We want to congratulate Grace on her hard work. Keep it up, you’re doing great!

Name
Grace Michelizzi

How long have you been a member of Intoxx Fitness Clubs?
About 3 years

Which location is your primary club?
3295 Amboy Road Oakwood

What made you choose Intoxx Fitness over other gyms in the area?
Prior to joining, my husband had been a member for many years. So Intoxx was the first place I explored and as luck would have it, it turned out to be the last. It had everything I was looking for in a gym; many various types of machines, free weights, diverse group classes, and experienced friendly trainers.

Favorite machine or group fitness class?
One of my favorite machines is the rowing machine but I really enjoy the group fitness classes. It’s hard to pick a favorite because I do many of them and all the trainers are excellent and make you feel welcome. Each class has its own benefits and has helped me become more fit than I ever have been

Favorite type of music when you’re crushing it at our club?
When I work out on my own, I enjoy current hard rock or heavy metal. When doing group classes, I enjoy Pop.

What is your favorite body part to train?
I enjoy training my arms and back. Lately though I like training my abs.

Do you track macros?
Sort of. I used to track macros on My Fitness Pal. But about a year ago, I joined Weight Watchers and started counting points. At times I still log my meals on both, just to see where my macros are in a typical day.

Favorite cheat meal?
I know it sounds ordinary but one of my favorite cheat meals is pizza. But my cheat meals vary depending on what I’m in the mood for. Typically, I count a cheat meal as eating a meal that I have not prepared and I enjoy that the most.

What inspired you to improve your lifestyle?
All my life I had yo-yo dieted without much long-term success. My husband decided to change his eating habits for health purposes and lost 40 pounds. I saw he had more energy and was more active. I wanted to feel energetic and wanted to be active too. Shortly thereafter, I finally got sick and tired of feeling sluggish and being sedentary. I was tired of agonizing every morning for an outfit that not only didn’t feel tight, but that would make me look thinner, and I wasn’t buying a bigger size to do it.

Please tell us about your fitness journey. What you’ve accomplished and what your goals are for 2020.
On January 8, 2019, I received an e-mail through my employer about joining Weight Watchers at a discount. I had done WW many years ago and became a lifetime member. It had worked for me in the past, so I figured I had nothing to lose. I rejoined on that day and made my weigh-in day on Sunday because the weekends tended to be my downfall. I figured if I had to weigh-in on Sunday, it would stop me from going overboard on Friday and Saturday nights. I was told that in order to be at a healthy weight, I had to lose 45 pounds. I didn’t think this was going to be something that was feasible. After all, this weight was only 5 pounds heavier than what I weighed in my late 20’s. But I was going on a journey and I was going to enjoy the process, so 45 pounds it was. I was never athletic or one to exercise much but I made a conscience decision to go the gym at least 4 days a week and to walk at least 8,000 steps. I bought a Fit bit to track all my activities and made a game out of meeting my daily goals. I knew that for this to work, I could not look for a quick fix, it was a lifestyle change, so I was not putting a time frame on this new life. However long this journey would take, it would take. For me, I knew that meant keeping things interesting by meal planning different types of healthy food for the week, finding healthy go-to snacks that would be satisfying. and varying my workouts. As time went on and the pounds started coming off, I started to add more activities to my week. I went from a goal of 4 days at the gym to 5 days. I also increased the number of hours I spent working out. Now, two nights a week, I spend two hours at the gym. Additionally, I decided that on my 2 rest days, I needed to find some activities to do. I had taken golf lessons and never really did anything with them. I started going to the range and practicing my swing and eventually started to go every day, even on gym days. I even started going out on the course to play a round here and there.
On July 21, 2019, I reached my goal weight! I was so excited. I continued to lose weight even after reaching goal, which pleasantly surprised me. To date, I have lost 57 pounds. I attribute this to changing my eating habits and to building more muscle. Now I weigh less than I weighed in my 20’s and have more muscle than ever in my life.
One of my fitness goals was to be able perform deep squats. I now can do that! Another was to have defined arms…. That is happening too. Now I will work on building more muscle and definition in my arms, shoulders, and back. Abdominal exercises that I was never able to do in the past are now part of my routine. I am planning on using these exercises to work on flattening and defining my stomach. The biggest advantage of this journey has been the way I feel. I no longer feel lethargic after a meal. I now have the energy to do the things I want to do. Recently, I even tried ice skating and was successful. I would have never even tried to ice skate in the past. My goal is to keep fit and active so that as I get older, I will always be able to do the activities I enjoy doing.