By Gary Lloyd
Don’t make excuses, make changes.
That’s the mantra of LivingFit, an online fitness training program run by Trussville resident Rondie Wilks. The program launched online at www.livingfitonline.com Jan. 1.
The per month program includes seven-day health menu plans, workout videos and daily devotionals. Wilks produces three workout videos and one functional fitness video each week.
Wilks, who developed the LivingFit idea 12 years ago, said 90 percent of people who participate in the program have lost at least 20 pounds in 12 weeks. She’s had 1,002 clients in her training career.
“To me that’s really special because that’s 1,002 friends,” she said.
The program is not a diet. Wilks, 44, said it includes foods in the low glycemic index, lean protein and minimal carbohydrates. Daily exercise is also important.
“It’s not a quick fix,” Wilks said. “LivingFit is truly living it out. It’s a lifestyle.”
LivingFit includes programs for all ages, from extreme speed for boys who play sports to online videos for senior adults to use from home. Wilks said February is National Women’s Heart Month and living well begins inside the heart. It’s about body, mind and spirit, she said.
“True health comes from the inside, and that’s what LivingFit is all about,” she said. “It’s really cool having a teeny part of peoples’ days and encouraging them along.”
Wilks has an online chat session every Wednesday at 1 p.m. to answer questions and provide encouragement to clients
. She holds them accountable to their weight loss goals.
“Staying active is so important,” she said. “I want to pass that on to people.”
Wilks shot a video with Trussville residents Steve and Vickey Reasonover on Sunday.
Vickey has been using the program for six months and has lost 48 pounds, she said.
Wilks has shot a workout video with Clay native and former Alabama football defensive end Quinton Dial. Wilks calls the 6-foot-6, 310-pound Dial “a gentle giant.” Dial, who lost his mother to a house fire when he was 10, gives his testimony at the end of the workout video.
He talks about not knowing how to control his anger until he found Christ through football. Wilks’ husband, Bill, is his pastor at NorthPark Baptist Church on Deerfoot Parkway.
“She (my mom) would never want me to give up on anything I want to do or my dreams or anything, so I just use that as a motivational tool to keep that fire going,” Dial said in the video. “I never wanted to disappoint her in any way because I know she’s looking down on me right now.”
Dial encouraged people to never give up, whether they’re having personal problems or are overweight.
“Hard work goes a long way,” he said.
Watch their videos here under the “LivingFit Testimonies” tab.
Wilks hosts her LivingFit 12-week classes Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Trussville Civic Center.
For more information, visit www.livingfitonline.com.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.