The Girl Behind the Camera:

Meet Deirdre

If you’ve ever scrolled through Fitness Incentive’s social media, watched one of our workout reels, or admired a perfectly captured class moment, you’ve already seen Deirdre’s work. She’s the creative eye behind our content, the one with the camera, the ideas, and the vision. But what most people don’t know is that Deirdre isn’t just documenting fitness, she’s living it.

Where It All Began

Around a year ago, Deirdre reached out to me to start training. We’ve known each other since our Babylon grade-school days, and I was immediately excited for the chance to work with her.

My initial consultation with any new client includes a full hour where we sit down to talk goals, exercise history, nutrition, lifestyle, and any limitations. After that first meeting with Deirdre, I knew she was ready to commit.

At the time, she was exclusively doing cycling — and doing a lot of it. She walked daily, too, giving her an extremely high caloric burn each day. The missing piece wasn’t effort. It was weight training and a more structured nutrition approach. And that’s exactly where her hard work came into play.

The Results: Hard Work Pays Off

Fast forward one year, and Deirdre has made an incredible physical transformation:

34 pounds lost
Body fat dropped from 36.5% to 23.1%
Significant muscle gained and a noticeable increase in strength

These aren’t just numbers. They represent hours of training, lifestyle changes, new habits, and a genuine shift in mindset. They represent hard work and commitment.

Inside the Process: Q&A with Deirdre

What inspired you to start training?

I was inspired to train because I wanted to feel like I knew what I was doing when I was out on the gym floor! I didn’t want to be intimidated by machines and wanted to have someone who knows what they’re doing and how far to push me when I’m trying out new machines or weights.

Did you have a specific goal in mind when you first started, or were you just looking to feel better overall?

I feel like my goal was to lose that intimidation, like I was clueless around the gym floor. I wanted to feel like I could try new things and feel confident I could even do it on my own.

At what point did you start noticing real changes in your body or mindset?

We started training a long time ago, but I only recently started to really push myself with weights, and that’s when I began to notice muscles I didn’t realize that I had. That just made me want to do it even more, and little by little, seeing improvements makes everything feel worth it, and it just makes you want to keep going!

What part of the training process surprised you the most?

Doing the InBody scans and getting to see what all the numbers mean and how they add up to the weight you are was surprising!

What has been your proudest fitness milestone so far?

Proudest fitness milestone was probably seeing my BMI hit into the healthy category and my cardio fitness score on Fitbit go from “average” to “good/very good.”

What was the most challenging part of your transformation — and how did you push through it?

The hardest part of my transformation was figuring out how much I should be eating and acknowledging the ways I wasn’t helping myself, like by snacking or having daily after-dinner desserts just because I had worked out that day. Working out doesn’t mean you always need a reward. Honestly, the easiest way to push through it was that my husband was doing the same thing at home, so doing that together made a difference. Then you don’t have someone else there to be like, “Here, you want some chips with me?” Because we both weren’t. And now that we’re in the habit of not having snacks like that, you don’t even think about it.

Is there a specific exercise or style of training you’ve grown to love?

I do really like to do push-ups as an exercise, just because I feel like it’s something that women aren’t necessarily expected to be able to do on their toes, not knees. I really love the sculpt and core classes that humble you with lighter weights but really push you with body weight, so I guess calisthenics?

What are some habits you’ve built that have helped you stay consistent?

I think just signing up for the classes you like every week and making it become just another part of your day creates a routine that you just keep showing up for. Next thing you know, you’re consistently working out! Eating a lot of protein during your meals just becomes second nature because you want to feel full from real food and not just a bunch of snacks that don’t leave you satisfied.

Taking photos of people working out, you get to really see how each individual pushes themselves in their own workout, and you really appreciate how everyone has their own goals they’re working on. I love to catch people having fun, because it reminds us what we’re here for. It makes me remember that we’re all in our own little worlds, trying to make ourselves better, and no one is there to compare what they’re doing to what you’re doing. Bye-bye gym anxiety

How has working at a gym and creating fitness content influenced your own motivation?

When I’ve filmed and seen classes that have older members, that honestly is inspiring because you need to take care of yourself now, so that you’re able to do what they’re doing when the roles have changed, and I am that older person. Especially with having kids, you want to be able to do everything with them and be healthy and not a burden. So you build these healthy habits now to keep going down the road!

What advice would you give to someone nervous to start training?

If you’re nervous to train, then you should totally do it and see that it’s so amazing to have guidance and someone to push you past your comfort zone. All of our trainers are so nice, you have nothing to worry about (other than how sore you’ll be the next day).

What goals are you focusing on next — physically, mentally, or creatively?

My goal would be to be able to consistently lift heavier. I’d particularly like to be able to squat heavier. I want to keep chipping away at toning my muscles! Mentally, maybe one day I’d be able to relax in a yoga class instead of being an adrenaline junky.

If you could give yourself advice on day one of this journey, what would it be?

My advice would be to remember that changing takes time and effort. You can’t change every single thing you want in a month. All of your small (healthy) habits will add up and benefit you down the road. Time is going to pass anyway, so keep going!

Oh, also take pictures the day you decide to start! When you look back and are able to actually SEE changes yourself, it really helps!