Zumba instructor Lori-Anne Peters remembers a time when she was a little girl and loved going to Ukrainian dancing, but suddenly had to stop.
“I can remember the instructor of the dance school telling my mom that I was such a good dancer, but it was a money thing,” Peters explained. “My mom couldn't afford the costume and back then you had to pay for somebody to make it or you bought it. My mom had to pull me out of dancing.”
For someone who loves dancing as much as Peters does and who struggled with weight loss issues her entire life, doing what she does today has been a long time coming, but she is smiling again like before.
“So now, twice a week, I get to dance my heart out. I love this because it’s my way of thinking I can just be who I am,” she said. “ I feel so much passion for it.”
Peters’ love of dance and commitment to a healthier lifestyle earned her front page status on the February edition of Diane Magazine, the official online magazine of Curves named after co-founder Diane Heavin. To read the feature on Peters, see www.curves.com/diane-magazine.
Throughout her life, Peters has experienced difficult situations from being picked on as a child because of her size to losing family members due to the effects associated with obesity.
She has tried numerous times to lose weight, yet only in the last few years has she found the perfect remedy and lost almost 120 pounds to prove it.
“I’ve done a complete 180. I eat, breathe and sleep exercise and eating right,” she said. “That’s not to say I’m prone to going back to old ways because I am. I’m an emotional eater. This is a constant battle, but a switch in my brain has gone off that this time it’s going to work.”
Struggling to maintain a certain weight or the lifestyle required for such is something Peters has learned to do with the help of her community, especially the women she meets and teaches.
“You’ve got to glean from your community,” she said. “It’s the women coming together. It’s not the gym, it’s not the pool, it’s the women in the community supporting one another.”
“This isn't just about me,” she continued. “Whether it's my job at Curves or teaching Zumba classes. It's about giving back to the women who come to my classes. I want to be an encourager, I want to support and be a friend. Not everybody wants to befriend their instructor, but for the few who are looking for help I want to be the one that helps them.”
Taking those first steps towards weight loss are probably the hardest, according to Peters, who has had to overcome barriers concerning self worth to eating certain things that are part of one’s cultural background.
“You have to cut yourself some slack because you’re not going to be perfect,” she said. “Since I knew this was going to be a lifetime change, I told myself I would do things that are maintainable for a lifetime. I’m going to learn to eat real food. I mean, c’mon, I’m Ukrainian! That’s part of who I am and it’s my culture.”
One strategy Peters recommends for those who are looking to shed some weight or eat healthier is to keep an open mind about what certain fitness or health clubs advise and then determine what will work best for your situation. However, it is up to you to get off the couch and try.
“People think they’ll get on it tomorrow, but tomorrow might not come,” she said. “It’s not a magic pill, it’s not a quick fix. You’re not alone. Even if you come this time and it doesn’t work, it might the next. There’s no failing in your attempt, the failing comes when you don’t bother.”
Peters said she would love to speak to kids to share her story, but for now working at Curves and conducting her own Zumba classes is what she loves to do and that is the most important thing.
“Someone had told me or I heard somewhere that you’ve got to do what you love,” she said. “I love working at Curves. I love the women there and I love helping and encouraging them. I get a blessing from getting to do a job that I love more than anything. I have this really deep-seated joy that I get to give back. It’s my turn to give back.”
