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Meet Our barre3 Challenge Share Your Story Contest Winner
We had hundreds of submissions to our Share Your Story contest, but Kelly Flores’ stood out—not just for her physical transformation, but for the way she overhauled her life in one short month. Read on to find out how she slashed her caffeine intake, ditched her nightly glass of wine, and changed the way her family eats. Here’s Kelly in her own words.
Last November my husband, Giovanni, and I went on a date, and on our way to the restaurant we happened to walk by a barre3 studio. At the time, it seemed like a random moment—just a fun detail in our night out. Little did I know, that short walk by barre3 Willow Glen would change my lifestyle, my health, and my family’s health.
How did it happen? Giovanni and I ducked into the studio on a whim, and the woman at the front desk greeted us like old friends and gave us a tour. I remember thinking, “Man, this looks so fun,” but I knew I wouldn’t be able to fit studio classes into my schedule. I’m a preschool teacher, a mom of 2- and 4-year-old boys, and married to a man who works full time and goes to school full time. Carving out 60 straight minutes for myself is an absolute pipe dream! But she told us about barre3 Online, so I went home that night and tried my first 10-minute workout. It was unlike any workout I’d ever done. Challenging and intense—I was definitely shaking!—but it felt good. I seriously didn’t know that was possible.
I’ve been an athlete all my life—college-level soccer, kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts—and the exercise “truth” I was always told was that for a workout to be effective, it has to be super high-intensity. Basically, you have to be dripping with sweat by the end if you want results. But I always found that after working out like that, I was too sore and exhausted to exercise again for several days. And it didn’t give me the results I wanted. Despite pushing myself insanely hard, I felt bulky and zapped of energy. I also had four knee surgeries over the course of my college soccer career, which ultimately made high-impact exercise impossible, and after that, I had two kids. Between the baby weight and the inability to do what I considered effective exercise, it seemed like I would never feel good in my body.
So barre3 was nothing short of a revelation. Right away I noticed the way the instructors talked to me (ha! But it seriously felt like they were talking directly to me) during the online workouts. They never told me I had to do something or that there’s only one right way. It’s all options and education, and I have such a great respect for that. I loved the modifications—especially for my knee pain. I loved that I didn’t feel like I was in competition with anyone (a huge change from my college soccer days!).
I’ve done—no exaggeration—at least one workout every day since that first 10-minute session. Sometimes it’s 10 minutes, sometimes 30, sometimes the full 60—hitting the pause button to tend to a screaming kid every now and then. Giovanni even got on board. At first he was like, “OK I’ll try it, but it’s just for moms, right?” He’s a former MMA fighter, so anything even vaguely close to ballet wasn’t his idea of exercise. But after a few workouts he was a convert. He’s always had back pain, and this is the only workout that not only doesn’t hurt his back, it helps it.* He now does a workout every day at 5 a.m.
When January rolled around and I read about the Challenge, I thought, OK, I’m going to do this. Giovanni agreed to do it too, and having a partner was HUGE for me. We were already doing the workouts daily, so mostly it was just a matter of cooking the barre3 recipes. Holy COW. This changed everything. I have to be honest, the first time I went shopping for ingredients was the first time I’d tried most of these foods. Quinoa? Kale? GROUND FLAX? Even the veggies—I probably shouldn’t admit this—were foreign to me. Up until then, if it wasn’t broccoli or carrots, I hadn’t cooked it. I relied on what I considered “convenient” foods—frozen pizzas, easy pastas, meat-heavy dinners. Sweet potatoes were a whole new world! Somehow, though, I wasn’t intimidated by the nutrition plan. I think because I was already so in love with barre3, I trusted that they’d steer me in the right direction. I cooked barre3 recipes the whole month, including smoothies for breakfast every morning. I had no idea eating whole foods could taste so amazing and make me feel so good. I feel like I’ve gotten an entire education in nutrition in just one month.
Two other huge changes: I did “dry January,” and I tackled my coffee addiction. I’ll say it—I’m a busy mom, and when 5 p.m. rolled around, I was always ready for my glass of wine. But I think because I was already feeling so good from the exercise and the amazing food, dropping the wine habit felt totally natural. Ditching coffee was a little harder because I was drinking six—SIX!—cups a day. It takes a ton of energy to teach preschool, and I thought coffee was the only way to sustain that energy. But Sadie explained in one of her podcasts that you could curb your coffee intake by switching to green tea, so I tried it. I still have one cup in the morning (though I hope to drop that, too), but after that I just drink water or green tea. And here’s the craziest part: I have SO MUCH MORE energy without the coffee!
By the end of the Challenge, I was 20 pounds lighter and walking on air.* But what’s really cool is that I’ve totally overhauled my lifestyle. I’ve had so much fun learning to nourish my body and my boys’ bodies. Giovanni and I are planning to plant an organic garden this year—something I never even considered doing before. And I feel supported in a way I never have before. I’ve been on teams and in exercise classes my whole life, but the barre3 community is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s funny because I do almost all of my workouts online, so you’d think I’d be lacking that personal connection. But with the workouts and blog, I still I feel a part of a big, supportive family. And when I talk about the barre3 community, I’m talking about Giovanni, too. Doing barre3 together—not just the workouts but the entire lifestyle—has strengthened our relationship more than I could have imagined.
Looking ahead, my dream is to open our own studio one day. We’re already starting to take more classes at barre3 Willow Glen, and we feel totally at home there. The idea that Giovanni and I could help others feel at home too and find the joy and balance that we’ve found with barre3 is so exciting.
I’ll leave you with this: If I can do barre3 and get these results, anyone can. Four months ago, I had given up on exercise, I barely glanced at the produce section of my grocery store, and I relied on copious amounts of coffee to get me through the day. I’m so glad my husband and I decided to pop into the Willow Glen studio on our date night back in November. I’ve learned so much since then, and I know I’ll continue to learn as I keep practicing barre3. This lifestyle has changed my body, my mind, and my heart, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone I know.
Inspired by Kelly? Find a barre3 studio or subscribe to barre3 Online to start your own journey to a healthier and happier you.
*Results may vary
We had hundreds of submissions to our Share Your Story contest, but Kelly Flores’ stood out—not just for her physical transformation, but for the way she overhauled her life in one short month. Read on to find out how she slashed her caffeine intake, ditched her nightly glass of wine, and changed the way her family eats. Here’s Kelly in her own words.
Last November my husband, Giovanni, and I went on a date, and on our way to the restaurant we happened to walk by a barre3 studio. At the time, it seemed like a random moment—just a fun detail in our night out. Little did I know, that short walk by barre3 Willow Glen would change my lifestyle, my health, and my family’s health.
How did it happen? Giovanni and I ducked into the studio on a whim, and the woman at the front desk greeted us like old friends and gave us a tour. I remember thinking, “Man, this looks so fun,” but I knew I wouldn’t be able to fit studio classes into my schedule. I’m a preschool teacher, a mom of 2- and 4-year-old boys, and married to a man who works full time and goes to school full time. Carving out 60 straight minutes for myself is an absolute pipe dream! But she told us about barre3 Online, so I went home that night and tried my first 10-minute workout. It was unlike any workout I’d ever done. Challenging and intense—I was definitely shaking!—but it felt good. I seriously didn’t know that was possible.
I’ve been an athlete all my life—college-level soccer, kickboxing, Mixed Martial Arts—and the exercise “truth” I was always told was that for a workout to be effective, it has to be super high-intensity. Basically, you have to be dripping with sweat by the end if you want results. But I always found that after working out like that, I was too sore and exhausted to exercise again for several days. And it didn’t give me the results I wanted. Despite pushing myself insanely hard, I felt bulky and zapped of energy. I also had four knee surgeries over the course of my college soccer career, which ultimately made high-impact exercise impossible, and after that, I had two kids. Between the baby weight and the inability to do what I considered effective exercise, it seemed like I would never feel good in my body.
So barre3 was nothing short of a revelation. Right away I noticed the way the instructors talked to me (ha! But it seriously felt like they were talking directly to me) during the online workouts. They never told me I had to do something or that there’s only one right way. It’s all options and education, and I have such a great respect for that. I loved the modifications—especially for my knee pain. I loved that I didn’t feel like I was in competition with anyone (a huge change from my college soccer days!).
I’ve done—no exaggeration—at least one workout every day since that first 10-minute session. Sometimes it’s 10 minutes, sometimes 30, sometimes the full 60—hitting the pause button to tend to a screaming kid every now and then. Giovanni even got on board. At first he was like, “OK I’ll try it, but it’s just for moms, right?” He’s a former MMA fighter, so anything even vaguely close to ballet wasn’t his idea of exercise. But after a few workouts he was a convert. He’s always had back pain, and this is the only workout that not only doesn’t hurt his back, it helps it.* He now does a workout every day at 5 a.m.
When January rolled around and I read about the Challenge, I thought, OK, I’m going to do this. Giovanni agreed to do it too, and having a partner was HUGE for me. We were already doing the workouts daily, so mostly it was just a matter of cooking the barre3 recipes. Holy COW. This changed everything. I have to be honest, the first time I went shopping for ingredients was the first time I’d tried most of these foods. Quinoa? Kale? GROUND FLAX? Even the veggies—I probably shouldn’t admit this—were foreign to me. Up until then, if it wasn’t broccoli or carrots, I hadn’t cooked it. I relied on what I considered “convenient” foods—frozen pizzas, easy pastas, meat-heavy dinners. Sweet potatoes were a whole new world! Somehow, though, I wasn’t intimidated by the nutrition plan. I think because I was already so in love with barre3, I trusted that they’d steer me in the right direction. I cooked barre3 recipes the whole month, including smoothies for breakfast every morning. I had no idea eating whole foods could taste so amazing and make me feel so good. I feel like I’ve gotten an entire education in nutrition in just one month.
Two other huge changes: I did “dry January,” and I tackled my coffee addiction. I’ll say it—I’m a busy mom, and when 5 p.m. rolled around, I was always ready for my glass of wine. But I think because I was already feeling so good from the exercise and the amazing food, dropping the wine habit felt totally natural. Ditching coffee was a little harder because I was drinking six—SIX!—cups a day. It takes a ton of energy to teach preschool, and I thought coffee was the only way to sustain that energy. But Sadie explained in one of her podcasts that you could curb your coffee intake by switching to green tea, so I tried it. I still have one cup in the morning (though I hope to drop that, too), but after that I just drink water or green tea. And here’s the craziest part: I have SO MUCH MORE energy without the coffee!
By the end of the Challenge, I was 20 pounds lighter and walking on air.* But what’s really cool is that I’ve totally overhauled my lifestyle. I’ve had so much fun learning to nourish my body and my boys’ bodies. Giovanni and I are planning to plant an organic garden this year—something I never even considered doing before. And I feel supported in a way I never have before. I’ve been on teams and in exercise classes my whole life, but the barre3 community is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. It’s funny because I do almost all of my workouts online, so you’d think I’d be lacking that personal connection. But with the workouts and blog, I still I feel a part of a big, supportive family. And when I talk about the barre3 community, I’m talking about Giovanni, too. Doing barre3 together—not just the workouts but the entire lifestyle—has strengthened our relationship more than I could have imagined.
Looking ahead, my dream is to open our own studio one day. We’re already starting to take more classes at barre3 Willow Glen, and we feel totally at home there. The idea that Giovanni and I could help others feel at home too and find the joy and balance that we’ve found with barre3 is so exciting.
I’ll leave you with this: If I can do barre3 and get these results, anyone can. Four months ago, I had given up on exercise, I barely glanced at the produce section of my grocery store, and I relied on copious amounts of coffee to get me through the day. I’m so glad my husband and I decided to pop into the Willow Glen studio on our date night back in November. I’ve learned so much since then, and I know I’ll continue to learn as I keep practicing barre3. This lifestyle has changed my body, my mind, and my heart, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone I know.
Inspired by Kelly? Find a barre3 studio or subscribe to barre3 Online to start your own journey to a healthier and happier you.
*Results may vary
