#RIPPEDFamily, you don’t know how pumped we are to share Season 35 with you! But first, we wanted to introduce you to some very special individuals. This season we wanted to recognize our family members who made epic transformations in their lives, diets, fitness routines and mindset. As you can imagine, this was not an easy process being that our entire family has experienced incredible transformations.
So we thought long and hard and decided to reach out to Pj Bondoc, Lily Albright, Michael Pinson and Angelique de Nava. You will see these superstars featured in Season 35, and also learn how they successfully transformed their lives to be the happy energetic people you see today.
This week, let’s get to know Lily and Pj!
Lily Albright
Lily joined our family in the fall of 2016 shortly after her daughter left for college, at the Monroe County YMCA in Bloomington, IN. She began to question her life and decided it was time to “get off the couch, get rid off the junk food, and join the local YMCA.” Lily started taking group fitness classes for the first time and quickly found R.I.P.P.E.D.
“I love the sports-based movements, the supportive community, and the excellent instructors. I enjoyed the movement, felt accountable to and supported by the participants, and was motivated and encouraged by the instructors. I set weight loss and fitness goals, monthly and I’ve lost 185 pounds.”
Lily is still pinching herself after being asked to participate in Season 35 and described her experience as “surreal.” She felt so hopeless and ashamed of her weight for so long that it’s now a strange and amazing feeling to see herself as fit and healthy.
“I am honored to represent the YMCA, my R.I.P.P.E.D. instructors, and my fellow participants. I am still pinching myself – was it real? I love the fact that Tina and Terry include “regular” people in their training videos. They are modeling the kind of non- judgmental support that they expect from their master trainers and instructors around the country (and world). I could feel the confidence they had in me. It is empowering!”
She likes to help people stay motivated in their journey’s by telling them to just start and restart if necessary. “To quote a good friend, ‘just put one foot in front of the other.’’ Find a powerful and motivating reason for the change in your lifestyle and remind yourself of that reason, often. Then, be disciplined and consistent. It will happen.”
Pj Bondoc
Pj thanks his wife, Jeime for introducing him to R.I.P.P.E.D. in 2013 at In-Shape Fitness Center in Brentwood, CA. In fact, we’d like to send a big thank you as well! Pj was in a horrible car accident 24 years ago that lead to months of recovery and has since experienced years of frequent emergency room visits, surgeries and medical complications. Throughout this time Jeime stood by his side, took care of him and encouraged Pj to live a healthier lifestyle.
“Physically I had to endure being mostly bedridden, only to get around by wheelchair which my wife had to lug around everywhere. All of this impacted my mental well-being and discouraging belief that I was “broken,” which led me to disregard my health, mind, and body. But my wife never stopped believing in me. She changed our eating habits by going the extra mile of preparing our food every week and by holding me accountable for sticking to eating
for a healthier lifestyle. Through the combination of months of eating healthy and exercise I was able to lose over 60 pounds!”
Pj became certified in 2016 with Master Trainer Rossie Ballard and the timing was perfect. His current R.I.P.P.E.D. instructor announced her retirement shortly after and his fellow participants urged him to take over saying, “It has to be one of us.” And he has been teaching every Saturday morning in Antioch since. He even expanded his classes to Brentwood, CA teaching on Monday nights.
After hearing this incredible journey we’re sure you understand why we had to feature Pj in our Transformation Edition of R.I.P.P.E.D.
“It’s truly a blessing to have been selected by Tina & Terry Shorter to join a group of super inspiring individuals to represent the first Transformation Edition for R.I.P.P.E.D. It’s a blessing that I believe is all part of God’s master plan, and for that, I am in debt to follow through and share my journey thus far, along with such a super inspirational group of people.”
When asked how he likes to motivate others he says to focus on faith.
“We all will continually go through life with trials and tribulations, some more challenging than others in any space and time. But never should we lose the most important thing—faith. Have faith in yourself to keep moving when you don’t feel like moving and believe that you will achieve your goals. No matter how high, how far or how difficult, faith is the door that leads to all that is positive.”
We had THE best time getting to know you both Pj and Lily. Thank you so much for inspiring us with your incredible transformations.
#RIPPEDFamily, stay tuned for Angelique de Nava and Michael Pinson’s stories next week. If these stories made you pull out the tissues, you may not want to put them away just yet.
In the meantime, get more inspiration to set and stick to your 2019 resolutions by reading more motivating stories on our blog.