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Carlisle was then a
stranger in a strange land – on an emotional island, away
from longtime friends and her close-knit family in Toledo.
She was running a business alone causing unnecessary stress,
not eating properly and would eventually pack an additional
50 pounds onto her formally petite frame.
A visit to a doctor
revealed that her hormones were out of whack and resulted in
prescriptions for very expensive supplements not covered by
insurance.
A visit to a second doctor
ended with Carlisle in tears and banging on the doctor’s
desk, pleading for help. More supplements, more medication.
In the very back of
Carlisle’s mind was a fascination with body building. A
long-time interest that had once sparked the notion … “I
could do that!”
A chance meeting at a
party with a woman who was a body-building competitor led
her to investigate the possibility of following up on that
interest and turning her life around. She contacted the
coach, Kim Otto, that her acquaintance had recommended and
he laid for her out a regimen of work out and diet.
Immediately she threw out her supplements and medication and
devoted herself to the process of changing her life.
“I got into this because
I wanted to feel better,” she says now. Her passion for
competition was an unexpected benefit. Within the next year
or two, she expects to achieve professional status as a body
builder.
Once she started to see
and hear the level of feedback from those close to her, she
had to stop and think about what once had been merely a
desire to improve her own life. Perhaps, she began
reflecting, she had something to offer others.
A year and a half later,
Carlisle’s life is a far cry from the lonely, stressed out,
overweight, anxiety-ridden soul she had been. “My personal
journey also includes more prayer,” she says. “There was so
much more than weight being shed. I have a much greater
understanding of my purpose in life.”
She relocate back to
Toledo earlier this year to be close to family and to help
care for her grandmother. Just recently, Carlisle, who is
now competing on a regular basis, earned certificates as a
personal trainer and a nutritional trainer and started her
own fitness business – CONnected Fitness by C.
Carlisle leads group
training and individual training, customizes meal plans and
demonstrates meal preparation for her growing list of
clients.
The weight room and the
food preparation go hand in hand. “Understanding how food
works for you is so important,” says the bodybuilder with a
biology and chemistry degree. She tells her clients that
while they may have to void certain items from their diets,
they will gain other satisfaction. “The thought of what you
are losing is balanced by what you are gaining,” she tells
them.
For more information on
CONnected Fitness by C, call 951-490-1613 or contact her by
email at
connectedfitnessbyc@gmail.com.
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