Cindy's Story - A Weight Loss and Back Pain Journey

Cindy struggled to maintain a healthy lifestyle the majority of her adult life. After two life altering events happened in the same week, retirement and the death of her spouse, she hit rock bottom. She wasn’t sleeping, exercising, or eating well. She was 60 pounds overweight, had chronic back pain, and had trouble getting off the floor. She was looking up at the summit of a sunny mountaintop from a deep valley of depression, pain, unbalanced hormones, low energy, and hopelessness. She reached that mountaintop and has inspired many at Align that they can do the same.

Life Before Align

“I had been a lifelong dieter, always up and down with my weight. I had done all the diets, Weight Watchers, Atkins, etc. I was sick of it. The goal was always to lose weight. I wasn’t particularly healthy but then two life changing events happened in a matter of two weeks. I retired, and my spouse passed away. My health went into a downward spiral. I found myself 60 pounds overweight. My sleeping was off. I would fall asleep around 3-4am and wake up at 10am. Things kept getting worse. I wasn’t hungry and all I would eat was sugary foods late at night. I had zero energy. I wasn’t moving. I sat on my couch all day. I developed chronic back pain and the pain made me want to move less. I kept getting weaker and weaker, and feeling worse and worse. I didn’t know what to do. Then I saw Align on Facebook. Align didn’t look like a place for bodybuilders. It looked like a place for people like me, so I gave them a call.”

Time At Align

“When I first walked in, I immediately noticed that it didn’t look like a traditional gym, no big machines, no bodybuilders, just a bunch of people like myself. It was a nice surprise. And I was glad that we sat down and got acquainted first. They listened to my situation and put together a plan for my pain, my food, my exercise, even my sleep. They looked at everything.

I think what made the difference for me was that the team at Align cares about the individual. You guys wanted me to get better and it made me want to get better. If I didn’t make it in I always got a message to check in on me.

I liked that they gave me individualized instruction, even within our small group. And it was clear our focus wasn’t on losing weight. Our focus was on getting out of pain, getting stronger, and getting healthier. And I did get healthier.”

Life Now

“I am stronger. My back doesn’t hurt. I sleep better. I have lost 60 pounds. And my clothing tags don’t have any X’s on them! 😉

To be honest, everything is better. I can get up off the floor easily. I can walk as far as I want. My balance is better. I just feel healthy. It’s awesome.”

Sharing Hope

“All you have to do is show up at Align. The team takes it from there. Work your program and the results just happen.”