Caroline’s Success Story

I?ve always been an athlete. From a young age, I?ve played softball, soccer, basketball, as well as had stints swimming, doing gymnastics, etc. You name it, I?ve done it. Because of this, I was always pretty lucky to be able to eat what I want, but as most know, this eventually catches up with you. For me, it caught up with me in the fall of my senior year of high school. I was decently active because of volleyball and the travel softball team I play for, but with how much time I had to spend on my coursework combined with poor eating habits, I was becoming less and less fit every day.

In September, I committed to play Division I softball at Princeton University. This had been a lifelong dream of mine, so as you could imagine, I was ecstatic. I really did think I was ready to go, but in November I took a hard look at what was in the mirror ? I was out of shape and had little to no strength from always putting off lifting. Luckily, a family friend and fellow softball player recommended going to Advantage to start getting into shape for college ball. It ended up doing all that for me as well as changing my life.

You can ask Greg Drab, my goal never was to lose weight. I just wanted to gain speed, power, and the like. However, I quickly fell in love with Advantage, the trainers, the facility, and the other people there. I never felt uncomfortable, and because of this, I started to spend more and more time there. I would go after school, even after games, and sometimes on the weekend, I would go twice in one day. I discovered a love for heavy lifting, and I changed my eating habits in order to have more energy to go to the gym. All of this began to pay off as I saw results. I lost 30 pounds and gained an awesome amount of muscle mass. High school umpires asked me what fitness program I was doing, people who hadn?t seen me in a couple of months couldn?t believe how different I had looked, and I felt amazing. I?m sleeping better, and waking up earlier (sometimes now you?ll see me at the gym at 6 AM, which I would have never thought was possible before!).

Overall, my whole lifestyle has changed. I enjoy working out, and it?s hard for me to go a day without it. I love being known as the gym rat of my friends, and I know I?m going to college ready to play at the Division I level. This weekend, I?m even running my first 5k, which is super exciting! I now know that fitness will be an important part of my r?gime for the rest of my life, and I couldn?t be happier about it.