Share Your Story & Inspire Others - The Impact Will Be Amazing

Why do you exercise?

• How has it changed your life?

• What has that change meant to you?

Contributed Stories:

See how exercise has helped change these peoples' lives.

In the last year I have lost 65 lbs and have "just" 36 more to go ...
Good morning. You wanted a personal story? Here goes...

My name is Nancy and I became aware of GHFC through a physical therapy program with the wonderful Jeff Gilliam of Request. Last fall, after beginning a medical weight loss program, I joined GHFC and had the pleasure of meeting spunky, helpful, and professional Karen.

In the last year I have lost 65 lbs and have "just" 36 more to go. I currently workout six nights a week (It would be seven if I didn't teach a class on Monday nights). Since joining GHFC I have gone down 3 pant sizes due to all the exercise! I truly love the adrenaline rush of the workouts.

At GHFC I am around others who are trying to better their health, bodies, and lives. This provides me the motivation I need to reach my goal. I am the last person I would have ever thought would succeed at a gym; if I can do it ANYBODY can!

I am so thankful I joined GHFC and I am thrilled with the results. I'm also thankful for the great support and smiles I get each night from the "young men and women in blue." They are the best!
- Nancy McInnes, age 46

... Feel this is the most important thing I do every day ...
I think GHFC is just the greatest of the great! I have belonged to many health clubs in my life, but never have been so inspired as I have with GHFC. Being 64 yrs old, in 2008 I realized that I was not in shape or strong. I have been a member for over a year and actually have muscles that can be seen. I workout 5 out of 7 days and feel that this is the most important thing I do every day, it’s a JOB! One that pays the best – my health, without good health you have nothing. The staff at GHFC are wonderful, which doesn’t seem to be a big enough word to describe what they have inspired me to be. I am truly an addict to exercise. I never thought I would ever need exercise as much as I do.

Thanks GHFC for being there for me!!!!

Diane Rosenberg

A leaner, meaner America could save $487 billion annually, according to some health economists.
That's an extra $4,270 for each U.S. household.

Considering that 66% of adults are overweight, 33% are obese, and about 5% are morbidly obese
(more than 100 lbs. overweight), dietitians say the average American can stand to lose 20 lbs.

Any movement toward that goal would result in huge gains for the nation's economy, including a
savings of more than $140 billion spent on obesity related disease, if the goal is met.

Let's start the movement here in Gainesville.

Share your story so others can find the inspiration they need.

Email Your Story

In Your Own Words

Joe,
For a long time I have wanted to sit down & write this e-mail to you, which I also hope you will feel free to share with your staff.

I have been a member since 1991, and want to share with you how invaluable GHFC has been to me. When I originally enrolled with Lorrie Hannon back in August 1991, my motivation was two-fold: I had had a child a few years earlier and felt I was carrying extra weight from that, plus I was curious about what regular exercise could do for me. (I was never athletic growing up - I was the one who failed all the fitness tests, couldn't do pull-ups or run around the track, etc.)

Seventeen years of working out has not turned me into an "amazon." I'm not overly-diligent or compulsive about my workouts, but I can say I usually enjoy them, which keeps me coming back. The workouts help me with the Important Stuff in life - lifting my 23-lb cat, mowing my lawn and keeping a calm head at times of crisis (GHFC is not only good for the body, but also for your head!). I've found many times that pounding away on the elliptical or treadmill machines is a great way to think my way through something that's bothering or challenging me. GHFC has seen me through my child's "terrible two's" and his teenage years, through divorce and re-marriage, as well as some long years of single parenthood that were full of stresses and challenges. Even at times when I had trouble paying bills, I always knew my GHFC membership renewal was one I HAD to keep up with. It comes up for renewal every August right at my birthday; it is my promise to myself to take care of myself, and also my gift to me: a renewal that affirms and extends my well-being and health.

As I close in on the magic age of "the big 5-0," I have also realized that there are now significant differences between me and my family members who do not exercise regularly: differences which I attribute to the benefits I've obtained from GHFC. My mother now suffers from thin and brittle bones (osteoparosis), and my sister, who is 18 months older, was diagnosed four years ago with high blood pressure. Needless to say, I do not have these health problems and sincerely hope I will not develop them later. Continuing at GHFC is one plan that I will continue to aggressively enact as a preventive measure.

So thank you. Thank you for everything you and your staff do, and for having the courage to pursue opening GHFC so many years ago, and for the fact that you continue caring for it so well. I recognize and applaud the expansions, the continued reinvestments in your facilities, and the constant addition of equipment, personnel and programs. Your personal attention and pursuit of excellence shows every day.

Margie Allen
Gainesville, FL

Gainesville Health & Fitness Center, Inc.

Share Your Story & Inspire Others - The Impact Will Be Amazing

Why do you exercise?

•

How has it changed your life?

•

What has that change meant to you?

Contributed Stories:

See how exercise has helped change these peoples' lives.