Danielle
I’ve been working out at Eupraxia for over 16 weeks now, and I have to say it has completely changed the way I look at working out. I’ve always been an active person, but the way I approach my workouts has definitely been a journey.
When I was in high school, I was always involved in sports, with workouts like two and half hour basketball or soccer practices, I never even considered doing anything on my own. I also decided that, because I was in practice for several hours, 5 days a week, I could eat whatever I wanted. S’mores pop-tarts anyone?
After graduating high school, I went on to college and subsequently lost the structured workout that team sports provided. I knew that I couldn’t completely quit working out, so I joined the fitness center at UW-Stevens Point. My workout was a 20 minute jog on the treadmill, maybe followed by a 5 minute ab work-out. My freshman year of college I lived on spaghetti-o’s, ramen noodles, cheddar pretzels and more diet coke than any one person should consume in a life time. I didn’t notice the changes my body was going through until I went home for the summer. Not. Good.
I transferred to UW-La Crosse and moved to a house not far from campus. This is also when I stepped on a scale for the first time in a few years. I still remember staring at the number in complete disbelief. “How did this happen!?” Terrible nutrition and bare minimum workouts is how. I knew I needed to do something. What diet fad did I come across? The one that requires you to live on meat, cheese, eggs and little else. No fruits, no vegetables. I remember my mom saying “Danielle, you have to eat something other than eggs.” “No I don’t” was my response. I was wrong. Did I lose weight? Yes. Did I fall asleep in class every day because I wasn’t giving my body the proper nutrition to function? Absolutely.
I did some more research and came across new meal plans. These new philosophies included plenty of fruits, vegetables, proteins and “health whole grains.” Over the course of the last 6-7 years, I continued following my “healthy eating plan” and was running at least 45-60 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
What I didn’t understand, was what I needed to do to actually see some changes to my body. I was operating under the idea of “calories in, calories out.” I figured that if I splurged and had pizza or ice cream, then I could just run longer and they would cancel out. Guess what? You can’t outrun a terrible diet. I had hit a plateau and was going nowhere in a hurry. I wasn’t terribly unhappy with the way I looked, but I was incredibly frustrated feeling like a hamster spinning in its wheel. On top of that, I would get anxiety if I had to miss a workout. I had to burn off calories from the day or I might be a pound or two heavier the next day (yes, I weighed myself every single morning).
Here’s where Eupraxia changed everything for me. I received proper education on what it meant to actually eat real food. I already knew how bad soda was for me and had given it up years ago. I also knew refined sugar was the weight-loss devil. What I didn’t know was exactly how wheat, sugar and dairy were contributing to me not seeing results in the mirror, and more importantly, what they were doing to me on the inside.
Along with this new education, I was also advised to stay off the scale. “Are you serious?”, was my first thought. I decided that if I was going to go all in, then I would really need to follow all instructions, not just the ones that I was comfortable with. What would be the point in that, right? Over the course of the first 8 weeks, I was exposed to workouts like none I had experienced before. I had dabbled in group fitness classes at other gyms and never liked any of them. These, were different. They were awesome! They were intense and really pushed me to my limits. After the first week, I was hooked. I left every workout feeling so accomplished. I had done things that I had never done before and I felt strong.
The best part about Eurpraxia, is that no matter how long you work out there, you will never loose the ability to accomplish new things. The workouts are always changing, and the trainers are always pushing and encouraging you to achieve your best. I tell people all of the time that I would never workout on my own as hard as I do when I’m at Eupraxia. Since I started, I have never felt better. After my initial 8 weeks, I re-tested and was surprised that I had only lost 2 lbs. I say that I was surprised, because judging by the way I felt and the way my clothes fit, I was certain I had lost way more. What really happened was that I had begun to completely change my body. I had gained muscle, and lost inches. I was feeling good about the way I felt and looked. That is a better feeling than any number on the scale will ever give me. I still like to go for long runs, but now it’s for the pure relaxation and therapeutic benefits. Not to simply burn off lunch. It doesn’t matter what your age or your current physical abilities, Eupraxia can and will work for you!
About the Author: Eupraxia
My goal when writing is to take confusing or complicated information and make it easy to understand and apply. I have spent the last decade obsessively researching and teaching how to improve performance and longevity. Dr Czys 
