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Before & After Fitness Stories
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History of Body Change Wellness Studios
The History of Body Change
History of Body Change:
Jim Paulin, Owner, Educating Our Community in Bodybuilding, Fitness, Health,
Nutrition and Wellness for the Past Six Years
It’s true, kettlebells offer fitness gains that can tone and shape your body in a few
workouts a week. This is the reason they’re the tool of choice for many leading ladies in
Hollywood.
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Jim Paulin, owner of Body Change has been educating our community in all aspects of bodybuilding, fitness, health, nutrition and wellness for the past six years. He has earned the trust of people in our community for one simple reason – his program works. Health-conscious people from around the Wabash Valley have benefited greatly from Jim’s concept of making great change in an individual’s body, by building Lean Body Mass (LBM).
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At age forty, about 280 pounds and a former smoker, Jim, an avid hunter, was in the woods pre-season to put up three deer stands. After putting up the steps for the first stand he became very tired. He rested, but could not complete any of the three stands. On his way home he had a heart-to-heart with himself.
He had such a passion for hunting but couldn’t put up a single deer stand. He stopped by a local grocery store and spotted a ‘Muscle & Fitness’ magazine. He thumbed through it and stumbled upon a sentence that changed his life, it said, “Muscle tissue was the key to weight loss”. He purchased the magazine and read the editorial written by Joe Weider, The Master Blaster. Two weeks later he found himself in a book store and purchased the book ‘Body for Life’. Originally, a gift for his daughter, he read the book, told his wife, Susan about it and they together decided to try this 84 day program along with weight lifting to increase muscle tissue. After 84 days Jim dropped 50 pounds. He decided to stick with it and after about 8 months he lost a total of 100lbs. and increased his muscle tissue. He told his sister how he changed his body and she too did the BFL program. She also decided to become certified as a fitness instructor and encouraged Jim to do the same.
Jim was not completely satisfied with his sales job and went into work and quit. He got a night job with Fed Ex and studied during the day to get his certification in fitness from The International Sports Science Association by Dr. Hatfield. He really didn’t know what he was going to do with his certification but had enjoyed helping his sister change, as well as his wife and himself. Jim got a side job teaching fitness but really didn’t see any Body Changes.
He knew that eating was key but needed to test it on someone. He recruited his wife’s brother who had gained weight during his married life and was now going through a divorce. Jim took before and after picture’s of his brother-in-law. It was a huge success. People started asking how he did it and soon Jim received his first paying client. He really didn’t know what kind of price he should charge to change someone’s body. He wanted an amount that the average person could afford. He decided on $500. His first client, Patty, gave Jim a deposit of $100 before Christmas and wanted to start the program after the holidays. The day that Patty was supposed to start, Jim gave her a start date and a finish date. He later found out that Patty had planned to ask for her money back that day, but when she heard the finish date, it was the one year anniversary of her divorce so she decided to do this for herself. She too was a huge success. Patty is a local hair dresser. Some of her clients could not believe the change in her body and decided to join. Then their friends came. People just kept coming. Jim told one of his first clients, Jeanine, that if he ever became successful he wanted to hire her to work with him. She is now a trainer at Body Change.
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Soon Jim’s home was overwhelmed with Body Changer’s. He was out growing his space in the garage and they decided to start looking for a bigger place. Jim noticed a small building on the North end of Terre Haute and decided to rent that space. He was able to add a kitchen and start cooking classes. This was much easier than going to his clients homes and teaching them the importance of the eating program. It didn’t take long before he out grew that space as well. He found a place twice as big, remodeled it and soon it too, became too small. He rented an additional 2,000 sq. ft. Jim soon realized that some people wanted more than just an 84 day program. So he started a maintenance program. Jim was the housekeeper, cooking class instructor, and the maintenance trainer. Soon he hired three part-time trainers. Jim found out that one of his clients really enjoyed cooking and he hired her to become the Cooking Class Instructor.
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But he was still outgrowing his space. An avid reader, Jim read many self help books as he was getting started and continues his love of reading today. One book he read by Jack Canfield suggested that you put in writing 100 things you want to do before you die and start to do them. One of Jim’s goals that he wrote down was that by December of 2007 he wanted to own his own building. Two weeks before years end Jim received the keys to his building and on Christmas Eve opened to his Changers!
Another aspect to Jim’s business is his Kettlebell Training. His wife, Sue, is the Kettlebell Trainer. Kettlebells are a Russian technique to weight training (see our article on The History of Kettlebells). Soon came the General Food Store, complete with Bakery and Deli, managed by our own Cooking Class Instructor, Cindy. Also, Jim has partnered with a local foundry and we are now in the process of selling our own locally made Kettlebells.
One of Jim’s many goals is to change 10,000 bodies. In order to do this, we
are expanding our business to multiple locations throughout the state of Indiana. The
second Body Change open in 2008 in Avon, Indiana, located on the
west side of metropolitan Indianapolis. |
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