TMR Member Lyndsey Bsharat had spent the past year of her life rebuilding from a ‘ridiculously unhealthy lifestyle.’ She over hauled her habits, eating and took up running before coming to The Motion Room to keep her going in the right direction. Here is her story:

Lyndsey Bsharat

TMR Member of 3 Months

My success story –  In my university years, I was working long hours as a Server at a busy sports bar in Ottawa to pay my way through school. With that territory came late nights, greasy food, lots of beer and of course smoking. I was young and having fun and life was great until I was struck down with a kidney stone, which was a direct result of my ridiculously unhealthy lifestyle.

What a wake up call! I vowed to take better care of my body. Step one, eat healthier and that was easy enough. Step two, quit smoking...Ugh…Only another smoker would know, quitting smoking feels like breaking up with a long time love. The only thing that helps is distraction and time (a very long time). So I bought some running shoes and slowly taught myself how to run. It was tough, but the rewards of actually feeling my lung capacity begin to rebound from years of torture was so motivational.
Soon I was running almost every day. Pushing myself harder and further. Before I knew it, I was in the best shape of my life and it had almost been a year since I’d had my last cigarette. I felt like I really needed to recognize this milestone and coincidentally my anniversary fell on Ottawa Race Weekend! There couldn’t possibly be a better way to celebrate the new me than to run in my first race so I signed up.

With my family and friends there to cheer me on and support my new direction in life, I ran the 10K in just over 58 minutes*. Being my first race I was and still am thrilled to death with that result. I was sold, racing is addictive! I still sign up for races as often as I can.

This past November, I joined The Motion Room after moving into the area and I’m completely addicted. I’m seeing the returns from personal co-training more and more every day! Thank you for helping me continue to stay on the healthy track and challenge my body in new ways. Maybe one day under your guidance I can celebrate 10 years smoke free by uping the ante and running a full marathon!