August 2013 Client Profile: Melissa

Here at Fitline Meyers place, we’ve been blessed with a whole host of amazing clients who genuinely strive to achieve their fitness goals under our careful guidance. One such client is an inspirational young lady named Melissa. As you’ll find out from the interview below, Melissa came to us in pretty bad shape. But through grit and determination, she has continually been able to overcome the obstacles in her way, and achieve consistently improving results and keep her physical ailments at bay. We really want to point the spotlight on Melissa, because she has more than earned our congratulations over the last 18 months with both her positive attitude and consistent results. See the graph below, this is showing her consistent body composition improvement since her first body composition analysis with us – however this graph only shows her results up until May this year. In May, Melissa started her first Metabolic Precision program with Meyers place trainer, Jeff English, and since then she has supercharged her body composition improvement, strength increases in the “Pinnacle” exercises, and raised her general health and energy levels! We hope to have an update on Melissa’s progress later in the year to show far she has come after the completion of her first 12-week Metabolic Precision program! We were fortunate enough to take the opportunity to interview Melissa, and get a small dose of perspective on how her life has changed since she started putting her health and fitness at the top of her priority list. So, please take a few minutes and read our interview below as Meyers place manager, Macgregor McNair and Melissa discuss her journey with us here at Fitline. Mac: Hi Melissa, thanks so much for your time today. To get us started, please tell us, when did you start training at Fitline? Mel: April 2012, so about a year and a half ago. Mac: How did you come across Fitline? Mel: The Internet. I googled “personal training near Exhibition Street” and this is what came up. Mac: So, why did you choose Fitline? Was it simply the convenience of the Meyers place location? Mel: You know, it was… This is embarrassing, but… It was the pictures on your website. All of the other gyms had pictures of big muscled people, but the people on the Fitline website looked a lot more normal. That was the reason. I really didn’t want to phone in, it was a really big deal to me at that time because I had no fitness whatsoever. Mac: So, those other gyms with pictures on their websites of big muscly, super-fit people, that was intimidating to you? Mel: Yes, absolutely. There is one of them right across the road from my office, and I didn’t get in contact with them at all because of that. Mac: You say you had no fitness whatsoever, what kind of physical shape were you in when you first started with us? Mel: Unfit, overweight, but sick as well. I’ve got Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), which is a blood platelet disorder, and I had Graves disease as well. I’m on medication to slow down my metabolism, because Graves means I have an overactive Thyroid. I felt like crap, I had been sick since my daughter was born, and she’s now three. And, I’d been getting headaches – this is probably the real reason why I came to train too. I was getting these headaches that were wiping me out about every second weekend. I was paying a massive amount of money to physiotherapists, getting massages, and I thought ‘this is ridiculous’, I might as well go to personal training and try to get rid of the headaches, instead of just dealing with the symptoms. As well as actually boost my energy levels. Mac: So have the headaches been troubling you recently? Mel: No, I’ve only had two of them since I started training with Jeff. It’s been life changing, really. Because with two kids, every second weekend I was in bed with the lights off – it was too much. Mac: Do you think it has been just the strength training that has dealt with those headaches? Mel: No, because since I started training with Jeff, I’m taking nearly three hours a week completely to myself, which I never really had before. Locking in those two weekly training sessions, walking over here, training, thinking about nothing else. I don’t feel stressed when I’m here; I’m concentrating on training solely. I think that has been therapeutic as well, just shutting off. On top of that, I felt like I wasn’t the only one worried about me, for the first time. I felt like somebody else was really helping me try and fix my headaches, so I felt like I could really hand that problem over to Jeff. And he really took responsibility of that. Mac: And I suppose being able to lay off the medication to deal with the headaches would have helped. Did you find the medication was sapping your energy beforehand? Mel: Yes, absolutely. And because of that I’ve just been getting stronger and stronger and stronger. Mac: Fantastic. So tell us, what were your first impressions of Fitline, and your trainer, Jeff? Mel: Well, initially I had a half-hour conversation with Dylan, one of the owners of Fitline, and he was great. I felt really comfortable sharing all the details about what I was going through. You see, the Graves disease really messes with your head, and I didn’t know what I was expecting, but Dylan was very reassuring, “Yep, that’s not a problem, we can definitely help you fix all of that”. I was really nervous for my first assessment, but everything was very professional, and I didn’t ever feel any judgment.

Then the first training session with Jeff was great, I felt very comfortable. I put a lot of trust in him straight away, and right from the start, he knew what I could do and what I was capable of before I’d even done it – which was great. Mac: Tell us about the obstacles in your life that prevent you from being at your healthiest. Mel: Now that the Graves disease is under control and I’m off the medication for the headaches, I think the biggest obstacle is time – fitting everything in.

With two kids, working full-time, living an hour-and-a-half out of the city, I really struggle with making time for myself. But I’m getting better at it. For example, when I first started training I would come in without eating anything beforehand, or I’d leave at lunchtime and not eat anything until I got home that night. But now since I started Metabolic Precision with Jeff, I’ve changed all that. It’s still a challenge, but I’m so much better with making time for it all than when I first started. I must admit, I was pretty proud of myself when I was on leave from work, I still drove in for my sessions with Jeff! Mac: How has your time with Fitline, and specifically Metabolic Precision, impacted your everyday life? Mel: I’m going to sound like an advertisement here, but I can do more now, because physically I feel better, I’m stronger, I’ve got a lot more energy, I can try new things with the kids like run around, ride bikes, go for long walks – all kinds of stuff that would have never happened before. And Metabolic Precision has completely changed the way we eat at home. If we give the kids something unhealthy, we’re doing it consciously – it’s a treat, or it’s something really rare. So Metabolic precision has changed all of that. My little one, my three year old talks about Flax Seed *laughs out loud* I don’t know why, I guess she’s trying to be like me.  If I’m having Flax Seed on something, then she has to have it too. So, unlike me who grew up not even thinking twice about what food was good for me, my kids have already been taught that now. And also, they are getting to learn about and enjoy exercise. Since I’ve been training at Fitline, I’ve been doing exercise at home too, so if I’m at home doing a Tabata for example, the kids will do it with me or they will encourage me. Mac: That is so cool! If you wouldn’t mind, please describe for us your journey with Metabolic Precision. Tell us what it looks like for you, how it’s going? Mel: Well, I’m really still at the basic mode of just trying to get the three essentials into every meal – the omega 3, the protein and the plant based carbohydrates. So I’m still focussing on getting those things right, and of course eating regularly, 5-6 meals a day. I was doing really well, but for the last four or five weeks I’ve been struggling a bit with it all. But every time I miss a meal or don’t get the essentials quite right I’m thinking about it. I’m always aware of what I don’t get right. So in that sense, I’ll always be trying to do Metabolic Precision because I’m so aware of it.  It’s not something that I’m going to stop. It’s changed the way I think about food completely, and I won’t leave the house without at least three meals with me. So when I think about how badly I’m doing in Metabolic Precision terms, I just look back at how far I’ve come since I started, it’s unbelievable. It’s a huge change. And for me, I’m no stranger to disappointing myself, but to think that I’m going to walk through these doors, and Jeff is going to ask me “how are you going?” I can’t hide anything from him, because the accountability aspect of the program is so important. I think the accountability is the only reason it has worked for me, because I’ve tried diets and all of them fail. But because I have to come in here and be completely honest, and Jeff can tell when I haven’t been eating properly because it’s reflected in the way I train that day. So there’s really no reason or opportunity to lie. Mac: Just to wrap things up, has your time with us here at Fitline and with Metabolic Precision been something that you would recommend to people? Mel: Yes, absolutely. I would recommend it to anybody – fit or unfit, eating well or not eating well. This (Meyers place) studio is great, so if anyone is looking for personal training then I would recommend here. Mainly because this studio is small, and I don’t feel overwhelmed or self-conscious. There’s nothing negative like that here. And with Metabolic Precision, even though none of the people at my office have signed up for it, the amount of protein shakes getting around the office since I signed on for Metabolic Precision has gone through the roof! As has the Flax Seed, and all the main elements of what I’m doing here are catching on to the people around me. It’s funny how, even though they are all doing their own thing with their health, the logic of Metabolic Precision has really sunk in for them all. Most of all, I really appreciate the support here at Meyers place. I never feel self-conscious walking through the doors here, or in the session. The trainers here are great. Jeff is obviously a fantastic trainer, but he works for me. I mean he is working his hardest for my benefit, and I really appreciate that. I really enjoy my time here.