Client of the Year Nominee 2015 – Maria Krehel

  Maria’s Journey Down the Yellow Brick Road to Health For over 29 years, I have worked in the skin care & makeup business. I built a multi-million dollar sales business. My career goal is to help people look their best on the outside – so they can feel good on the inside. I get […]

Client of the Year Nominee 2015 – Maria Krehel


 

Maria’s Journey Down the Yellow Brick Road to Health

For over 29 years, I have worked in the skin care & makeup business. I built a multi-million dollar sales business. My career goal is to help people look their best on the outside – so they can feel good on the inside. I get to work with 1000’s of people in my sales organization.

I am originally from the New Orleans area. I have lived in north Texas for 17 years — with the last 5 in Coppell.

As you can surely tell from what I do and where I was raised, my life is very colorful.

However, my health and fitness life was Black & White. The same 4 walls, the same routine every week. I worked out with a personal trainer one-on-one & hit the treadmill for cardio in a gym. I had no friends to share the journey with or to inspire me. I was spinning round & round in a whirlwind and getting nowhere. I wondered if this is all there is. Is this just the way it is going to go…all the while getting older and the years were beginning to show.

I encountered the Wicked Witches… fear, anxiety, self-doubt … which were holding me back from achieving the health & fitness goals that I had in mind for myself.

NO! I dreamed of more. I decided I had to be open to new things and that is how I made the decision to follow a new road … the Yellow Brick Road to health and wellness with the GYIS program.

I contacted the Wizard (Brad Linder) at the beginning of my journey down the GYIS yellow brick road to health. He piqued my curiosity and grabbed my interest. I reminded myself that I had to be open to new ideas in my journey. So I joined GYIS … and began a new journey down the Yellow Brick Road to health.

I first encountered a Lion along my path who helped me find the Courage to shut out the Wicked Witches (fear, anxiety, self-doubt) who tried to block me from staying on the GYIS Yellow Brick Road. He gave me the Courage to push harder past the fears and past the anxiety.

I soon found myself in a new world filled with many colorful opportunities. Luckily, when I showed up the first day, there were many other Munchkins (boot campers) to take the journey to health with me. They all remembered when they were the frightened “newbie” on the GYIS YBR. All the Munchkins were warm & quick to welcome everyone!

There I met the Good Witches (Julie, Chaney, Kathy, Lotta & Meg … oh my!) who were encouraging, cheering you on and helping guide you down the GYIS Yellow Brick Road to Health. I found the Courage to run races, learned to cycle and workout in the rain, cold or heat – meeting whatever Mother Nature brought on. I quickly realized that I would not die or Melt if I got wet AND as a result, I now have the Courage to face other “impossible” challenges in my life. Obstacles that would have previously shut me down.

As I continued my journey down this wonderful new road, I met the Tin Man who showed me the importance of a Heart…a healthy Heart. I told the Wizard Maria Krehel Before & After(Brad) that I was not a runner, but with the work in Boot Camp, my timed mile kept getting faster and I found my Heart was getting healthier. I decided to open another door that GYIS offers, I opened the door of Cardio Club on my journey to a healthy Heart. What a new door it opened to my health! My confidence was growing and the Good Witches & Munchkins were adding to my confidence with cheering and encouragement. This support allowed me to run in the Pink Soles 5K where I placed 2nd in my age group.

Along the road I also utilized all the workout challenges offered by the Wizard. He had the road map to health and I was now following it. The Good Witches kept the encouraging, teaching environment going. When I lost my drive or was tired, they made sure to lend an encouraging word to help.

I moved further down the road and to my surprise, I encountered the Scarecrow searching for a brain … and I got one too. My eyes were opened even further to new things. I challenged myself to do a lot of ‘firsts’, my mental state became happier, I sleep deeper, I eat better, I am consistent & committed to my health like never before. I found that it is never too late to discover new things or remind yourself of past things you used to do. Why hadn’t I thought of that sooner … I guess I needed a healthy Brain. I discovered a new activity that I enjoy…cycling. With help from other Munchkins and the Good Witches, I overcame the anxiety of falling, transitioning from running to cycling and back to running, and tackled my 1st duathlon. I finished 5th in my age group! I would have never done anything like this if I were not on the GYIS Yellow Brick Road to health.

My Brain was learning and growing, and my body and Heart was too. I learned on the road that action is first and then the emotion of wanting to be there followed, and then came the motivation to do it again.

I learned there is not an end to the road to health. It continues as long as you stay on it. But you need Munchkins, Good Witches, and Wizards to keep you going and to stay on the brightly-colored, Yellow Brick Road to health … and to keep the Wicked Witches at bay.

While on the road to health, here are some of my successes:

  • I am down 10 pounds and 13 inches since starting my journey a year My energy level is very consistent. My sleeping is consistent. My overall health is amazing.
  • I assured the Wizard (Brad) “I am not a runner.” Yet, the combination of Cardio Club and Boot Camp, and the encouragement of the Good Witch trainers has helped me learn to enjoy running or at least fast walking ;).
  • I am no longer afraid of what the weather will be like or how my day will be as a result of the weather. I am much more flexible (in my new healthy Brain)!!
  • Although I am getting older, I feel younger and stronger than I did in my 30’s.
  • I would like to add that in January I set a personal goal to be consistent in ALL areas of priority in my Moving my body every day is a priority for me.
  • SO… I show up on the GYIS Yellow Brick Road even when I don’t “feel” like it (which can be often). Showing up is half the battle. When I leave boot camp in the morning, I always feel better than when I climbed out of bed. It has definitely paid off!!

I don’t want to go back to where I came from …that same Black & White world with the round and round whirlwind getting me absolutely nowhere. When I met with the Wizard, I told him that I want to continue enjoying the colorful life which is so much better than the old road that I was on.

He told me I had to close my eyes and click my ruby red tennis shoes together & repeat …There is no place like health at GYIS … There is no place like health … There is no place like health!

Posted by

Share

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GET YOU IN SHAPE ON ABC