Is it Time to Diagnose a Fitness Flat?

By Brigid Morrissey

I’m sitting in the waiting room at Big O Tires waiting for my car to get fixed. Lately, my tires aren’t the only things feeling a little flat. But just like my tires, my problem can be fixed, and now I also know a body mechanic.


While on a school field trip with her son, Dannielle Hadaway started talking with one of the other chaperoning mothers who had a position at the YMCA. She thought Dannielle should consider a job there as well. Dannielle never really had a passion for athletics, but she has always been fit, so she took the advice of the mother and pursued a job as a personal trainer and has been working through the YMCA since 2009.

Between her job and the role of being a mom, she was still able to compete in two Ironman competitions. Through one of her training periods, she met a fellow competitor, Dr. Ashli Collins, a physician in this area since 2002. Enthusiasm for staying active may have brought them together, but enthusiasm for helping people is what has keeps them together.

There are countless gyms and trendy exercise programs, but it’s hard to find one that doesn’t breed the mindset to “focus on the scale.” Dr. Collins and Dannielle wanted to create a niche that’s different. Enter FitnessRx. The business has only been open for 16 months, but it hasn’t taken that long for clients to realize its unique concept and get results. The mission is not just to burn fat, but to teach people how to burn fat.

I’ve never been a fan of science, but Dannielle was able to break it down so my right-brained mind could understand. At the first session, a client is tested to determine which way his or her body burns fat. The test involves wearing a mask (a really attractive mask, at that) and walking on a treadmill at increasing speeds for up to an hour. This test measures the amount of carbon dioxide released by the body, which then helps determine where the client’s body is getting its energy, or calories.

Writer Brigid Morrissey took the metabolic machine test that measures from what source your body gets its energy.

Your body uses calories from carbohydrates, fats, or proteins, and the metabolic machine determines which of these is a client’s energy source. In addition to what a person consumes, there are other contributing factors to how the body gets energy, including an individual’s DNA or her exercise over the years.

Ideally, the body should get energy from its internal fat, where there are 60,000 to 80,000 calories stored, and not the calories from the food a person eats. After a consultation of the client’s goals, Dannielle creates a food plan, and the client can train at FitnessRx.

Dannielle knows the importance of building trust so she can push people past their expectations. The best part? Anybody can do this. It’s not a cookie cutter weight program or food diet. Finding the right way to stay healthy is about finding where you fit.