MEET THE FITNESS REBELS
Michelle Stallard
Name: Michelle Stallard
Anytime Fitness Title: H2i, Hired to Inspire Club Manager and Personal Trainer
Anytime Fitness Location: Abingdon and Bristol, VA
My weakness: I have many, but giving up control is a big one! Recognizing that I don’t have control over everything has been a growing process for me. I have found that when I give up control and empower others, great things can happen. I am—and will always be —a work in progress.
What keeps me motivated: My faith and my family keep me motivated. I believe that I was put on this earth for a greater purpose, and that inspires me to help others. I want people to understand that getting healthy goes beyond the physical. There is a very deep emotional and spiritual transformation that takes place when you work on your health, and I want everyone to experience that. My family is the most important reason that I stay motivated to take care of my body. I want to be around for a long time in order to enjoy my family. I want to know that I can do anything I want to do. Hopefully one day my future grandkids will think I am the coolest grandma on the block because they have to keep up with me, instead of the other way around!
Working Out Sucks, but: diabetes and disease suck worse! You don’t have to live your life sick, depressed and stuck in that cycle. There is always going to be some obstacle trying to keep you down or hold you back from accomplishing whatever you want to do in life. I believe that too many people give up on themselves because they just accept that sickness and disease are a part of life. You don’t have to accept this! Be a rebel and fight with everything you have. Life is too amazing to sit on the sidelines accepting sickness. Exercise is the BEST MEDICINE that you can take, so don’t accept anything less. Take control and get moving one step at a time!
I feel my best when: I help others succeed! I can’t think of a better job than seeing people’s lives transformed on a daily basis. I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing Fitness Rebellion community.
If I could tell the world just one thing about exercise and fitness, it would be: that it is the fountain of youth! Let’s face it, we are all going to grow old, but taking care of your body is the best form of preventative medicine. If scientists could capture the benefits of exercise in pill form, everyone would ask their doctors for that prescription.
The hardest thing I have ever had to overcome in my life: was losing my softball career in college to a ruptured Achilles tendon. At the time, I was devastated, because softball was my whole life, and I thought it was all I had going for me. That life lesson, like so many others, has helped me become the person I am today. I wouldn’t change a thing. Life is not going to be easy, but it’s what we take away from our life obstacles that really transform us.