Angela R.

Lenexa, KS

Angela R

60-day took a lot of determination, a change in route, and open mindedness (since I’m set in my ways it’s difficult to learn something new), but it was worth it!  I had a goal, and that’s all it has to start with.

Starting January, I needed to change club locations due to proximity to work/home, and while I was sad to leave the other familiar facility, I quickly got to know the new club by signing up for the 60-day challenge. It was a great way to get to know the coaches and classes.   This decision was made to start losing weight the right way (no cheats), and to gain energy and overall good health including reducing my total PBF by at least 20% overall which meant I had to lose around 8% body fat.  This year also marks my 20-year anniversary of being breast cancer free and I want the next 20 years to be equally healthy.  I can’t say exactly why, but when I received the Lifetime wrist band, I put it on and thought to myself, “this is not coming off until the end.  It’s the little things…it helped me remember my goal, and my reasons.

During the weigh-in week, the coaches provided a review of history, goals, nutrition, and what 60-day offered including the online coaching, Try-It classes and a coached session of which I selected Pilates.  One of the Try-It classes that particularly stood out was the nutrition class.  The nutrition coaches met us at a local health food store and instead of a “classroom” setting, they walked us up and down the aisles and discussed healthy choices, organics, the dirty dozen, fillers, labels, etc.  It was an amazing class!   I then signed up for the detox 20-day program, and I followed the “approved and non-approved” lists, eliminated all foods that contained fillers, in addition those that I had a food sensitivity to.  Also, during these 20 days, I worked out 6 days a week, including Pilates + 30 min. cardio twice a week, the try-it Tuesday’s and/or Saturdays, and weights twice a week.  Once the 20 day detox was complete, I was down 4 pounds and had lost 5% body fat.

The second class that had a surprising effect on me was the cycling class.  I have to admit that after first five minutes, I was painfully ready to get off the seat, but I powered through it, wrist band and all, and ended up signing up once a week for cycling.  The intense cardio added what I needed to balance my work out schedule.  By week 5 I was down over 6 pounds and lost 7% body fat which was 19% overall loss.  I was sleeping great and felt like I had more energy when I woke up each day.

During weeks 6-7: I was starting to drop the pounds, but I also saw that I was losing some of the muscle mass I had gained and felt I needed to re-evaluate my nutrition to make sure I was doing all the right things.  I worked with my coaches to look at areas of improvement.  I learned to track my nutrition, and how to manage protein and carb intake, including “when” to eat that power bar that I kept craving.  I was taught that water intake was equally important and I improved my intake to 64 oz before I even hit the gym.  I also started my day with the LFT am supplements and the Vegan Protein + and Life greens, both in chocolate.  By far this is the best tasting shake!  My protein was increased, and carbs were lowered.  I was continuing Pilates with additional 30 min. cardio Monday’s and Thursdays, cycling Tuesdays, weights on Wednesday and Fridays, and Try-It Saturdays.

Week 8: I continued the routine, and my end result was a loss of 5 lbs, but I also had a gain of almost 7 lbs in muscle mass!   My main goal was to cut my body fat by 20%.  I lost over 8% BF which reduced my body fat by over 22%!  I remembered my reasons why, and met my goal, and I could not have done it without the 60-day program and guidance, and the facility to acheive it in.

I plan to keep my nutrition choices very similar to what they have been the last 60-days. My energy levels are definitely improved, and I don’t want to give that up.   I found it easy to prepare my meals/snacks for the week which included baked chicken, and 2 gallon size bags of veggies.  I love the protein shakes as my breakfast and salads in the afternoon.  I may incorporate a few items back into my evening meals, but I’m content with eating berries vs. ice cream, and found a fantastic avocado cake recipe that can easily be called chocolate suicide cake!    My Life Time work outs will be reduced to 3 days a week plus a yoga class on the weekend, keeping cycling on Tuesdays, Pilates + cardio on Thursdays, and changing to weights on Mondays.  I’m excited to continue this journey healthy and fit, so it’s time to set a new goal.   It’s important to keep the motivation going and taking the coached classes definitely keeps me accountable and the work out fun.  Thank you Life Time!