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By Janine Hightower, Owner and Fitness Director of Boston Home Bodies
The light bulb moment:
In September of 1998, I arrived at the Boston University campus as na�ve as they
come. On that day, I weighed just over 200 pounds at 5 feet 1 inches tall. But I
had lived a life where everyone around me loved me no matter how I looked.
During that first term of freshman year, I studied Spanish and International Relations
and was hoping to go to law school, but things weren�t going well. But by this time,
I was well over 200 pounds, and was insecure about my appearance. For the first
time in my life, I was surrounded by people I didn�t know and first impressions
happened almost daily at BU.
Something had to change. Finally, I hit rock bottom in a CVS Pharmacy on the BU
campus. It was there that I had a light-bulb moment. As a struggling college student,
I stood in that pharmacy and contemplated spending my last $10 on a prescription
I needed or a package of cigarettes.
I bought the prescription and my life was changed forever.
A metamorphosis:
I started running on the Charles River. I remember on that first run, my shins were
on fire and I couldn�t breathe.
I started keeping a food journal and getting on the scale and paying attention to
what I ate. I bought fitness magazines and books and read about weight-loss and
health. I decided that I wanted to take the weight off and keep it off forever.
My first rule was that any change I made needed to be one I was willing to stick
with for life, only then would lasting weight-loss occur.
By January of 2000, I had lost most of the weight when I signed up for a women�s
weight training class in the phys ed department at BU. We met 3 times per week and
not only did weight training, but we learned weight training principles and how
to apply them.
A second light bulb moment:
Once I started weight training, the weight just melted away and muscle formed in
its place. I had finally achieved my weight loss goal of 140 pounds, when I was
exercising at the gym and noticed a man going through some weight training exercises.
I noticed that he was butchering every single exercise he did. I thought, �I could
help him!� and the next day I changed my course of study to put myself on path to
become a personal trainer.
From the classroom to the weight room to the exam room
I studied for my certification and became a trainer at a gym across the street from
BU. As I learned about Exercise Science in school, I applied those principles with
my clients at the gym. All the while, I was narrowing in on a training philosophy
and practicing it daily.
In the Spring of 2003 as I was completing my Exercise Science degree, I ended up
at Boston Medical Center working as an intern in their Cardiac Rehabilitation Program.
This was an unwanted detour for me at the time, but was required to graduate. There,
I worked on the clinical side of Fitness. We trained cardiac patients in an outpatient
setting as they recovered from their cardiac event. I ended up enjoying this detour
so much that I took a full-time position at the hospital when I graduated in May
of 2003.
But personal training, that one-on-one experience with my clients and sharing my
philosophy on weight �loss that I had honed in my years as a trainer, remained my
passion. I started training clients in their homes nights and weekends while I continued
to work in Cardiac Rehab.
Out of necessity, I stumbled upon a great idea. Initially, I began seeing clients
in their homes out of convenience. I no longer worked at a gym, but my clients wanted
to continue working with me. And once people started seeing what they could achieve
from the comfort of their homes with the right trainer, they never considered going
back to the gym! They�d say to me, �What a luxury this is!�
Boston Home Bodies
This business grew to the point where I left the hospital in 2007 to work full-time
training clients in their homes. Today, I am expanding the reach of my philosophy
and training style by forming Boston Home Bodies.
I start with a trainer who is selected for personality, professionalism and a passion
for health and fitness. Then, I teach them the training philosophy that has helped
so many of my clients change their relationship to health and fitness. The result
is superior personal training delivered to our clients door.
At Home with Personal Training!
Yours in Health and Fitness,
Janine Hightower
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what our clients are saying:
"Janine Hightower possesses a rare gift in the world of personal training. She uses
her personal experience with fitness to create a unique model for personal training.
There is a spirit that shines through her that motivates me and creates magic and
miracles whenever we are together."
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