Spotlight Sunday: Lanette!

*Spotlight Sunday is a weekly blog post dedicated to one person that has inspired me to be a better person. This will include people I have known all my life, met recently, and/or only know through blogging. If you want to be a part of Spotlight Sunday, then just be patient! I'll get to you, I promise. :)

Who is Lanette?
Lanette is many things. She's a mother, a wife, a mother-in-law; she's a Weight Watchers Leader, a piano teacher, a personal trainer and a friend.

How do I know Lanette?
The first time I met Lanette was at a Weight Watcher's meeting in the beginning of Oct. 2007. She was a substitute for my regular leader, and right away I knew I liked her. She was positive, spoke well, organized, and most of all, she listened to what people had to say. When she passed around her before-and-after pictures, which included pictures of her family, I knew right away that she was LDS! Suddenly, the Relief Society type teaching she did made a whole lot of sense. :)

Imagine my surprise when I literally ran into her the very next morning; she was out running with a friend, and so was I! It was then that I learned she was in my Stake. Soon after, I heard about an amazing class that was offered --for free!--at my church building each Tues and Thurs morning at 6AM. I was hesitant to go at first --in fact, it took me at least a month before I did -- but when I found out Lanette was the instructor, I knew I had to go.

What is it about Lanette that inspires me?

1. Her optimism about women's health, which fuels her determination to teach the weight training class twice a week. And this class is hard! I have felt muscles I didn't realize I even had! But it doesn't matter if one is overweight, thin, pregnant, older, or younger; she finds a way to make all of us feel good about our bodies. She's also very helpful in making sure we are doing the exercises correctly. Then, of course, she has her Healthy Life Blog and leads WW meetings. You could say, health is her life! Or maybe that's the only part of her life I know about? Hmmm...
2. The fact that she was able to lose 65 pounds (was that the right total, Lanette?) and keep it off!
3. Her kindness --she doesn't have to provide such great weight training for free, but she still does!
4. Her awesome sense of humor; we're always laughing at the class or at weight watcher meetings. She knows what to take seriously, what to laugh about, and how to combine the two. It makes it easier to talk about weight issues in that kind of environment.
5. The fact that she's not exactly a spring chicken. She's not "old"; but she is my mother's age. And yet, there she is, kicking our trash in class, lifting heavy weights and pushing us as far as we can go. I love that! And she's not stick-thin --she's healthy, healthy, healthy. Which is what I want to be (obviously), so just watching her gives me the motivation to stay healthy throughout my life.

Sadly, I will have to leave Lanette behind when we move to Utah next month. But luckily, she blogs! If you get a minute, go read what Lanette has to say...

P.S. Lanette, if you would like me to leave a link to your personal blog, please let me know!