Dmitriy Made It Happen

I have spent a lot of time talking about my trainers.  Two entries are dedicated to Mike, who passed away suddenly in November, 2014.  Mike helped me to believe in myself, which is what I needed to get serious about my fitness goals. When Mike died, I was devastated.  I did not think I could go back to the gym and the idea of replacing Mike with someone else sent me reeling.  I realized I could not regress, that I had to move forward.  I asked for Dmitriy because he was very friendly, always said "hello" and I felt like I might be able to be comfortable with him.  Getting to know a new trainer is NOT easy.  It's a whole learning curve for both people.  I was not thrilled about the idea, but I knew I had to trust Dmitriy.  I did not want to waste time "trying out" all the other trainers to "pick the right one."

Dmitriy has been amazing.  First of all, he was completely understanding about my difficulty in moving forward.  Second of all, he had "the talk" with me about the reality of achieving my goals and what I need to do to accomplish them.  I fought him on logging all my food and he would not hear it.  He insisted, so I did it.  As a result, I went from a Size 16 at Christmas, to a Size 14 two weeks later, to a Size 12 at the end of January, to a Size 8 in March.  A size 8!

Dmitriy is a competitive body builder.

Dmitriy has helped me in other ways as well.  I have a bad knee.  Rather than let me live with it that way, he focused on me developing flexibility and gave me the tools to strengthen my leg.  As a result, I cancelled the surgery I was supposed to have in January.  Dmitriy made it happen.

Furthermore, knowing I wanted to do those stupid push-ups I hated so much, to make Mike proud, Dmitriy put together a series of routines to help me develop my upper body strength.  I went from not being able to do any push-ups at all to being able to do three sets of ten during the time I've been training with him.  Dmitriy made it happen.

Finally, Dmitriy has been my biggest cheerleader with helping me towards my goal to do the Ride to Remember in September.  He said, "Do you have a bike?"  I was like, "Ummm, yeah but it's an old one.  I didn't even think about that.  I guess I need to get a bike."  One Sunday afternoon I saw him at the gym and he asked me why I wasn't outside riding with the weather so nice.  I said, "Umm, you are absolutely right."  That is what a trainer is supposed to do.  He's not supposed to listen to you complain about your tough day, or let you whine about how hard it is to follow your nutrition goals. He is supposed to help you develop the tools and push you to accomplish the goals you set for yourself.  Dmitriy has done exactly that.

This was my first ride of the season.  It was sooooo cold.  I did not have my new bike yet, so I went out on my old creaky one.  It was grueling.  But I was glad Dmitriy challenged me to do it.

Other people have noticed it too.  I got this Facebook message from a friend of mine when I posted the Timehop photo below last week.  (To protect her anonymity, I have deleted her name and blocked out her picture.)

I know this post will make him very uncomfortable.  He doesn't want the focus on him.  But I think he deserves it.  I have only been able to achieve so much because Dmitriy is such an amazing trainer.  I will forever be indebted to him. 

Me and Dmitriy

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