Jody was such a joy to train!!! She's a women after my own hart, a "foodie" who loves to try new things!!! She completed my 30 day extreme weight loss challenge with flying colors!!!
Though I've never been a gym rat, I've always worked out. From Jazzericize to jogging, I've done it. There was a chapter in my life where a regular routine without a strict diet was enough. There was also a chapter in my life where I made all the excuses in the book as to why I couldn't make it to the gym. "I'm so tired." "I've got errands to run." "I'll do it tomorrow." Tomorrow would turn into the next week which would turn into the next whenever, until nearly a year had passed without me setting foot in a gym. It was a cycle... That is, until I got engaged! Wow, was that a motivator. But like most brides, the honeymoon ended and the motivation disappeared. Now I'm 40. Long gone are the days when a simple workout routine without a care in the world what I ingested was enough to maintain my weight. Even worse, weight gain became the name of the game for me.
I knew that I needed more than a special event to motivate me to stay focused. What I needed was a mindset shift and a lifestyle change. Committing to that has been my greatest obstacle. But Erin's 30-day challenge put me on the right track and gave me the tools to continue the adventure on my own.
First, her workouts were a revelation. Not only were they challenging, but they targeted muscles I had never worked before. I actually felt frustrated that I had not known about the "right way" to workout for all these years! "Fatigue your muscles," was her constant message. I had never done that, not to this degree and frequency anyway. As a result, I gained lean muscle and dropped an entire size in four weeks! Erin's workouts are also very practical for working woman and for moms. While I did them in the gym, anyone can easily do them at home with a few inexpensive pieces of equipment. But the workouts aren't enough, as Erin points out. A diet rich in nutrients and clean foods is essential to losing fat so you can see the lean muscle you gain. It was Erin's menu and recipes that surprised me the most! They are all so simple to prepare. More importantly, they are delicious! Every recipe has become a part of our family cookbook because even my teenage kids love the food! And she even leaves room to satisfy those inevitable cravings in the evening.
Erin's strategies of eating 5 to 6 meals a day has become my new "norm." I never feel hungry and because I love to eat I now get to do it more often! Combining the workouts with clean and frequent eating (combined, too, with weekly meal prep) are essential to success. In fact, I lost 8 pounds in 4 weeks (which is a lot for me due to an unrelated health condition). And truthfully, it was rather easy... except for the killer workouts! But as the inspirational quote goes, "It never gets easier. You just get stronger." I still have a long way to go to reach my goal, but I'm closer than I was yesterday. And now I have the tools for success! No more excuses. No more "tomorrows." Thank you, EM Fitness, for giving me TODAY!
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