Client testimonial
Kelly Shaw
Incredibly Motivating Gentle Nudges
In September, 2007 my teenage daughter, Mia and I joined the gym so she could complement her swim training with weight training with the idea that I would spend time on the treadmill while she trained. Amelia heard about Rachel from a fellow Parkview student and we signed up for personal training. Initially we trained two nights each week for 30 minutes each. I would do cardio training while Amelia did weight training and vise versa. After a few weeks I noticed the increase in my energy level and strength. Rachel would gently nudge me to push myself further with the weight training and continually questioned me about my diet. She insisted that I would see even more changes in my body (and on the scales) if I changed my diet. My plan was to work out so I could eat and drink whatever I wanted. But Rachel had another plan.
I continued to see the increase in energy and better muscle tone and I lost five pounds. I could even see a defined bicep! I became more motivated and added a third day of weight training. Rachel continued to encourage me to not only push myself with weight training and cardio but to also change my eating habits. The combination of her support and my new found enthusiasm for training raised my self confidence tremendously.
Rachel mentioned the Body Building Competition to me late in the year and said that she thought I could compete (gently nudging again). I gave that idea no thought – no way I’m getting on stage. After the first of the year Rachel mentioned the competition again. My New Year’s resolution was to step outside my comfort zone and do things I had not done before – so this certainly fit.
At the end of January I started following Rachel’s plan in weight training, cardio, and diet. Once I started reading labels I was shocked at how much fat and sodium I was eating (and feeding my family!). The canned food items in my pantry have decreased by half.
The diet was strict – low fat, no sodium, no sugar, no condiments, no eating out. I ate 5 times a day so I wasn’t hungry. If the family went out to dinner I took my own food. The results were amazing! I only had 6 weeks to get to my target weight of 115 pounds and the pounds were steadily coming off.
There was a group of us all training together for the competition. Rachel pushed us all very hard in the last 6 weeks of training. We worked up to weight training 7 days a week. We did cardio 7 days a week, twice a day most days. We climbed Stone Mountain twice a week.
The day before the show I reached my goal weighing in at 114.5 pounds. The long hours we all spent weight training, running, climbing, lunging, and the many nights practicing our routines all paid off at the end of March. We all had a great time at the show. Train with Payne had the best routines (thanks to Rachel and Steve’s choreography). We came home with a table full of trophies and a overwhelming sense of accomplishment.