Nicole Trapani, Laplace

In February of 2007 I was standing in a wedding and I had a huge wakeup call when I had to order the largest brides maids dress the store had which was a size 20. As soon as the wedding and all of its eating festivities were over I joined the gym with my parents weighing in at around 225lbs at a rather tall 5″. I was that girl who hid in the dark corner of the cycling room so no one could see me and I would never go to the gym alone. It wasn’t long before Bobbie Mitchell one of the cycling instructors became one of my motivators, she was always encouraging me and noticing when I lost a few pounds. One day French Riviera Fitness had a promotional cycling class with an instructor I’d never met before Deanne DePass Feaster, her class was fun and different and she noticed me and asked me if I ever thought of being an instructor for spin because “I had good form and stamina.” I thought she was crazy, I asked her if she was blind, because there is no way anyone wants this short, by this time 200 lbs., girl instructing them. She just laughed and said my weight means nothing and she knew I could do it. Next thing you know I was taking her class on how to be a cycling instructor and a month later I was certified. Since then I’ve also become certified in Yoga and Pilate’s and today I’m instructing six classes a week at several different gyms including two different French Riviera Fitness locations. Over the past year and a half I added 5AM workouts to my routine and was able to weasel my way into lifting weights with a wonderful group of people who are creative and are always challenging me. Now I’m able to walk into the gym and work out on my own with confidence, which I would have never done when I first joined the gym. Today I’m currently wearing a size 6 lately my weight fluctuates between 125 lbs. and 140 lbs. depending on the time of the year and what holiday just passed.