps us on our toes.
I think the hardest thing is learning to command/lead your dog alongside the workouts. And running! Lol . I hate running but have vowed I need to get more cardio in my life, so that is why I am here.
I love the program and plan to continue to the end of summer. Then hoping to twist Jill’s arm to keep it going in the fall. I was so excited to find Jill’s program. Gunner was just a few months old and I was starting to think maybe I needed to get him in some sort of structured obedience. We have a 11 year old chocolate lab also which we trained on our own with no formal training. However, now with 2 boys (7 and 3), the extra time with the pup was lacking. Now I get up early before anyone else is awake and go to class with Gunner and we do our thing. J He is learning quick but we def still have a lot of work to do.
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