My name is Gayla Domke. I was born and raised in Valparaiso, but headed to Clemson, South Carolina, to earn a PhD in Mathematical Sciences. I taught at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, for many years. In 2003 many changes happened. I became a single mom, and we moved back to Valparaiso to be near our family. While I am a Super Woman and could probably have survived single motherhood surrounded by my village of friends in Atlanta, I decided to share my daughter with my family. My parents are currently in their late 80’s. We decided that we would build a house to accommodate myself, my daughter, and my parents. That way everyone could spend time together, and we could help each other on a daily basis. That works well most days.
In 2012, after being a member of Weight Watchers for several years, I was finally at my goal weight after losing 125 pounds. Within a few months, my mother became deathly ill. She was in the hospital and a nursing home for four months and has never been the same since returning to our home. Now, not only was I taking care of my daughter, but I also had the responsibility of taking care of my parents. My stress level was high, and I went back to my old eating habits. I ended up gaining 120 pounds back.
In September 2014, a friend encouraged me to go back to Weight Watchers. I became determined to lose the weight again, but my knees and ankles were too sore to exercise. By the beginning of summer, I had lost 50 pounds, but I was still not exercising. One of the Weight Watchers leaders suggested trying to exercise just ten minutes a day. At that time I thought I can do better than that. I’ll start walking twenty minutes a day. Twenty minutes became thirty minutes, then forty, and I was even walking an hour some days.
Then a friend told me about a class at Pumps Fitness called Healthy Conscience. She said that it met twice a week (from 6:30 – 8:00 pm) for five weeks. We would have different fitness classes for the first hour of the class, then we would hear about information on nutrition and healthy lifestyles. Remember, I still have a job, a daughter, and two aging parents to take care of. I finally decided that if Mommy isn’t happy and healthy, then no one will be. I really needed to take care of myself. So, I enrolled in the class.
The exercise portion of the classes was hard, sweaty, and usually painful days afterwards. But as they told us “you only get out of the class what you put into the class” and “you can modify if you need to, but I will push you if I think you can do more.” After the five weeks, I was exercising and walking more than I ever have in my life, and I was eating much healthier. I started cutting sugar and processed foods from my diet. But the class was over, fall semester was beginning, and life became more complicated. In order to keep exercising, I decided to meet with Ian as a personal trainer. (I am still amazed when I think that I meet with a personal trainer!) Ian has helped me to strengthen my knees, abs, and arms, as well as take better care of myself. He even convinced me to eat only green smoothies, fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables for ten days.
Currently I am enjoying another five week Healthy Conscience class at Pumps. I am also walking and surviving my weekly training with Ian. With my changes in diet and exercise I have lost more than 30 additional pounds since the beginning of the summer. My current goal is to lose 85 pounds – the weight of my daughter! I still have to work to get back to my goal weight, but hopefully, by the time you read this, I will have lost the equivalent of my daughter!