How my wife Emily got into awesome shape

Last weekend I was talking to a relative about
how my wife Emily has gotten into awesome
shape over the last eight months or so.

When we were visiting my relatives in Ohio, Emily
had gotten a lot of comments from folks who
realized that she looked a lot more buff than
she had in the past.

Throughout the time we dated and for the first
years we were married, Emily was never a
“workout person”.

I never really thought she would be.

I never pushed it on her.

But since she started working as the office
manager at our personal training studio,
she caught the workout bug.

I remember last Fall when she started to express
an interest in getting in shape. We went for
a run around the neighborhood and I had to keep
stopping to let her catch up with me.

(Above: Emily on December 27, 2011)

Fast forward eight months. I ran 4.5 miles with
her a few days ago and I was the one struggling
to keep up.

She broke into her fitness routine gradually, but
consistently.

The first four weeks, she started with a walk/jog
program. (I would’ve preferred that she start
with strength training, but that’s another story)

Afer the first four weeks of cardio, she then added in
strength training twice per week.

She usually attends our 10:00 AM small group personal
training program on Tuesdays and Thursdays taught by
Sherril Levine.

Ten to twelve weeks into it, she had dropped from 118 to
109. That might seem really light, but 118 was
too heavy for her petite 5-foot height.

At 109, she hit a plateau. She was eating relatively
healthy, strength training twice per week, and running
4-6 days per week.

She asked me “What can I do to break this plateau?”

I said, “Well, you can’t add in any more running. I think
you should bump your strength training to 3 days per week
and begin tracking your nutrition.

We picked the MyFitnessPal app to track calories, protein,
carbs, fat, sodium, etc.

Using the app, sticking to her cardio, and adding the
third day of small group personal training in to her
program on Saturdays, she continued dropping fat and getting
stronger.

Doing that for the last 3-4 months, she ranges between
101-104 while continuing to make strength gains.

Most recently, she’s been trying to firm her arms up
even more (she’s always felt that she carried a lot
of fat in her arms). To achieve this, we increased the
quantity of protein while alternating between higher and
lower carbohydrate intakes (more carbs on the weekends
works for our lifestyle).

She says that she feels more tone and firm as she has
increased her protein intake.

(Above: Emily on May 30th, 2012)

There you have it. Not everyone will achieve results
as quickly as she did. But it’s not uncommon when someone
focuses on the right formula.

In short, she did 3 main things:

1) She began strength training in our small group personal training
program to gain strength, enhance metabolism, and create firm muscles.

2) She began running to strengthen her cardiovascular system and
burn calories (note: many folks will find doing cardio on an elliptical trainer
to be easier on their joints).

3) She implemented a nutrition program and later added MyFitnessPal
for accountability

Within 6-12 months of this approach, it’s common to shed upwards
of 30% of one’s total body fat. And depending on one’s dedication, genetics,
and other variables, sometimes we’ll achieve a near 50% loss of total body fat.

For those of you in South Florida, we are currently accepting and
reviewing requests for both private and small group personal training at our
Plantation, Florida personal training studio.

Since we are located on the west end of Plantation, many clients of ours
are not only from Plantation, but also Davie, Weston, Cooper City, and Sunrise.

The summer is a good time to start. We’re already very busy and may be at
capacity by the time the Fall “back to school” rush begins.