CityView Magazine

20 Januar y 2021 Alicia Banks Aer suffering a breakup and subsequently sad holiday season a few years ago, Banks embarked on losing 55 pounds in nine months. Rather than allow herself to steep in heartbreak, she began by taking baby steps toward changing her lifestyle and eating habits and making a serious commitment to weightliing. Midway through her journey, a healthy body became less about proving herself to someone else and more about taking care of herself. "I truly started to find myself outside of someone else," she said. "It's what has kept me consistent for more than a year - and will for the rest of my life. Now working out is like brushing my teeth. I plan everything else around working out." "I've done crash diets before, and I can't do it," Banks, 32, said. "So I broke it down into pieces. If the goal was to go to the gym five to six days a week, I started with 'Let's go one day.'" Once she had established a regular fitness routine that included weights mixed with cardio, she began focusing on her diet. "At first I changed just my breakfast," she said. "I said, let's eat a healthy breakfast. I gave my body time to adjust so I wouldn't have those cravings." Along the way, she's learned valuable life lessons. "Live in the body you want because it's for you and you want it," she said. "at is the only way it works. It took heartbreak for me, personally, to make this realization." Rachel Burbank Always quick to invite others to try one of the many fitness classes she taught every week before COVID-19 affected gym schedules, Rachel Burbank looks like a woman who has never battled so much as a single calorie. But 22 years ago, she was crying in a plus- sized clothing store when she realized she needed to go up a size yet again. "In 1998, I was 280 pounds," she said. "It took me three years, but I lost 130 pounds. Since then, I've continued my journey." It's a journey in which she became a popular fitness instructor at several gyms. You had to arrive early to secure a spot in her Saturday BodyPump classes, a program in which participants li weights to music. "I worked out every single day," she said. "I used to teach 22 classes a week and had two babies in between." Burbank, whose full-time job is as a medical assistant and cast technician at Fayetteville Orthopedics, is still generous in encouraging others. She was the person who advised Alicia Banks to use weights to get healthier faster. At 43, she still pays close attention to food choices. For breakfast, she typically eats four eggs and a protein shake. For lunch, she has a lean meat with cottage cheese and pineapple. Dinner is more lean meat and two vegetables. Snacks throughout the day are protein bars or protein shakes. "I've helped a lot of people lose weight," she said. "I'm passionate about it. I know it's my calling." Ally Copenhaver It was a terrifying injury, so serious that Ally Copenhaver doesn't remember much about it. "I blacked out when it happened," she said. It proved to be a life-changing moment for her. ree days before her older sister's wedding in 2015, Copenhaver tore the ligaments in her knee while playing in a volleyball game as a high school junior. But the injury would eventually lead to an indelible bond with athletic trainer Julia Henry and her gym, CrossFit Metanoia. at bond would in turn change the way Copenhaver thought about fitness. A senior at Meredith College who is scheduled to graduate in May with a degree in exercise and sports science, Copenhaver already has started her own virtual personal training and nutrition coaching site, AC Fit, based on the concept of mind, body and power. She's already begun taking on clients. Hers was a journey in which she not only overcame her injury but went on to learn that strength and healthy eating are much more important than strict diets or calorie-counting. "It's not just about losing the weight; you're more than a number," she said. "I learned that I had to work on my mental health before my physical health. When I'm working with clients, I always say that nutrition is 90 percent mental. "I don't believe in fad diets," she said. "ose only work for a certain period of time. I hate society's thing about being a certain size. A healthy body is different on everybody." She has a take on physical fitness that belies her age and is both fun and inspiring. "Be stronger than your excuses," she advised on one of her recent posts. "If it's important to you, you will find a way."

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