Julie Bull

Until recently, Julie never considered herself to be athletic or even very active for that matter. She was heading to her office one day and saw a poster for a fitness Bootcamp. She had only seen bootcamps on TV and heard friends in other provinces talk about how fantastic they are. But she was hesitant to even go to the first class because she felt she was so out of shape and wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rest of the class. She then started telling herself that the only way to get into shape was to start exercising more so she went to that first class and has been going to bootcamp sessions 3-4 times a week ever since (July 6)!

At the end of the first eight week session, instructors Bethany Robertson and Pam Macleod-Collette presented each of the women with a rose and a certificate of achievement for completing the eight week training and each one had a different thing on it: Julie’s was most improved and most changes overall. By committing to fitness in the way that she did, Julie has lost over 35 inches and more than 35 pounds so far. She continues to attend bootcamp 3-4 times a week and has recently started to share her new found love of physical activity with other aboriginal youth in the Charlottetown area. “I started with small goals” she says “because I was so scared I’d set myself up for failure if I aimed too high”. But once Julie saw her results after the first four weeks, she set her goals even higher and she continues to meet and exceed her fitness and nutrition goals.

“It can be so easy to continue with poor eating habits and low levels of physical activity because that’s what we’re used to,” says Bull. “We sometimes feel like we have no choice or that we are destined to be a certain way because that’s the way we’ve always been and that’s the way our family is. Even though taking that first step to change can be challenging, the reward of being in better shape, feeling and looking better (and fitting into nicer clothes!) is far greater.” Julie asks each and every one of you to challenge yourself this week – whether it’s taking the stairs instead of the elevator, jogging, playing sports, or walking to the store instead of driving, every little bit counts!