My name is Camryn and I’m 23-years-old. 

I’ve struggled with body-image issues for as long as I can remember. I’m not sure when they started or what sparked them, but I have distinct memories from Grade 3, Grade 6, and more that definitely helped contribute to them. 

By the time I was in Grade 8, I was skipping lunch in an effort to lose weight and fit-in better. I was lucky enough to have a pretty attentive teacher who reported this behaviour to my parents. And fortunately, it didn’t escalate to anything more severe. When I started high school, I stopped skipping lunch and switched to eating garbage – Pepsi and a cookie, almost every day for most of my first year. Now that I think of it, I don’t actually remember what my eating habits were like for the other three years, but I imagine it included a lot of trips to the mall Food Court.

When I entered University, I ate more consistently but definitely not more nutritionally. Living on campus and not having the ability to cook meant that I relied on the cafeterias for meals. Don’t get me wrong, there were healthier options I could have picked, but the unhealthy ones attracted me. I lived on a diet of caffeine, sugar, carbs, and not much else. My eating habits didn’t get much better once I moved into a house though. I hated cooking and I purchased a lot of my meals from restaurants. 

In December 2017, I decided that I wanted to make a change. I don’t remember what sparked this decision, but it was the beginning of my Journey to Health. I kept a weekly notebook where I tracked goals, workouts, and eating habits. At this stage, my goal was focused solely on weight loss. I wanted to see a lower number on the scale, and it motivated me. I started counting calories, but I didn’t do it in a healthy way… if I knew that I wanted to have ice cream later that day, I would skip meals to save calories for treats. But I saw results and I didn’t know that I wasn’t developing sustainable habits. 

At this stage of my journey, I was a member of the JanelleDFit 30%ers Group. It’s an online support community of women who are looking to exercise and the premise is based around doing 20-30 minutes of exercise at least 3 times each week. This program was an amazing introduction to fitness for me. Janelle shares workouts and modifications with videos so that you can see how to do moves correctly, she’s available to answer your questions, and provides some nutritional support. The only downside is that you need to be able to motivate yourself to complete the workouts at home. In the beginning, this worked for me, but overtime it became less effective. I did learn a lot of high-intensity internal training (HIIT) and still use the workouts I was provided with during this program.

Eventually, the unsustainability of this system caught up with me. I began to gain weight again and feel discouraged. I was also often tired and hungry.

Then I tried Loyobo FIT. I attended my first classes in the summer of 2018. From the very beginning, Courtney had an energy that was contagious. I had never done group fitness classes before and was worried that I would feel uncomfortable, but that was never the case. I loved everyone that I met and felt amazing during classes. When Courtney opened her gorgeous studio on Victoria road in the fall, I decided to join as a full-time member, and I’ve been going many times each week ever since.

Loyobo FIT truly offers everything I needed. It’s a gorgeous studio space, stocked with a ton of equipment. There is a wide-range of class types that range from intense cardio, to relaxing yoga, to focused weight lifting, and everything in-between. Each class is customizable to your own fitness level with a variety of modifications to make it more or less intense. Every single instructor has a wealth of knowledge and truly cares about their student’s success. The challenges, workshops, and personalized coaching options help provide additional support for anyone who needs it. 

In January 2019, I decided that I was going to start taking my Journey to Health seriously. I wanted to make lasting lifestyle changes that would have long-term positive health impacts. I started attending classes at Loyobo FIT 4 – 6 times per week, I signed up for a fitness challenge to learn habits that would help me succeed, and I started an Instagram account to keep myself accountable.

Three months later, I finally feel like my fitness journey is on the right track and I’m so excited to see where it leads. I’ve been able to develop healthy habits and consistently implement them – I’m eating better and exercising more. I’m fortunate to have a strong support group with me for this journey. I rather impulsively decided to expand my Instagram account to a personal blog and a Facebook page to share my journey and as a tool to track it myself – sort of an online diary, I guess.

I hope that my journey will help you with yours. When I first started, I didn’t know where to begin. I still don’t really know what I’m doing, but I’m dedicated and learning as I go. I look forward to sharing it all with you.

I’d love to hear from you. Use the contact form below if you have any questions or comments that you’d like to share with me. Are there specific pieces of my journey you want to see?

P.S. Learn more about Loyobo FIT here

P.P.S. Learn more about JanelleDFit here