Euro Pilates Owner—Think ‘Healthier’ Instead Of Just ‘Thinner’ By Gary Nager Statistics show that most people in this country make “losing weight” one of their primary New Year’s resolutions. The same statistics also say that most people quickly give up on those resolutions. Well, Maria Ivanova, the owner of the Euro Pilates studio on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in front of Live Oak Preserve, says that this year, instead of pledging to lose weight, a better resolution might be to simply try to get healthier — and Ivanova, the Moscow, Russia, native and former rhythmic gymnast, says her studio can help you not only lose weight, but also help you get rid of pain and live a healthier life. Despite the sagging economy and the fact that some people might think that regularly visiting a Pilates studio is a “luxury” they can’t afford, many of Ivanova’s clients say that they can’t imagine NOT having ongoing individual and/or group training sessions at Euro Pilates in their lives. “It’s very gratifying to be able to help people in such a unique way,” Ivanova says. “The greatest compli-
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ment someone can give me is that my staff and I have been able to help them look and feel better.” I had the opportunity to sit in on training sessions and chat with two of Ivanova’s clients recently, including Vivian, who says that she was training with Ivanova for 2-1/2 years before Euro Pilates opened. “I was in a lot of pain after back surgery,” says Vivian. “But, not only has Maria helped me with my pain, I’ve gone from a size 6/8 down to a size 0/2. I really can’t imagine ever giving this up.” Ivanova says that when people focus on living healthier and make the decision to start training at Euro Pilates, they are so much more in tune with their bodies that they generally start eating less...and healthier. Her client named Kathleen, who served 23 years in the U.S. military herself and whose husband Chris is still in the Army, says that she suffered major back problems after parachute and rappelling training. “I weighed more than 200 pounds when I first started with Maria back in May of this year,” Kathleen says. “But, not only have I lost 47
Euro Pilates owner Maria Ivanova has helped Vivian lose weight and get in the best shape of her life following back surgery. pounds since then, I actually started her clients to get in better touch with eating healthier after just one session their bodies and to understand when here. I still have some weight to lose, they are out of alignment or under but I feel better than I have in years.” tremendous stress. Maria says that Pilates helps her As I mentioned in a previous articlients because it is so different from cle, I did two training sessions at Euro any other training or weight-loss proPilates myself and the most amazing gram. She says Pilates training allows thing was how Maria instantly recog-
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