TAKE A BREAK: Get With the Program

“How many times have you wanted to get in shape? You go to a gym. You dress the part. You may even play that music from Rocky in your headphones. And it all comes to a screeching halt. Not for Richard Wilensky and Sharon Haight Gallagher though. They are just 2 of the many success stories to come out of a special program at capital region Gold's Gyms. They call it their Body Transformation Challenge and label it a ''life altering'' experience for serious participants. It was for Richard and Sharon. ‘I was a heavy child,’ Richard recalls. ‘I experienced what it was like to be picked on and always last for the sports.’ ‘For the past 15 years,’ Sharon says, ‘I've had a very sedentary job. I gained a great deal of weight. I must have gained about 70 pounds,’ she admits. Richard was over 200 pounds and after the 12 week program, was down in the 160s. Sharon says she went from a size 20 to a size 12. There's no elixir with magical qualities here but it does take a spoonful of commitment and determination. A gold's trainer works with participants to get them on course for their ‘transformation’ and away they go. Weight loss, muscle mass, general fitness, you name it. Your progress is tracked and the staff is there to encourage and challenge you. If you think you just won't make time for it, you can rationalize it like Richard did. ‘If i can make it to my TV set every Monday night at 9 for a certain show," he says, ‘why can't I register myself to be at the gym at a certain time?’ And if you think you're just not strong enough, Sharon thought so too. ‘Because I had tried off and on over the years to try exercise programs here or there and it never seemed to work,’ she says, ‘or I never stuck with it.’ ‘I can be strong. I am strong and I can do it.’ So have you got 12 weeks to invest in a healthier you? Now's your chance to Get With the Program. CBS 6 and Gold's Gym are teaming up for a fitness challenge reality series called Get With the Program. Just complete the online forms by april 17th and if you're selected as one of the top candidates, you're in. Every week, contestants will work out and then submit status reports, via webcam, and it'll all be posted at cbs6albany.com. There's a great prize package for the winner and everyone who signs up online has a chance of winning a one year membership to Gold's. And the host of these reality segments, CBS 6 Anchor Jerry Gretzinger, will also be participating and doing all the excercising and video blogging right along with the contestants. So go ahead. Get With the Program!”

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