Community News
Cochran native uses spiritual fitness to get physically fit.
By BleckleyProgress.com contributor
Mar 8, 2010, 22:44

Tonette Rowland Raber will be 35 on June 30. Laughing, she looks forward to the big birthday and says, “Send big gifts.”

But knowing the wife of Paul and mother of Melanie, 9, Melissa, 7, and Austin, 2 1/2. Raber would send the gifts back or give them to someone less fortunate.

Humble and responsible, Raber enjoys “new adventures – stuff like learning to play tennis with my 9-year-old, etc…..also meeting interesting people.”

She graduated from high school in Bleckley County in the early 1990s, and received her bachelor of science degree from the University of Georgia in 1999. She wanted to be a teacher when she was growing up, but instead became a certified fitness trainer.

Raber said, “I never had a moment when I got on the scale and looked at a number and said “THAT’S IT!” I must do something to change my life… I never had one of those.  However, I had COUNTLESS times over the years when I got off of a scale and said, “I feel like a fat slob, and I hate the way I feel about  myself right now.”

But says Raber, she did have a ” life-changing “Aha” moment was in late February 2009.  I poured my heart out to God asking Him to help me change my LIFE in many areas in which I had struggled for years (diet and exercise included).

I told Him I had tried in my own strength over and over to be self-disciplined, only to keep failing in a seemingly endless, hopeless cycle. I asked Him to change me to make me the person He wanted me to be.  I wanted to be consistent in all areas, stop yo-yo “dieting,” and stop getting on and off of that scale feeling like a “slave” to a number.  Not only did I NOT want to be in bondage to a “number,”

I didn’t want to be in bondage in any area of my life…unhealthy relationships, habits, lack of discipline, laziness, etc.  There is a passage in the Bible that refers to a person being a slave to whatever masters Him…I knew the only “Master” I wanted in my life was God. “

She continued, “Food was a big area in which I felt like a slave, an addict to things like unhealthy choices and overeating.  For example, I remember days when I could eat a whole bag of miniature Reese’s cups in one sitting.  It was extremely difficult for me to stop.  Food brought me great comfort.  I understand why people eat for comfort.

I believe eating is intended to be a comfort and bring us pleasure in healthy moderation; however, when it becomes a “coping” mechanism for pain, hurt, emptiness in our lives,  WE are in BIG trouble-  Must like an alcoholic or drug abuser who turns to their substance of choice as an “escape.”  We have to replace those harmful substances with healthy choices. “

Raber said, “I believe God began to answer my prayer in the area of diet and exercise late last winter by giving me strength to start exercising and eating right.  One morning I just got up and started going back to the gym again.

About the same time, I read a book on healthy eating and bought a women’s fitness magazine.  I started doing the strength training plan featured in that month’s issue.  

NONE of this happened overnight, it was month’s in the making. It was not done perfectly.  I would go, go, go and be on a good roll with it all, then I’d revert for a few days to bad habits, especially when I was “down” or feeling depressed.  I began to make note of this cycle in my head.  

I think a real breakthrough for me was when I let go of “PERFECTIONISM” in my thinking: “Oh, no, I’ve messed up my routine or today’s diet, I guess I’ll just give up.” For the first time in my life I began to stop looking at it with an “All or Nothing” approach.  

This is an area in which I believe God began answering my prayers.  I began to approach it with an attitude of one day at a time, one step at a time, one prayer at a time.  In turn, it was at this point that with every rep, every step, every mile…I began to change, getting stronger and more fit physically, but also changing and getting stronger mentally & spiritually. “

Smiling, she said, “I’ve certainly not arrived in any area of my life.  I still feel bondage at times many things in my life.  However, I believe in the area of Food and Nutrition that God has granted me grace and helped me to overcome a lot of the bondage I used to feel.  Reese cups still bully me from time to time, but their day is coming.”

Recently Raber has entered a new avenue of the fitness world – online fitness training.

She said, “Online fitness training is It’s like meeting with a trainer in person, except it’s done through email consultations and/ or phone calls.  The trainer can perform basic assessments, design workouts, suggest nutritional resources, and offer ongoing motivation & inspiration to help a client reach his/her individual fitness goals.”

Raber added, ” I thought it would be a good way for me to be able to help more women ( I have friends who live too far away for me to train in person and online training allows me to expand those geographical limits)  Additionally, online fitness training provides a good solution for the woman who is more comfortable with privacy.  Her training and consultations can be done in the privacy of her own home.  No watchful eyes.“

She said, ” I see the “Online Fitness Consultations” as being an integral part of my personal training business.  It is just one of many valuable resources and personalized services I intend to further develop in an effort to help as many women as possible in achieving their total fitness goals.“

“Without God, I would not be a fitness trainer, but I’d be a professional Cheeto-eating, couch potato slob doing 12 oz Coca Cola curls. God is important in all areas of my life.”

She said,  “It is not about how many times you fall on our face in life, it’s about how many times you get back up and move forward. Trust me, I know this from experience. You’re stronger than you think.”


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