For Zumba instructor, losing nearly 100 pounds was a team sport

A member of the YMCA once told Tim Gribble that the Y is really “a community with a gym attached.”

That line resonated with Gribble, the association director of community integrated health and off-site wellness for the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina – a community partner with Novant Health since March 2023. The two organizations formed a strategic partnership to expand wellness programming, support youth sports and establish physical and telehealth clinic locations to create integrated healthcare access for the region.

It’s “a natural partnership,” Gribble said – one that includes “everything from biometric screenings and flu clinics in every one of our branches to cancer survivorship programs and even a full-service primary care clinic at our YMCA REACH Center at Winston Lake.”

There are certainly people who join the Y just for spin classes or to play pickleball, but they quickly discover there’s an entire community ready to welcome them and cheer them on as they work toward their health and wellness goals.

A community is what Jennifer Germano discovered when she became a fitness instructor in 2013 – teaching hip-hop dance and Zumba – at the Jerry Long Family YMCA in Clemmons.

‘Thick and fit’

At her heaviest, the 43-year-old weighed 278. She was almost always careful to eat healthy foods – although she said she didn’t pay enough attention to portion control – and she was always physically active. She’s happy with who she is and never let her weight define her. She felt good and took care of herself.

“I prided myself on being thick and fit,” she said. “It sounds stupid, but I was known for being the chunky girl who can move, and that inspired people who look like me to take my class.”

She’d always gotten good reports at her annual physical, but once her clinician – Sarah Hallett, PA-C of Novant Health Village Point Family Medicine – told her that her A1C was creeping up, she decided to take action. Besides, she said, “I knew if I wanted to keep dancing, I needed to get weight off my joints.”

So, Jennifer, who works as a corporate recruiter, decided to have bariatric surgery. Hallett referred her to Dr. Paul Chandler, of Novant Health Salem Surgical Associates in Winston-Salem, who said Germano “had been doing all the right things with diet and exercise, but was still living with obesity.”

That’s a point Germano wants more people to understand. “Not all overweight people eat poorly and don’t work out,” she said. “That’s a misconception. I had a hormonal issue that prevented me from losing weight.”

‘No quick fix’

Surgery isn’t magic. Germano put a number of puzzle pieces together to achieve her health goals. Medical care, exercise and community support all played a role in her nearly 100-pound weight loss. She’s currently at 190 pounds and is happy with where she is.

She knew surgery was no “quick fix,” she said. “I saw it as a tool. It’s the most rewarding but hard work I've ever done.”

That work began before her February 2025 surgery.

To prepare, she had to begin eating smaller portions but eating more frequently throughout the day. She began paying attention to eating more balanced meals and focused on foods that were low in carbs and sugar. All of that continues today. She also gave up alcohol, coffee and anything carbonated.

Germano said that weight loss is as much about mental changes as it is physical ones.

We don’t always eat just because we’re hungry. Some people are emotional eaters. Some eat out of boredom. “Those aren’t options after surgery,” she said, so you have to break those habits first.

Her life has changed considerably since her weight-loss journey began. She has more energy and is sleeping better. Her acid reflux has improved. She’s able to cross her legs under a table and fly on an airplane without getting a seat belt extender. And she said, “I love the way clothes look on me.”

She can do more now that she’s not carrying 100 extra pounds. “I remember a time when I got kicked off a rollercoaster at Disney because I was too big,” she said. “I don’t have those kinds of restrictions now.”

Always active

Before bariatric surgery became the best thing Germano had ever done for herself, Zumba was probably in the top spot. Someone recommended that she try exercise to overcome crippling anxiety. Germano’s anxiety was once so severe that she was afraid to leave her house. She tried Zumba in 2010 and said, “It literally saved my life.”

Since then, she’s always been active. As soon as she was able post-surgery, she began walking on a treadmill and then walking outside before getting back to the Y.

She added weightlifting to her fitness routine. Her friend and Zumba co-teacher, Marina, joined her in that effort. An accountability buddy is a great thing to have, and finding one is easy at the Y. “I’m pretty self-sufficient,” Germano said, “but when it came to the gym, it was great to have Marina with me. She’s actually lost quite a bit of weight alongside me. My husband has, too.”

Her Zumba students have been there throughout the journey, too. “What I love is that I got to lose this weight right alongside my students,” she said. “And it inspired them to be healthier.”

Those students tell her that her Zumba classes are even more intense since she lost weight. (But if you’re considering Zumba, don’t let that scare you. Germano wants everyone to feel welcome.)

Jason Jones, regional director of the wellness experience at the Y’s Jerry Long branch in Clemmons and Jennifer’s boss, has noticed the difference, too: “Jennifer has always been high-energy, but her energy level has definitely increased because she's able to move around better and do more.”

Health and healing

Jennifer’s story is a great example of how health and wellness go hand in hand, and why Novant Health and the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina are so passionate about this partnership.

“Health doesn't start and stop at your physician's clinic,” Gribble said. “We, along with Novant Health, want to be a resource for the community. Whether it’s a Zumba class, the Livestrong at the YMCA cancer survivorship program, a diabetes prevention class or the Teen Talk Mental Health series, the goal is the same. We connect people in our communities with the individuals and resources they need to get healthy or maintain good health and support them on their journey.”