Speaker: Deanna Lough
What was the problem you were experiencing when you came to us?
Deanna Lough : When I came to breakthrough, I was experiencing some issues with my overall health. Um I was pre diabetic. Um The thing that hit me most immediately was that I was having a very difficult time navigating steps and this includes the steps that go, I have two steps that go from my garage to my house. And I was having difficulty walking up those two steps with bags that I was carrying. Um, so this could be groceries. It could have been bags that I would take to work, but I was experiencing those issues. Um I had a hard time going on long distance walks with my family, especially if I had to do any sort of hiking where I would go uphill. Um So my quality of life was really pretty diminished because I wasn't healthy enough to enjoy those times with my family. Um, or, um, just everyday things that I needed to do. Um, buildings that I've worked in always had steps that I had to navigate and that was always difficult for me. Um So I was tired a lot. I lacked energy. I just, you know, I would always need to take a nap in the afternoon, um, drink a lot of caffeinated beverages because I just didn't have the energy to do things that I needed to be able to do.
What have you tried in the past to solve it? Why didn’t that work?
Deanna Lough : In the past I had attempted to do a lot of the same things that a lot of people do when they try to lose weight. I joined Weight Watchers. I did keto, I had some moderate success with, with both of those, um, where I was able to lose 25 or more pounds, but wasn't able to keep it off for the long term. And so I, I would start off doing relatively well, go full force with everything and then it would just kind of taper off. I wasn't paying attention to both my overall health. Um, so I needed to combine fitness exercise with, um, you know, watching what I was eating, um, paying attention to the nutrition end and I kind of floundered after I had reached a certain point, I had a difficult time maintaining gym memberships. Like I did a, what a lot of other people do. I got the membership and then never really went to the gym, you know, or I wasn't doing it consistently. And so I lacked some of those really important habits that you need to have in order to maintain any sort of, not just weight loss but just overall general health and wellness, just feeling like I had energy to, to do what I needed to do or just felt healthier. I, I just lacked that and then not having a person who would one hold me accountable. Um Two that I could kind of talk about this with and um experiences with it. It just never, the weight loss never stayed for me. And so I would then gain back the weight. Um And I just never felt like I, I could do it on my own and I became very complacent and very much ok with not being healthier. Uh I just didn't think I could do it.
What results have you had working with us?
Deanna Lough : I have had a lot of success with breakthrough. Some of the results that I have had have been such as losing 70 pounds like that was a big deal for me. I was able to lose a significant amount of weight and keep it off. I have just generally felt a lot healthier. I have a different outlook on who I am now. I don't just accept that I'm a person who is not athletic and can't work out or didn't feel comfortable doing that. Um uh I am now a person who believes that I can do those things. I have received really great coaching and in turn, have become a much better coach for other people. I keep two promises that I make to myself a lot more. I make much better choices when I'm eating. Um What I have gotten out of my time with breakthrough to this point because I'm still continuing on this journey is more than just improved health. I am more than just a healthier person, just generally speaking with mamas, I'm more mentally healthy, I'm physically healthy. Um I make just better choices and I feel like I have more integrity around promises that I keep to myself that I would not have necessarily made before and I can make it up those steps. I had a difficult time with earlier on um as I was getting going with my journey with breakthrough.
What was your experience like?
Deanna Lough : When I started with breakthrough, the first thing I did was I came in and I had a meeting with, with Chris and he asked me about my goals. And my goal when I started with breakthrough was to just generally speaking, be healthier because um I am in year 20 of working as an in education. And I have about 10 more years left before I can fully retire. I can retire early if I want to. And I wanted to make sure that I could go into my retirement and actually enjoy that part of my life with my husband and my family. And so Chris made me think about what some more um focus goals were for myself. And so that's kind of where we started and I came in going, ok. I'm gonna be going to this group fitness class with all these people. And Chris paired me up or partnered me up with two other um people who were at breakthrough. One of them was somebody in their sixties and another one was somebody in their seventies. And it was just amazing to me that there were these individuals who were in their later stages of life and they were doing the kinds of things that I couldn't do in my mid forties. And so it was, it was a great experience, it was very inspiring to see them working so hard. And I felt very encouraged by that and I made a decision to do one on one coaching with Chris. And so that was where I kind of started. Um And I had an accountability there because somebody was checking in with me if I didn't make it to the gym, somebody was checking in to make sure that I was ok. Um I got really great coaching around things I could control with my own health, my own diet, my own exercise. And so I built some confidence around my ability to be able to monitor my own health and feel confident that I would stick to that. And so that went on for several months and then I kind of backed up a little bit with the one on one coaching, but I'm still getting the coaching support even though I'm not doing one on one coaching anymore. There are coaches there that give me advice all the time. Um We have an app that we use that I can throw away question out to a group of people or I can throw a question out to my care coach or I can throw a question out to Chris and know that I'm gonna get somebody that's gonna respond to me And so, um I also have a lot people that I've just become friends with and we check in with each other and see how each other is doing. I am a person who needs to feel connected to other people and with breakthrough, we have this. And so, um you know, when II I left for a couple of months and when I was ready to return, I was welcomed with open arms and that made the coming back so much easier for me and something I was looking forward to. And so it isn't going into the gym and working out it is being there to get support and to support other people. So it isn't just about the fitness as a part of my, um, my health journey, it's about the community that gets fostered in breakthrough, which is so different than other places I've been to. We didn't, I didn't have a community before and I have one now.
What would you say to anyone that might be on the fence about working with us?
Deanna Lough : I am not somebody who ever in her life went into a situation working on her fitness wellness, health journey that ever experienced any level of success. And I hate to defer this cliche, but if I can do it, you can do it as well. Um This program worked so well for me that when I was contemplating doing something that, you know, might have been a little bit more convenient. Um So I was thinking about joining the Y MC A. Um My husband said to me, why don't you just go back to breakthrough and we'll figure out a way to make it work. And so this has been crucial for me because I, I have found a group of people that want me to prioritize my health and want what's best for me. And so for anybody who is kind of on the fence about whether or not breakthrough is right for them, I can tell you that the range of people that go into breakthrough are people in their twenties all the way up through their seventies. And there is somebody at breakthrough who is going to encourage your fitness or wellness. Um Not just in breakthrough itself, but on the app, in the Facebook group, um, you know, we have people who we've just connected with and built relationships with and these are people that I also go walking with and people who check in with me to make sure that I'm doing ok. And so it's, it's really a place where you're going to be able to find community and you're going to find people who are going to care about you as a person, not just because you're, you're going to this business, but because genuinely they want to see you succeed in whatever that looks like for you.
