Alison Feinauer

Covington, Kentucky

I am 38 years old and married to my amazing and supportive husband, Keith, for 15 years. We have a 7 year old son and 2 incredible bonus (step) kids that are 24 and 21 years old. I work in the IT field. I love running, lifting heavy, eating super clean. I am in love with living fit.

I have ran 6 Marathons, 6 Half Marathons and a Mudathlon. I’m not a natural runner and hated running until about 8 years ago. Most runners are tall and thin, I am short and work really hard at it. But I’ve also found my passion in lifting and I love Boot Camps!

I was not an athlete or in any sports growing up, so I didn’t have any training in nutrition or exercise.  I was always the “thick” girl until high school when I developed an Eating Disorder.  I went through college battling it and then somehow overcame it for several years.  It would creep back up once in a while with a binge here and there.  I continued to yo-yo diet and always had a plan to start again on “Monday”.  I always thought the less I ate the better off I was.  So somedays it was 500 calories, but then I’d follow it with a day of 3000 calories because I was deprived or emotionally struggling.  So my metabolism was shot. I was very discouraged and didn’t have much direction in that area.

I weighed myself every single day and that number either tanked my mood or made my day.  I was very good about working out though, I lifted weights, went to lots of classes at the gym, read every magazine article on the market and I’ve ran 6 marathons so everyone has always thought that I’m healthy.  I had a baby 2 years ago and gained about 60 lbs – 185 lbs at 5’2″.  I was determined to get the weight back off so I did that mostly by not eating much.  My Eating Disorder reared it’s ugly head again!

This past year we had a service at church that talked about confession and the power of it.  The Bible says that if we confess our sins, then God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9).  I decided to confess to a trusted friend that I was struggling with this, she prayed with me and immediately I felt healed.  Shortly after that confession, I realized it was going to be a healing Journey.  I needed to retrain my mind and body how to eat and workout as a healthy lifestyle and not a “diet” mindset.

That is when I reached out to Julie Lohre.  I knew that Julie had the knowledge, compassion, strength and support to train me.  I have a high respect for Julie and knew that I wanted her to hold me accountable and give me specific direction.  I’ve found the strength in God to look at my struggles in the face and deal with them – the root of them.  Asking Julie to walk on this Journey with me and teach me was one of the best decisions I’ve made.  We need systems and people in our lives to give us guidance and help us along the journey of life.  I’m so thankful for her. After being on her program for 8 weeks – I can say now that I have not skipped a meal, I have not binged, I have had very little processed food, I haven’t missed a workout, I’m not married to the scale or it’s numbers anymore, my emotions are not a roller coaster anymore, I have crazy amounts of energy, sleep very well, I feel whole and healed!  I am a new person…from the inside out!

I have changed so much in the last 6 months. I’ve lost a total of 15.75 inches and 13 lbs. What’s been amazing is that the parts of body that I struggled with the most – my hips and booty finally changed!  They are a different shape – it’s amazing the power of the right food and working out have over your body.  I love my body now!

I’ve learned with this journey that there are 6 aspects that are critical for overall fitness and health. Sleep, Water, Stretching, Nutrition, Training, and Spiritual disciplines (prayer, worship, and devotions). I’ve added the spiritual disciplines because I believe that if you don’t include the Lord in your health, you will always be left dry and never feeling like you are enough. God has a way of letting us know we are enough no matter what the circumstances. If you incorporate all of those, you will succeed. With one of those off balance you will not succeed – guaranteed!

My goals are to continue on the fit journey, whether that includes competing again or not, I’m not sure. I just want to be able to live this lifestyle all the time. I want to eat clean, work out 6 days a week, changing up my workouts to keep it fun, continue running races with my daughter, I want to be able to play with my 4 year old and have great energy for all the things that are ahead of me. I would also love to encourage others on this journey and help them accomplish their goals, through encouragement, sharing experience, or just motivating them.

I know that being the best me – physically, mentally, and spiritually will help me fulfill the roles I have in this life – wife, mom, employee, friend, etc. That is what motivates and empowers me. I also that our bodies are a gift from God. It’s our responsibility to take care of them. I know if I give into unhealthy things they leave me feeling lethargic, overly – emotional, drained, out of control, short-tempered and lonely. Living fit gives me energy, strength, good rest, joy, self-control, and lots more benefits. So either way you look at it – I have a choice – I choose complete health!

I would have to say the accountability. I love having the 2-week accountability and motivation to see results. Julie Lohre is always encouraging. The other thing is that she is honest. I completely trust her because she’s not afraid to give me hard truth – in a loving way of course, but she tells me what I need to hear.

Nothing – I wouldn’t change anything about her!

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