After North Carolina-based mother of one, Patreasha Jones fully recovered from a viral infection that hurt her brain and spine in 2016, leaving her unable to wash, feed, and dress herself for four weeks, she vowed to take better care of herself by living a healthier lifestyle.
I was unhappy with the excess fat I was carrying, but I wasn’t ready to commit to a change. It wasn’t until August 2017 that I decided enough was enough and it was time I stopped making excuses. The biggest obstacle you will face in this life is YOURSELF.
Patreasha told Cosmopolitan, that before deciding to change her diet, she had been eating mostly processed foods and did very little exercise.
“I realized how much I had taken the gift of life for granted,’ she said of her health scare. “I started asking myself the hard questions: What would Reagan do without me?’
Recently, fitness account @AfroGirlFitness reposted aside-by-side photos of Jones that document how much her body has changed since embarking on her fitness journey. The 30-year-old’s back transformation photos, as seen above, has received more than 26,000 likes.
Rather than resorting to a quick weight loss program which she says is no help — (“programs out there that promise to help you drop 30 pounds in 30 days are unhealthy and temporary,” she says) Jones practiced patience and actually put the time in: She began to either run, or do a 30-minute, high-intensity interval-training (HIIT) workout at home five or six times a week which she says is better than long hours of cardio. Once she’d gained momentum, she joined a gym and began weight training for about 45 minutes five days a week. And it worked:
“Changing your body is not a quick fix,” she says of her success. “If you allow your body the time it needs to make adjustments, in the end, it will all be worth the wait.”
While she continues on her healthy living journey, she’s also incredibly focused on ensuring that she provides training to others like her looking to shed some weight at an affordable rate because she is no stranger to the high costs of having to lose the extra pounds with help from a personal trainer. It’s become her way of also giving back.
“When I started personal training I promised myself no matter how many clients I get, I will do my best to stay affordable for everyone. Why? because I grew up in communities where HEALTH was not a priority. I was surrounded by people who were “barely making it”. The last thing they were thinking about is how to work a personal trainer in their budget. So, although I cater to people of all walks of life. My door is open to those who WANT to make a change but don’t know where to start. My door is open to those who don’t think they can afford a healthy lifestyle. My door is open to the one who has tried everything else with no success. This is about so much more than profit…it’s PASSION.”
It’s become increasingly important to keep sharing stories like this as we all need some motivation one way or the other. For Jones, her answer lay in being disciplined enough to live healthier and so she lost the extra piles of fat her body didn’t need. For you and I, our fat could be something else and we’ll find that the answers to our prayers lie at the other end of being disciplined enough to get rid of everything holding us back.
For more fitness tips follow Patreasha on Instagram.
