I met G in early October when I responded to a post she made on next-door that spoke directly to me…read morein that exact moment. Entering that phase in a early 50 year-old woman's life, I was freaking out over having gained 10 pounds in less than six months with no end in sight of the scale continuing to go up. I had no idea what was happening, I had no control over the situation, I felt I was already eating as helpful as possible, I was very active playing tennis walking just taking care of my family. And all I could see was. a future where I ended up like my mom. so when her post came across next-door, I responded immediately and she got back to me immediately. We set up a consultation which was informative, and I immediately felt very confident in her, her specialty with women in my exact situation, her focus on not only strength training in increasing muscle mass increasing bone density, but also reviewing the nutritional inputs and converting how I think and have thought for very many years about what is healthy, eating, to be more macro based, and a totally different way than I feel we've been taught for years. I think one of the first rules she taught me was if you look at the calories of a serving and you look at the protein grams, add a 0 to the grams of protein and if it's not equal or higher than the calorie count, then it is not considered a high protein food. That was huge for me to hear, and a tool I could immediately use and I immediately was able to take that little piece of knowledge and put it into practice and totally changed the dynamic of how much protein I was eating and how to choose higher protein foods. She was able to keep my options simple enough for me to follow, while also providing me with just enough variety and wiggle room to allow me to maintain my comfort zone, while also making small adjustments here and there. For instance, I've kept my morning latte, but I changed the quantity of milk and the type of milk I'm using. And I have kids and a family to feed so I don't have all the time in the world to make special meals and weigh everything. So she was able to work with me to find the changes I could implement that would have the highest impact. And also take baby steps.
Now for the good stuff, the workouts. Oh my FG. The workouts are killer. I started with one workout a week for one hour, and even though I had been doing a 20 minute strength training program for about a year before I met G, this was a completely different experience. This is not your weight training, strength training program from the 90s or early 2000s. This is a whole other type of beast. She may not make you barf, but she will make you cry! Lol ... in a good way. But everything is done very safely, she's very very knowledgeable in terms of form and spots you and or the equipment at all times. This is not a trainer who's on their phone while you're pushing out reps. She is 100% focused on you and what you're doing, making small form adjustments, counting down, words of encouragement, and a little lift here and there as required!
The gym is also pretty great. If you go after 9:30 and I would assume before five, the place is practically empty. It's for personal trainers only, so there's always equipment and the quality is fantastic.
Within two months, the weight started dropping, and my body started changing before my very eyes. I was comfortable wearing a bikini again over the Christmas holidays! And of course, as most people do, over the Christmas holidays I also ate a little bit more freely than I had been doing, but I kept my breakfasts very disciplined, and continued to go on walks, but for 2 1/2 weeks did not do any strength training., And I returned home weighing exactly the same amount as I did when I had left. I guess that's the power of muscle burning fat.
So, being a glutton for punishment (but also because I wanted to charge up my results) I decided to add a second day to my workout plan. It is also easier too. One work out a week is so painful but 2 your body is ready for it and she can space out all the hard stuff a little more. Since then, I broke through my weight plateau and hit my first goal. Dropping those 10 lbs. And my strength has increased markedly, and my body has changed a lot! I can wear pants that I had given up on but kept anyway. I still have maybe 5 pounds to go to be at my ultimate goal weight. I've also lost about 5% points of body fat which is huge! And my physical transformation is huge. It's not even about weight now. It's about rebuilding muscle and maintaining a healthy and strong body as I head into the next phase of life!
I highly highly recommend any woman who is in her early 40s mid 40s late 40s early 50s whatever, get your ass in gear girl and get moving and get lifting - you can control what is going on with your body you just need a coach, a mentor, a friend, and G is all of these things.
