Fitness Shoot ~ Danielle

This week Danielle and her family are vacationing in Kissimmee, FL (about 40 minutes South of Downtown Orlando) from Birmingham, AL. I met Danielle when we worked together at Massage Envy last year. She texted me on Monday and we set plans to hang out today for a photoshoot and power walk. Since I have been in a great exercise mode since Tuesday (prepping for the Glitter Run next month) -by riding bikes 9 miles with Michael before work, and 10.7 miles by myself yesterday- and knowing Danielle had been working on her health as well, I suggested a fitness photoshoot. Another style to add to my "photography resume"! Tonight I was able to navigate around Photoshop enough to edit the photos just slightly, to make them pop.

Danielle says she has weighed around 274 for the past few years and has lost 40 pounds since this spring. (She gave me permission to post her progress numbers.) She began working out on and off since early this year, but started exercising seriously on June 1st in order to be fit and healthy. She hired a trainer who inspires her with outside running and weight lifting using 30 pound dumbbells. Danielle and her mom began their diet with Shakeology breakfast meal replacements, but it was pricey, and now she keeps her meals balanced to include, salad with grilled chicken, fish, yogurt, wheat bread, and a lot of veggies and water. Danielle is going to keep up the great work, by participating in the 8k Battle Frog obstacle race (a 5 mile mud run) in November in Atlanta, and another run in January which takes place in New Orleans. Once she reaches her goal weight of 200 pounds, which is better for her height of 5'10", she will continue to exercise and eat healthy to maintain this new lifestyle change. She wants to encourage and inspire others, and show them that if she can lose weight, they can too.

Of course we had to take a few model-y and silly pictures too. Danielle is very fun to work with and I loved that she let me throw cold water on her during our walk, after I doused myself. A walk is so much more enjoyable that way! I also laughed really loud when she showed me "before" pictures on her phone from the past few years and exclaimed, "I was so fat! Why didn't anyone tell me I was so fat?!" Laughing is all part of the heart pumping side effects. Getting our energy up by walking the 3 miles around the lake gave us epiphanies about how beneficial exercising is and how the word "diet" shouldn't exist because when someone is on a diet, they are simply eating healthy and exercising and taking care of themselves-- which is what we are supposed to do all of the time anyway. There should be a word for everyone who is not dieting. I was proud of her though. She told me this would be her "2-A-Day", meaning it was her second work out for the day since she ran this morning near where her family is staying. I'm proud of her for making it too, and gave her my granola bar and raisins to refuel. But the best part was right by where these pictures were taken. A bunch of kids were playing and for some reason, when we walked by, half of them began clapping. I believe it was all for her, so I clapped too.

Here is a link to the post for the first photoshoot I did for Danielle in July 2014: http://rachel-wildphotography.blogspot.com/2014/07/portraits-danielle.html. She loves having her own personal photographer! Michael and I are celebrating early Christmas in Birmingham mid December and I'll probably meet up with Danielle one of those days for a further progress shoot. Stay tuned! ;)