It felt like one morning I woke up and had blown up overnight. A ~50lb weight gain snuck up on me, and I was suddenly unrecognizable to myself. Physically, I was uncomfortable and unhealthy, but the mental toll of going from a normal weight most of my life to being obese was worse. It totally destroyed my confidence and I had to do something. So I found Daphne.
Daphne appealed to me because she had been there herself. We were roughly the same starting weight. Truthfully, powerlifting didn't particularly interest me. It wasn't even really about health. I just wanted to not be fat.
When we first met, Daphne thoroughly went over nutrition and outlined an exercise plan. She was empathetic and encouraging but set realistic expectations. I was impressed with how knowledgeable Daphne was and excited to get started.
After my first session with Daphne, I threw up. I had never worked out like that in my life and immediately wanted to quit. But I told myself, ok, try one more week. One week turned into another and then another, and I still wanted to quit, but it's not like I had anything else going for me, so I kept at it.
Slowly, it started to get easier (but never easy). Daphne kept challenging me and I got stronger. I enjoyed my time in the gym, not because I liked exercising really, but because I liked seeing the changes in my body and working with Daphne. She treated me like a friend.
The benefits weren't just physical, though, but mental too. The number of times Daphne would tell me to try something, and I'd say, "I can't", and then I tried and could do it are too many to count. I was regaining some sense of control in my life, showing myself I was stronger than I thought, and fixing whatever led me to obesity in the first place. One of the best pieces of advice Daphne gave me was that the effort you put into the gym is exactly what you get out of it. She's given me other great advice too, but you have to pay for that yourself ;)
Daphne is an excellent trainer, while I am a difficult client. She deals with my moods and knows when to push me and when to take it easier. Daphne gets to know you as a client and adapts sessions to what works best. It's not a copy/paste one-size-fits-all type of training. And she makes it fun, too. I've tried things I never thought I would, like picking up a huge stone. I've learned to love the ab wheel. I'm no longer intimidated by gym equipment. But I still hate pushups and always will.
We've worked together for a few years now, but I didn't always listen to her nutrition advice. Over the first year or so, I experienced a body recomposition and felt healthier and more confident. I think I had to do that first to be able to get serious about my diet. So at the beginning of this year, I cleaned up my diet. Now I've lost almost 40lbs, which I couldn't have done without Daphne.
When I first started seeing Daphne, I was a size 14/16/XL and am now usually an 8/10/M. While I'm almost at my initial goal, my goals have also evolved thanks to Daphne. What sets her apart and makes her such a fantastic trainer is that she sees things in you that you don't see yourself. So while the number on the scale is always going to matter to me, it's not the only thing that matters anymore. Now I have goals like being able to do a pull-up, strengthening my back, toning my arms, and maybe one day having abs.
This hasn't been easy, and it's taken a long time, but it also took time to gain so much weight. If you find yourself in the same position I was and need to make a change, I can't recommend Daphne enough. read more