“WOW! You look great!” Those were my words to Amalia when she came by my office to drop off her and Pattie's tax information. It was the beginning of a whole new life for me and my family.
On that day, I made a decision to use a personal trainer again. I had used two personal trainers before with limited success.
I emailed both Pattie and Amalia that day with my intentions to use them after tax season.
Patti responded, directing me to their website for more information about their services and the commitment expected from me. After browsing their website, I could not wait for tax season to end and the training to begin.
Our first meeting was April 24 where we discussed goals, took baseline measurements and began.
I asked Pattie sheepishly that day if she thought I could lose 20 lbs in their twelve week boot camp. (It took me a year to lose 20 lbs with my previous personal trainer.) Pattie said "Sure that is possible." And I am saying to myself "Uh huh, yeah right."
I worked with Pattie on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for an hour and rode my road bike on Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and on Saturday for two hours.
I used the Fitday website as suggested/required to monitor my food intake as well as the breakdown of calories, fat, carbohydrates and protein. Pattie would check my food/breakdown daily and offer suggestions/alternatives.
I thought changing my diet would be hard. However, I found that it was not too difficult. We reduced my calorie intake and reduced the amount of fats and carbohydrates and increased my protein intake. I gave up fast foods and soft drinks.
During that first twelve week program, I found that there would be about one day a week were I wanted more food then my daily goal. I also found that on about one day a week I would have to force myself to eat more food to get the minimum number of calories I needed.
At the end of the first twelve weeks I had lost 24 lbs.
I signed on for another 12 weeks with a goal of losing 12 lbs. And I did lose the additional 12 lbs.
I am no longer trying to lose weight, but continue to see Pattie two or three times a week because our time together is so fun.
Pattie has a gift of making you feel like you are her favorite client. She is so encouraging, yet knows how to push you to your potential.
NEVER has she asked me to anything that I could not do. Nor have I ever been really sore from the workouts. I can tell I have worked my muscles. With the other trainers I used, I literally could not lift my arms or legs because of soreness.
This past year has been one of the best years of my life. I have more energy. I feel better and my self esteem has soared!
Now when my clients see me they say, "WOW! You look great!"
Update: It has been a year and a half since I started working out with Pattie. I still see her two or three times a week. I have maintained my weight loss for over a year. I am no longer losing weight, but my body fat percentage continues to decline. One of the benefits of my work with Pattie has been my two daughters (14 and 12) have changed their eating habits and exercise more themselves after seeing the changes in their mother (Lisa) and myself.*