Andrea Logan is a certified fitness trainer who spends time between Los Angeles and Charlotte, NC. At the age of 55, she has been an instructor for 35 years, helping others become stronger and healthier. She also believes that she is physically fit to save her life twice. Logan shared her story with today.
Fitness is a lot for everyone. People want to stay lean, or just enjoy food, get dressed to look good, and compete. Fitness is very different for me. Fitness has saved my life twice. It really changed my life.
I was a top athlete all the time in high school, but when I went to college, I had a rude awakening that I had to work hard to reach the top spot. I gained a little weight and developed eating disorders and bulimia. I thought it would make me lose weight. What I controlled was my own little secret, but in the end it only controlled me. It has been with me for over 13 years.
I’m 5 feet tall, 10 inches tall, and weigh about 155 pounds, but weigh 115 pounds. I looked like a lollipop — someone with a really big head and a small body.
When I was in Bing, I would probably eat 20,000 calories at a time. It takes less than 30 minutes from Burger King to Taco Bell and McDonald’s. It was a very self-destructive journey. It was terrible. I am surprised that I am still alive. All my teeth became crowned and lost my gallbladder due to vomiting — it was completely affected by stones —. I had some heart problems.
Still, like GI Jane, I wanted to be strong and muscular. My goal was to be a really strong woman. I was training Marines and had to do what they had to do. But between Bing and Purge I couldn’t get stronger — they were never compatible. So I started my journey to be healthy, and fitness kept me mentally strong, which kept me sane. I’m healthy. I realized that food is not an enemy. I say this was the first time fitness saved my life.
Worried about the “ugly monster” coming back
Fitness saved my life after the 2017 car accident. I was sitting still when another driver, sending a text message at 55-65 mph, hit me from behind in a traffic jam in Los Angeles. I don’t remember her hitting me, but I remember calling 911 as I started to tingle in my hand. The first thing I thought was “Oh, my god, my neck.”
I had the disc collapsed and the disc entered the spine. In other words, it hit all the nerves. If I weren’t as strong as myself, such a shock might have broken my neck. If I had been such a weak and frail girl from the past, I think my body couldn’t maintain that power.
The first doctor I went to said that fusion surgery was needed. In other words, all neck movements would have been lost. You wouldn’t have been able to see left, right, top, bottom. I thought, “What a hell, I’m going to lose my best friend’s strength.” The scariest thing was that I didn’t know if the ugly monster I call an eating disorder would come back because my fitness was sane.
I went to another doctor who put an artificial disc around my neck, and he was really my savior. I had the best surgeon who understood why it was so important to me to stay active. I’m back with all my might within a year. I don’t seem to have had a neck injury today.
Journeys with the neck have come to understand how important our spine is and how our joints and bones need to be stronger as we grow older. Tell people that you need to start traveling 3-4 days a week for at least 45-50 minutes. You don’t have to be in fitness class all the time, but you need to lift the weights. You need to strengthen your bones.
If we are active and have the right diet, we can understand it all. In many cases, dieting is not sustainable, so I don’t diet people. I eat modestly, eat cleanly, and eat lots of vegetables. I eat good carbs like sweet potatoes and brown rice. I don’t eat much lean meat, but I eat a lot of chicken and fish. Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and watermelons are my go-to fruits.
I will not protect myself from anything. If you want candy, you know how to do it in moderation. I cheat my favorite Mexican food every week.
Fitness is still one of my greatest passions. It helps us think better and more clearly, and it brings empowerment.
I want people to understand that you can experience anything in life and you can return stronger from it. It doesn’t have to be frustrated.
This interview has been edited and summarized for clarity.
