DUBAI // Staff at a women’s fitness clothing store not only sell workout clothes, they lead the healthy, active lifestyle the clothes were made for, too.
A job in retail involves being on your feet for long hours, often for six days a week, but that has not deterred the women working at Lorna Jane from taking up an offer from their bosses of Dh200 a month to be spent on a sporty activity.
Rossana Garcia, 43, from the Philippines, spends the money on membership at the Fitness 360 gym upstairs from her store at the J3 Mall in Al Manara. She has been working for the Australian company for a year and in the past month alone has dropped about seven kilograms.
“Before this job, I didn’t do any exercise and three meals a day were big, heavy, rice-based meals,” she said. “I was eating whatever I wanted. Now I eat fruits and vegetables every day and have things like oatmeal and eggs as alternatives to rice.”
She is spreading her lifestyle changes to her two teenage sons and husband. “I make them different food now, like salads,” she said. “My husband wants to join me when I work out because he’s really noticed the difference.”
Grace Nisperos, 36, has been working for Lorna Jane since last November, during which time she managed to lose weight and improved her fitness.
“Before I joined Lorna Jane I was overweight. I learnt a lot of things about different exercises and healthy living, recipes to cook, mostly that healthy living isn’t just about losing weight but healthy food and your lifestyle,” she said.
“With the books we are given in the store, we have been able to get so many more ideas of food to cook. For us, rice is a staple food but now I do so many more things for my family. There has been so much input to help us improve our lives here.”
The camaraderie of the store’s all-female sales team has helped the staff on the road to losing weight and feeling better about themselves.
“It’s made such a difference having the support and people to give me advice to become fit and healthy,” Mrs Garcia said.
mswan@thenational.ae