MY Y JOURNEY: CHRISTOPHER QUINONEZ
The beginning of January brings waves of motivation to transform your resolutions into actions. Unfortunately, we all know the reality that by the middle of January those waves of motivation shrink into small splashes. It is difficult to create healthy habits when we do not have a set purpose or reason behind them. We sit down with Christopher Quinonez to tell us more about the purpose in his Y Journey.
"My journey with the Y began 2 years ago when I started working for ACTIVE Network. I loved it because they take care of my three-year-old daughter while I get my workouts in and have watched her grow up. If she doesn’t make it with me, all the staff will always ask me about her whereabouts and her little Y besties miss her too. That’s really the reason I got into my health journey was to keep up with my kids, and when I was 319 pounds, that’s a lot to carry when chasing a 3-year old.
When I came to the Y, I was already down 280 pounds but since I started coming here I have decreased to 204. I have one rule that I follow religiously and it's that I work out a minimum of 3 times a week, but with this Y I come around 4-5 times a week. I think socially, the Y has helped me feel a bit more confident and mentally stronger. For me, my kind of heroes are the regular people that are here consistently, and we see each other every time we workout even if have our headphones on and are not talking. Motivation for me is watching the people around me progress and eventually with time you establish this weird accountability friendship that consistently keeps you working hard to attain your goals. That’s what makes the Y truly special, even if we might not know each other in a very personal way, it still feels like everyone is in this journey together."