Posted on February 12, 2015 by Jenny Cromack

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Personal Training Success Story – Rachel’s Journey – Part 1

In June 2014 I promised my new client Rachel that she would be below 15 stone by January 2015. In return I asked if she would share her weight loss experience to, hopefully, help and inspire others. Well, all I can say is she has inspired me and I couldn’t be more proud to be part of her lifestyle change.

I hope you enjoy reading this story are inspired by Rachel’s personal training success story (Part 1!). Remember, anything is possible if you are willing to work for it!

June 2014 to February 2015

 19 stone     –     14 stone 10lb

What Rachel has achieved in 8 months is incredible. Rachel and I hope that by sharing her personal training success story so far it will prove that anyone can make changes to be healthier and have a better quality of life.

I had already started training Rachel’s partner Neil a month or so prior to Rachel beginning her training. Neil had already made the big step to work towards a healthier and more active lifestyle (and to date Neil has lost an incredible 2 stone), the encouragement of seeing Neil achieve results was the push Rachel needed to start her journey to lose weight.

“ Having been very fit and active into my twenties and of slim build, at 41 my weight had crept up to 19 stone and I found myself struggling to fit into some size 22 clothes and I now found myself sitting at the top of the stairs to tie my shoelaces, not being able to bend and reach them any other way. I had to buy expensive specially made wide calf fitting knee high boots – my calf had a circumference of 49cm! and my choice of places to clothes shop was really quite limited. At the beginning of July 2014 with much encouragement, my partner who already trains at Motive8 North, arranged for me to have a session with one of their personal trainers, Lucy”

I think Rachel’s first session will be something neither of us will forget but for good reasons. The Rachel I met that evening is not the Rachel I know eight months later, yes she has lost weight but it is as if with every pound she loses she gains an extra burst of enthusiasm and happiness. I will never forget a gym member saying to me as she bounded out the door “I’ll have whatever she has just had” as she lost another few pounds!

“I sat in the changing room at Motive8 North with tears streaming down my face feeling really uncomfortable and embarrassed at the thought of having to discuss my eating habits, standing on the scales for someone else to see my weight, never mind having my body measurements taken together with photos to be used in evidence! Lucy couldn’t have been nicer, she really put me at ease and reassured I would never feel like that again, and I haven’t! Things would only get better….and they did!”

 

Every client I train is different and requires different levels of training and nutritional advice. Rachel was at first embarrassed to admit her eating habits but our first session involved discussing simple ways of adjusting her diet to help make it healthier.

For anyone who feels they are unfit and out of shape, walking into a gym and starting exercise can be daunting, for Rachel who was over weight and had not exercised in 20 years this was a massive step. However, as I explained to her this was the very beginning and what she then found incredibly hard would soon become something easy she soon began to feel at ease. On her first session Rachel couldn’t sit down on a bench and stand back up without using her arms to assist her, since Christmas she has been performing box jumps like a Jack-In-A-Box proving that something may seem impossible is achievable with hard work and determination.

Like with every client I start training I set a long term goal and short term goals. Rachel’s short term goal was to reduce how many slices of bread she was going to have that first week and her long term goal was to be able to bend down and tie her shoe laces (something many of us take for granted).

That week after her first session Rachel experienced extreme soreness, understandable after 20 years of minimum physical activity so I advised her to keep walking around as much as possible. W exchanged numerous emails that week working towards changing her diet and boy did Rachel change her diet. I was bowled over by her dedication, Rachel and Neil had made a joint decision to live a healthier lifestyle and they made magnificent changes to their diet fast something many people struggle to do so well. That next week Rachel lost 4lbs

Week after week weight kept coming off, sometimes just a couple of pounds, 1 month in and Rachel had lose her first stone.

“My energy had improved, my skin seemed brighter and I started receiving compliments as the changes were clearly visible to others”

At first the only structured exercise Rachel was doing was her personal training sessions but as she lost weight and began to feel better Rachel began to exercise on her own, walking her dog and getting back into swimming. In July swimming 20 lengths would be her limit but in January Rachel swam an incredible 100 lengths!

By September Rachel was in size 18 clothes! Could bend and stretch much more easily and was full of energy.

“ I could walk upstairs so much easier, move around so much better and felt happier than I had for quite some time.”

With hard work the weight continued to come off and by the end of November Rachel had lost 4 stone! She was 15 stones and wearing size 16 clothes….what an achievement!

More importantly Rachel had reached her goal and could bend to tie her shoelaces and squat down and back up unaided.

“Walking the dog wasn’t a chore and I was actually enjoying being fitter and healthier.”

“I found that I could shop in all high street stores and fit into regular knee high boots :)”

It has been so great to work alongside Rachel who has worked hard and earned her cheat meals ensuring she can maintain a lifestyle and get fit and healthy.

“If someone had said I would have lost 4 stone by Christmas I would never have believed them. I’ve learnt never to say never, and I appreciate the saying ‘you are what you eat’ so much more”

“Lucy has a multitude of motivational quotes, my favourite one being ‘nothing gets easier, you just get better at it’. Its so very true”

For those of you thinking it could be a mission impossible, to coin the phrase from a well know sports clothing company “Just Do It” you’ll never look back . . . . four stone down, two and a half to go . . . . .!

Rachel’s success has been down to her dedication to eat the best she can and train hard. In eight months she has gone from eating a diet high in carbs, sugar, salt and saturated fat to eating a balanced diet of food she has prepared and is in control of and from not exercising to training five times a week!

 

Rachel has lost 29 inches from her body so far! Wow!

7.2 inches from her waist

 

60 of these !

Rachel is 4 stone 4lbs lighter than when she first started and although she is still 2 and a half stone off her ideal target I know that she will achieve this so watch this space!

I think the best moment so far for me (Lucy) is presenting Rachel with a 28kg dumbbell and asking her to lift it…. her face was priceless when I told her that was nearly the weight she had lost so far.

Well done Rachel!