For the past 18 years, Nancy Mora, a working mom of four, struggled with pregnancy weight. Two years ago, she decided she wanted to make efforts to lose it in a gradual, safe, and healthy way, which led her to join Life Time in Houston, Texas.
She enlisted the help of a trainer, Jessica Tucker, to help her develop and improve her strength-training and nutrition habits. For some extra motivation this past holiday season, she joined Life Time’s 60day Challenge, which she ended up being a finalist to win.
Beyond the expected challenges of the program, Mora confronted another obstacle: In the final stretch of the program, she was diagnosed with COVID-19. Her inspiring story was recently featured in the Houston Chronicle:
Mora, 33, had spent the past two years focusing on her health, developing a fitness routine, and improving her nutrition. She was near the end of Life Time’s 60day winter fitness challenge, an international competition that helps members realize their goals, when she discovered that she had coronavirus.
She submitted her final photos for the competition from quarantine. And out of thousands of contestants from across the U.S., she was named one of the top 10 finalists. “I was literally jumping up and down,” Mora recalled.
She is confident that spending the past two years improving her health helped her fight the coronavirus. “I think if I hadn’t been working out, if I hadn’t started eating right, it would have been 10 times worse.” She credits being fit and healthy for her ability to bounce back fast.
As soon as Mora received a clean bill of health in mid-January, she returned to her gym, Life Time Champions. “A lot of people work out because they want to look good,” Mora said. “I wanted to feel good. I wanted to get through a day without huffing and puffing. And I feel that way now.”
Mora says her hope is to be able to motivate other mothers who want to improve their lifestyle to be healthier for themselves and their children. “I wasn’t looking to change my image or get sexier, but to get stronger and to show my children that you can do anything you set your mind to,” says Mora. “At the end of the challenge [when] I got COVID, I couldn’t wait to get back to the gym and feel better.”
You can read Mora’s full story here: “Tomball Woman Credits Her Fitness Transformation for Her Ability to Battle COVID.”