Today for my 5 a day blog challenge I am talking to an ex-science teacher turned fitness addict Patricia Davis. She is talking to me about the how she has become the fittest, healthiest, strongest and happiest she has even been in her life all thanks to Dream Fitness. Patricia is originally from Felpham and has a son aged 20, a daughter of 15 and 3 cats.
Now working at Dream Fitness running their smoothie bar, she is going to share her story about how healthy fruit and veg mixed with training changed her life so now she can help others.
No thank you! So let’s start with a simple one – So tell me a little about yourself and your business
I am a secondary school science teacher by profession but decided to resign my job in December. What a relief!
I threw myself into becoming fitter, stronger, healthier – but most importantly happier by training really hard at Dream Fitness 24 hour gym in Bognor Regis. I started attending personal training twice a week with my totally inspirational trainer Ben Snell, starting Tao Dragons martial arts at the same time and yoga. I really changed the way I shopped at this time as well as I became slimmer and stronger.
Gary Kellaway who owns the gym is an advocate of juicing, became vegan and lost shed loads of weight and wanted to share his passion by opening a shake bar. He offered me the job of running the bar as I represent the philosophy of Dream Fitness (his words, not mine) which was a huge compliment. We opened 5 weeks ago with the aim of offering pre or post workout smoothies made from fresh fruit and veg to order. We also super charge our smoothies with extras such as goji, maca, flaxseed, chia, quinoa, sunflower, pumpkin and pine nuts. I explain the benefits of each nutrient as I prepare them – each smoothie is made from scratch and dependent on the customer’s needs.
I believe we are the only 24 hour gym in the area that runs a smoothie bar. Most have whey, protein supplements bar I believe.
Wow that sounds exciting! So outside of work your life has really changed with eating healthily and exercising too! What was your inspiration for becoming fitter and healthier? Was there a moment or event that made you want to change your life for the better?
Too much stress at work – I wasn’t happy so I knew that exercise and food would be my therapy. I love the fitness challenges and helping people. I love being surrounded by positive people who understand the link between feeling good, looking great and hard work.
What is the biggest difference that you have found since you made the decision to eat healthy and exercise?
I feel fabulous – I have lost 2 stone and I have so much energy and self-confidence. People say I look younger – my metabolic age is 15 years lower than my actual age and my body fat is 15%.
What an amazing result! Have you seen other transformations at the Gym and smoothie bar too?
Yes I have – the gym have invented their own life style course concentrating on improved nutrition via smoothies and exercise over 60 days with stats taken every week with some amazing weight loss stories. Inspiring and motivating people to continue to improve their lives is very rewarding. I can use myself as an example of what can be achieved by making small changes and having the motivation to be the best version of myself. I wasn’t huge but I was average fitness and size 14. I am now size 8/10 but more importantly I have invested in my body so that I can enjoy life to the full.
My life has totally changed since joining Dream Fitness in every positive way.
Sounds amazing – So what is your favourite smoothie to make and to drink? Are they the same or two very different smoothies?
My favourite smoothie to drink is Pineapple, Mango, Spinach, and Kale –it is a great detox and delicious! My banana strawberry, blueberry, and ginger smoothie is my favourite to make though – I love the beautiful colours. I always ask customers to identify the ingredients if they ask me “to surprise” them, which is always fun.
They sound incredible! What is the craziest smoothie that a customer has asked you to make?
Actually I think one of my smoothies called a Red Pepper Reactor is crazy – red pepper celery mandarin! I make up named for them too.
So your smoothies are very fruity and veg based. Do all of them have at least one portion of fruit and veg?
Absolutely. Raw plants are in all of my smoothies. Customers can choose up to 4 ingredients from those available – either all fruit or veg but usually a combination.
I was asked for watermelon strawberry and broccoli today which was surprisingly nice. My regular customers always offer me a taste.
So fruit and veg is at the heart of what you do – what is your best piece of advice then for your customers trying to have a healthy lifestyle?
I say make one small manageable change in your lifestyle or stop eating processed food or eat less, move more. It depends on how open the customer is and also their motivation and WHY factor.
Do you have customers now that only come for smoothies?
A couple of parents now buy smoothies whilst their children are in the martial arts class. Their children get a smoothie as a reward for taking part too.
Sounds like a yummy reward and healthy too! Do you have any smoothies that contain all 5 portions of fruit and veg a day? Or do you have a reason other than limited customer demand for not offering it?
Some do contain all 5 but it is a cost consideration. If customers only choose 3 things I add more of each for example or I suggest a super food supplement which counts. We get our supplies delivered by a local business every day so we know that it is fresh.
So what is the best thing about running a smoothie bar?
Best thing – helping people. Making a difference and meeting and working with lovely people. If I can help one person then I am happy! I love helping people and try to inspire and make a difference. #loving #life
One final question – what is your favourite fruit or veg
My favourites – that is tough: mangoes and sweet potatoes
Thank you again Patricia and everyone at Dream Fitness for this great interview
Dream Fitness 24 hour gym with a dedicated smoothie bar – you can find them at 61a High Street, Bognor Regis next to the NatWest bank. Dream Fitness gym is a 24 hour dedicated service designed to bring health and fitness to everyone by knocking down the barriers of time and money, whilst offering the highest quality of equipment and service. The Shake Bar is on the first floor of the gym.
They have no contact, and they offer various levels of membership, which you can pay annually to save even more money. They offer personal training, nutrition plans, fitness testing, training programmes and supplement support. In addition we run over 100 classes each month including Martial Arts, Yoga, Spinning, Pole Fit, and more.
Check out their website at www.dream-fitness.com. You can also follow them on Twitter at @iamdreamfitness or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Dream-Fitness.
1 Comment
Wendy · July 12, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Fab blog piece!
As a customer of Dream Fitness and the lovely shake bar I can definitely suggest paying them a visit. Patricia is an inspiration to me, and helps me all the time with smoothie ideas and also makes me work harder at the gym too!
I first met Patricia a few years ago whilst we were both doing other things, then we met again at Dream Fitness. I enrolled on one of the 60 day courses that were mentioned in the blog, and lost 3 stone in those 60 days! I could never have done any of this without both Patricia and the gym. Her strength (both physical and mental) is a constant reminder to me of what we can all achieve if we try. Her new self confidence has also led her to have a photoshoot with me as well (and sometimes having photos taken of yourself can be a very difficult thing to do)
From my own experience with smoothies I can really not emphasise enough the sense of well being that you get from incorporating a cup of raw fruit/veg smoothie into your diet, it is utterly amazing!
Awesome work from both Dream Fitness and Patricia!