I feel so incredibly lucky to live in Western MA and to be able to train with Kelly Coffey. I've been training with Kelly for 4+ years. When my own work schedule needs took me away from training, I realized just how much help she had been giving me. I'm thrilled that I have been able to resolve my work issues and am now training with Kelly again. I have worked with personal trainers before and have heard stories from friends. Some have been militant. Some have been too easy on me. All have lacked the warmth, support, empathy and talent that Kelly possesses. As a woman who has always struggled with my weight and compulsive overeating, it is invaluable to me to work with someone who intimately knows what I am experiencing. She is open about her own process--the triumphs AND the struggles. I have always felt that she deeply honored my process. I know that when I go for a training session, we're not (only) going to talk about my form while doing squats and she's not (only) going to cheer me on in my final lifts or my final seconds of a burst on the treadmill. I know that I am going to spend time with someone who is in this journey with me, who wants to hear how I'm really doing--not just how my diet is going or whether I worked out since she last saw me. We talk about real things--hard, messy, joyful...you name it... I almost never write reviews, though I do often rely on them for information when I am traveling or seeking services from a professional. I was moved to write this because I am appalled by the comment made by Gina M on 1/27/15. It is mean spirited but, more importantly, it is totally inaccurate. During periods of time when I wasn't able to see Kelly for training, she was always available to me for advice on my independent work outs. The comment about her "high price" is ridiculous. Kelly charges no more than any personal trainer and, as I've already said, I have gotten more from her sessions than any other personal trainer. And Marilyn's complaint is also disturbing. Like Marilyn, I took the Pleasure Principle's course. Kelly Coffey's FB Klatch is a place for me to read about other people's experiences and to safely share my own. It is a completely moderated site, where Kelly posts prompts for conversation every day, reads the members' posts and responds to them...Is Marilyn saying this should be for free? Is it considered reasonable for a professional to be asked to give free services? Marilyn says that Kelly refunded her the money when she expressed her discontentment. Why would she accuse Kelly of doing it because of a Yelp review and not based on Kelly's basic integrity, which you can sense the moment you meet her--whether in person or online. I am amazed by some people. Listen, folks, Kelly Coffey is the best thing that ever happened to me in the realm of my struggles with weight, exercise and self image. She's nothing short of an inspiration! read more

TLDR; The Klatch is awesome. The principles rock. Kelly *gets* self-sabotage, and how to overcome it. You belong here. *** I believe it's been about two years since I signed up for the Pleasure Principles and joined the Klatch. I can say with honesty that NOTHING cuts through bullshit like the tools Kelly offers (it helps that her personality it pretty gutsy, too!). Although I've spent years utilizing therapy, self-help, journaling, and various alternative healing modalities (all of which have helped immensely), I have found that nothing really compares to the work Kelly helps us do. It's just very present moment, and very empowering, in this way that takes the confusion out of things. Being part of the Klatch offers an invaluable daily anchor. Because it's on Facebook, I never, ever miss a day of at least reading the prompt and the everyone's posts. And the monthly Q&A calls!!!!!! Kelly pays special attention to all of us -- we all have the chance to ask questions, she knows us by name, she's real, she cares, and we get this personal connection with her monthly, and often bi-monthly. The work is never-ending (though it gets easier!), and Kelly is doing an incredible thing by making sure we have daily small reminders, connection to community, and regular, longer reminders of how we need to come back to it again and again. This is something that's missing from many other online courses and support groups. If you struggle with self-sabotage, you know just how easy it is to forget, again and again, to use the tools you've learned. The core of Kelly's work is just so spot on; at least for me. Sure, education around nutrition and exercise and holistic health have helped me over the years. But having someone who *gets* how impossible these things can feel to implement, and who offers tools to start implementing them! It's the most important thing. Her work is also non-prescriptive. The tools are specific enough to work, but general enough to apply to our specific lives however we need them to. She doesn't tell us what to do. She offers tools to relate to ourselves, our diets, our bodies. She lets us find the answers, and guides us along as we work to implement them. Finally, the guidelines in the Klatch make it a completely non-triggering space!! Everyone in the Klatch deals with same central issue of self-sabotage. There is no judgment. We all get it. We all know what a huge deal it is to be able to take better care of ourselves. We all know how freaking hard it can be, and we're all there to cheer each other on. What else can I say? This community ROXX!!! It's like no other that I've found online. ^_^ Do ittttt! read more

I'll start by saying that I thought about signing up for the Pleasure Principles course for over a year before I actually did it. I am a true skeptic. But Kelly's writing resonated with me so strongly, and eventually I decided that the worst that could happen if I signed up could not be worse than continuing to make myself completely miserable on a regular basis by my own self-sabotage. I am so glad I made the decision to take the course. I began the Pleasure Principles course over a year ago, and I return to it regularly because it contains a wealth of useful guidance for people with minds like mine. I became and continue to be an Insider, because the resources available are so valuable. Kelly's daily posts, my gosh.. this woman GETS it and she helps you understand yourself and find your strength and stay connected and present and take good care of yourself. Oh.. and the other Klatchers, they kick ass too. I 100% recommend the course to anyone who struggles with self-sabotage and shame. What's changed for me: I know how to find deep pleasure every day, regardless of circumstance. The tools of the course have helped me determine the best ways to take care of my whole self, and the difference is striking, and it isn't just about food and activity. Here are a few things that have changed: - I am no longer obsessed with food - I no longer binge eat - My body is lighter - I get up earlier, waking up before the alarm, refreshed (usually) - I look forward to exercise and think of it fondly - I have stronger connections with my partner and children - I'm a more disciplined student (MBA student, CPA candidate) - My work-life balance has drastically improved - I make time for hobbies and volunteering - My house is cleaner (again, usually, this isn't magic) All of this good change and I'm still a work in progress and still practicing the principles every day and finding new ways to apply them to my life. I highly recommend the course. Pro tip: Once you start the course, Take. Your. Time. Really think about each lesson, write your thoughts, let it stew, re-watch (or listen). There's a whole lot of goodness in there. :) read more

I saw the offer for a free webinar on why we sabotage ourselves with food, and thought, ah what the hell? I was so ashamed and so depressed and yet hanging on to SOME thread of hope. I watched the presentation and I decided to join because it was a money-back guarantee kind of thing and why not? I was already blowing lots of money on trying to feel better and only ever felt awful, so this was -- at worst -- another futile stab at filling the void. I AM SO GLAD I DID. Something about this program made sense (full disclosure: it made more sense the second time through, and I'm hopeful this will keep being the case each time I work the Principles). I have a new understanding of WHY I make caring choices for my body, and the role that shame has played to get me & keep me in my pit of despair. I am able to regularly connect with like-minded folks in the Klatch (and let me be frank: I planned to cancel that subscription as soon as it stopped being free and yet LOOK AT ME, CONNECTING AND SHARING AND BEING IN HEALTHY COMMUNITY?! #KlatchLife). If you have tried a million other programs and diets and books and studies and and and and, PLEASE DON'T STOP NOW. Try this one. See if it isn't the missing piece in your puzzle. The PP show you how to use what you already know and add some solid, multitasking pieces so that you can build yourself a caring system of internal and external supports. If you are tired of trying to lose weight to fix yourself, this is your stop. Come along with us and learn how to make the best choices you can and to share that success, inspire others, and love yourself right. Tame the beast of shame and embrace the care you deserve. YOU ARE WORTH IT. Coffey is awesome. Pleasure Principles rule. read more

I started in August of 2018 with the Strong Start with Stong Coffey free workshop. I found it useful and intriguing so I signed up for the Pleasure Principles course and became an "insider" - a member of the Klatch, with access to a shit ton of resources. And, I liked what I heard so much that I elected to participate in Accountability Coaching Calls with Kelly - weekly hour long telephone conversation for a 12 week period of time. So, am I now a svelte size 2 oozing with confidence and charm? Hell no! But I have been validated as a worthwhile, capable, competent, and potentially kick-ass woman! I have been inspired to tackle healthy eating and exercise with self-care and trust in what I know to be true for me. Coffey provides a simple program - but it is not necessarily easy. It essentially encompasses a blueprint plan for living - a way to recognize the self- sabatoging beast within us and the tools to navigate the crap that that beast slings at us. The Principles ask us to look at ourselves and keep looking at ourselves so we can outwit those self-destructive tendencies. And it is not "woo-woo" or "Kumbaya" stuff - it is concrete - plus Coffey has been known to drop a few swear words to make a point and liven things up! What drew me to this program is the fact that Kelly walks the walk, not just talks the talk. She has been obese, addicted, self-destructive, etc and knows what the journey back is all about. Plus, she keeps it real by sharing her periodic battles with the beast when "shit happens". So, if you want to gain some insight into who you are, what you need, and how to be your best self, give the Pleasure Principles and Kelly Coffey a try. read more

I'm a personal training client of Kelly's (look, everyone, I'm lifting weights!) who also recently signed up for her new offering, the Pleasure Principles e-course. I'm now a huge fan and have been telling everyone about it who will sit still long enough. I was bracing myself when I got started, though. Because honestly, I hate sitting through self-help webinars, and the whole woo-woo idea of "self-care," and most of the generic pablum that falls under wellness. You too? Well, I'm positively chuffed to report that PP is pretty much the opposite of everything else I've tried and/or heard of. Kelly's incisive, irreverent presentation style resonates with me, and nearly everything she said had me nodding my head until my neck got sore. Better yet, the principles are straightforward and downright PRACTICAL. You can apply them very simply, and MAN does it help making healthy, peaceful decsions while quieting the beastly noise in my head. I'm a convert. I still have a lot of work to do, but I feel equipped for the first time in over a decade. Sweet. Kelly offers an additional, entirely optional subscription service as well: ongoing support in a thriving digital community called the Klatch, which I definitely recommend joining if you can. People post about their wellness journeys, and Kelly moderates the discussions daily by giving us prompts, feedback, and much-needed (and hilariously phrased) attagirls. It's positive and wildly funny at times, and it's giving me a space to actually talk about the program (since I don't feel comfortable talking about wellness/exercise/weight loss in most settings). PP4eva. Seriously. read more

I've been following the Pleasure Principles online course for about a month now, and I can honestly say that I think it's changed my life. I trusted Kelly right away because there are very few people who successfully maintain significant weight loss long-term, so obviously she's doing something that works, but I was immediately drawn to her warmth and straightforwardness, and I still find myself nodding vigorously through pretty much everything she writes. I've done my fair share of nutrition programs, and this one (which isn't even a nutrition program) really made me sit up straight. It's different. This doesn't mean that I've magically become a changed person who has been eating flawlessly every day, or that I've lost a crazy amount of weight in a month (I wouldn't know because I ditched my scale!), or that any of this is "easy," it means that I now have a set of simple-to-remember acronyms to keep myself regularly motivated with my healthy habits of choice, and more importantly a set of concrete tools to rely on if and when I fall short of my goals. I feel a peace I haven't felt in a while, because I can see how this can realistically work for the rest of my life. Diets have always felt like a punishment, but this feels like the opposite. The Pleasure Principles course is not a woowoo "you can do it, love yourself!" set of empty promises, it's raw knowledge - with a dose of humor - from a woman who's been there, done that and GETS IT. I can't recommend it enough. read more

Today I got to speak with an amazing woman who's blog I have been following for a couple of years now. I finally decided to take her course about a month ago and it has made such a difference in my attitude and how I look at things. The idea behind the Pleasure Principles (love the name) is learning how to treat ourselves with love and care. When we get so caught up in life and taking care of everyone else we forget to take care of ourselves and end up filling our heads with self sabotage - I'm not worthy, I'm too sick, I don't deserve it - Kelly Coffey, of Strong Coffey Personal Training will help you retrain your brain and that inner voice to one of care and love and Yes You Are Worth It!!! If nothing else read her story, check out her website and her blog - this is not a diet, this is a life changer....the side effects are amazing - love, laughter, energy, peace, and yes you will lose weight if you need to because you will cherish your body and want to spoil it with good stuff...for me just the opportunity to speak with this dynamo that developed this program was like talking to a rock star - try getting through to the developer of Jenny Craig - yeah good luck with that. Google Strong Coffey and read - enjoy - participate - if nothing else laugh at her humorous way of looking at her life. It will change your perspective I guarantee. read more

I spent the first half of my life destroying my body as fast as possible, and have been working for the second half on rebuilding from the rubble. I have come a long way, but I just couldn't seem to get past the hate-myself/diet/binge/hate-myself-even-more cycle. Enter Coffey. If ever I wanted to know what recovery from a lifetime of disordered eating (and other behaviors) looked like, this chick is it. She's real. She's honest. She's funny. And she is living in her skin by creating a vital lifestyle one self-honoring choice at a time. And! She taught me how to do that too! It's not even all that hard! Coffey's course The Pleasure Principles actually does contain a set of tools and principles that I actually am using to re-vamp my old stories about food, movement and my body. For the first time in--ever?--I am finding myself completely off the hamster wheel of trying to control and then abandon my body. Instead I'm making choices that work for me. That feel good. That create what she calls Deep Pleasure. I feel good. I mean, really good. Whole, present, capable. This side of me was here all along, but it was busy trying to figure out which macros to measure. My deepest gratitude goes out to Strong Coffey for her heart-centered and masterful approach. I cannot recommend her and her work highly enough. read more

This review is for the 'Pleasure Principles' e-course. I signed up for the more expensive $200 on-demand course as my work schedule would not allow me to attend either the Tuesday or the Saturday sessions every week. Even though I had vowed that I would never spend another dime on a get skinny quick scheme, Kelly Coffey seemed different. There were no recipe books full of ingredients that I would never eat or had to go to a specialty gourmet shop to get. No pills, no gimmicks, no catch. I happily listened through the first webinar and most of the second. Things seemed to make sense, she seemed to know what she was talking about, she seemed to care. I had noticed the Facebook group 'the Klatch'. Great! support, people to talk to about the program. I put in my request to join the closed group. A short while later I received an email. She called me 'doll'. Made me an 'exclusive offer', I could join the Klatch for a subscription of only $30 per month. Well look at that, I found it. The catch. The Klatch was the catch. The money grab. I feel sullied. I have been taken in again. The only reason I gave 2 stars was that when I expressed my discontent via email she refunded my money. Of course, mentioning a yelp review may have had something to do with that. read more

Strong Coffey gets it. I am 67 and was put on my first diet by a doctor at 7. I was either on a diet and feeling deprived or not dieting and feeling guilty. I swore I would not spend another dime or minute on weight issues. But Kelly Coffey said all the right things I had not heard before. No diet, no shame just clear language that speaks to my heart. I am new to her Pleasure Principles but loving the way I feel. I even asked her if she had hypnotized me because this program has moved my brain around. She has been there- in spades. She knows the way we feel and think. And she provides a path out of the madness. I highly recommend this program especially if you have had multiple failures in the past. Those who have not had weight issues from childhood don't know what it is like to live in my head. The fight was exhausting. This program is for all the little mind games that keep me from living my life to the fullest in a healthy manner. It is not magic- it is work but work I can do because of the guidance and tools Kelly provides. Ever try to build a bookshelf with a plunger? Wrong tool- but with a saw, hammer and nails you can do it! This is similar. I never had the right tools. Kelly has provided them. read more

I'm a 38-year old woman from Italy and I live and work in Switzerland. I'm also a student of an online-MBA by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. I was searching google for places to stay near campus, planning my trip for graduation next year, and clicking my way around websites I stumbled on personal training services in the area. Lo and behold, strongcoffey.com appeared on my screen and I started exploring the website. It really resonated with me - Coffeey is about my age, her teenage picture really looks like my old teenage pics... long story short, I ended up signing up for the Pleasure Principles program and WOW, gamechanger stuff. I only wish I had found this materials 20 years ago to say the least. I've spoken with Coffeey over the phone and I can guarantee she's the real deal. Empathic, awesome, authentic and with a pragmatic, real-world vision of what it means to learn to take care of oneself. Her journey is an inspiration and the energy and passion she put in creating the insider program will surely resonate with you as they did with me. I can't recommend her enough. Fantastic person. read more

Sometimes the right program finds you at the right time and the Pleasure Principles was it for me. Kelly Coffey's Pleasure Principles is an online program and community to support your journey in wellness. This program gives you all the building blocks to take care of yourself in a healthy and loving way. It is not a diet or exercise regime, Kelly realizes we are all smart enough to find a program to tackle those specific issues. The Pleasure Principles guides you so you can dig deep and examine why we make choices that are not healthy. She then gives you a roadmap to find your motivation, how to make healthy choices and how to stay on the path to wellness. I have tried every type of program - food, fitness, restrictions and they never work. By following the principles I have been making lifestyle choices that will help me in the long-term. These choices speak to me as a whole person which I had never experienced in my other attempts to feel well. This program helps you put yourself first, forgive your missteps and get you back on the path so you can become the healthiest version of yourself. read more

Alas, I live in Texas, so I can only experience Coffey's magnificence via the miracles of the internet. Her Pleasure Principles Course is GOLD. Seriously. I am a stubborn renegade who refuses to live inside any box- my excess body fat is comprised mostly of rebellion. No one was more surprised than me that the Pleasure Principles were not just another stupid formula that I would jump on, ride for awhile and then fail at. This woman has a serious message, y'all. Her program is easy to understand, easy to modify (it is all about what works for me) and inspiring as hell. Coffey herself is funny, compassionate and encourages folks to be responsible for their own decisions. My habits are as stubborn as I am, and my progress in this program has been slow. The miracle is that I have not walked away. I still think about this stuff. I try new things. I push my boundaries and explore changes. I ate friggin broccoli for breakfast today, and it worked for me. Her material is thought provoking. Get you some of this before she becomes ridiculously famous and outrageously expensive. Seriously. read more

I was 'introduced' to Kelly Coffee through a very good friend who had been following the Pleasure Principles for almost a year. I was VERY skeptical of this, and I wasn't certain it was a real person I was connecting with, or just another internet bot. Let me tell you. I have spoken with Kelly twice, I have watched both her pre-recorded videos and the live Q&A sessions. I have gone through her Strong Start twice now (I get new insights each time) and have been working the PPs since August 2018. This. Lady. Will. Change. Your. Life! Though only if you do the work. Kelly Coffee has given me tools for my 'self-help toolbox' to help me make positive changes. She doesn't give you any kind of quick fix scheme, no magic bullet, no 'do this and get well in just 2 hours'. She gives you building blocks and it helps you make the life-long changes needed to help heal what needs healing! I cannot say thank you enough to my friend for recommending this to me, and to Kelly for creating this (and I told her as much when we spoke on the phone last Friday!) read more

To say that completing Strong Coffey's Pleasure Principles course was "life-changing" may sound like a naive, rose-colored response but in all sincerity, it IS life-changing. I was drawn to Kelly Coffey's course by the credibility she provided when sharing her story in her free workshop "Why We Sabotage Ourselves With Food And What We Can Do About It!" (http://bitly.com/sabotageslayer) I related to everything she had to say, including a life-long history of obsessing about my weight, losing and gaining and gaining some more. Learning and living the Principles has shifted my focus from long-term unobtainable goals inspired by fixing my brokenness to moment-by-moment decision points of self-care. It has freed me from the legalistic judgement of calorie counting, food journaling and daily weigh-ins and empowered me to put and keep my health and happiness as a priority. This is not a program to be followed but rather a lifestyle to be embraced. Thank you, Kelly, for helping me remember that I am worthy. read more

The only regret I have about the Pleasure Principles is not doing it sooner. I have been looking for something like this for a long time, and I am so happy to have found it here. The Pleasure Principles are a real life tool that has practical applications in my day to day. I have been seeing a therapist for a long time who is an excellent sounding board and a safe space to express my emotions and be heard. But I have often struggled with motivation and getting my butt in gear to make the changes in my life necessary for true happiness and wellness. The Pleasure Principles have been wonderfully practical and useful for me. I would like to add that I was initially skeptical and wary of falling prey to another "Snake Oil Salesman" on the internet. I couldn't have been further from the truth! This course has so much value, and it was incredibly worthwhile for me. I would definitely recommend it. I feel so grateful for this course and for the work that Kelly Coffey does in the world! read more

Strong Coffey's Pleasure Principles program has been really great for me. She gives you the option to not only watch the videos for each lesson but to also download and print the transcript, and a worksheet at the end of each lesson. You will see my printed version of the plan in the photo attached to this review. I also chose to do personalized one on one coaching with her via video chat for 12 weeks, which I was so glad she offered, as an additional part of the program available for purchase. Just yesterday in our call I found myself saying, "I hadn't thought of it that way". This was in regards to my struggle with how to define the word "nourish", as in nourishing my body. She said a good way to define a word when you are struggling, is to define the opposite word. By talking out this opposite word, I was able to more clearly define the word nourish and what it means to me. Thank you Kelly "Strong" Coffey. :) My advice: Invest in yourself, you are worth the time and effort. read more

Kelly Coffey and her Pleasure Principles course are nothing short of amazing. I feel like it's the piece I've been missing my whole life. Real, simple, useful tools that help me keep my promises to myself--promises to eat more healthfully, work out more regularly. Promises I've made and broken so many times that I'm amazed I bothered trying anything new at all, and yet, I'm so very glad I did. This is life-changing stuff. Especially if you're someone who just can't stand the thought of listening to some perky 20 year old who's never struggled with their weight (or anything) a day in their life. Or if all that warm, fuzzy, woo-woo crap makes you feel sick to your stomach. Coffey is not like that. It's all about feeling better and finding pleasure in doing the things that are good for you. So simple, yet I know I could have struggled along on my own for many more years and never figured any of it out. It's worth the money. read more