When the Pryors called about my 12-week body transformation program, they had an all-too-familiar story: Work, family and other obligations kept them so busy they began neglecting their health and gained a lot of weight. They knew they needed something special to help get them back on track, so they both signed up to do my program because they believed doing it as a family would increase results.
Like most people, Melissa and Todd had regular full-time jobs, but they began making bath soap as a side business and sold it on Etsy. With each passing year, the business grew larger. Eventually, it became so successful they both quit their full-time jobs to focus on production so they could keep up with the high demand.
“We spent a lot of time working on our business and other things in life, and our physical and mental health took a backseat. Eventually it came to a breaking point, and we decided to make the call,” said Todd.
In addition, Melissa watched the number on the scale steadily increase. She finally had enough and decided to make a change.
“I knew we needed a system with accountability to help get us back on track and doing what we were supposed to do,” said Melissa. That’s exactly what happened over the next three months.
To help Todd and Melissa achieve their goals, we started by testing both of them in the Bod Pod – a state-of-the-art body composition machine – to determine their starting body fat and to track results throughout the program. We then taught them diet basics to help guide them as they began working out. In addition, we built a customized program that included weight training, body weight movements and cardiovascular training, slowly guiding them through the plan and increasing the difficulty of the workouts as they made weekly progress.
It quickly became apparent that this was not going to be an average transformation. Each week on check-in day, both Melissa and Todd experienced above-average weight loss. By the sixth week, they were in a position to dramatically change their physical and mental health. In fact, they began to look so different that everyone was noticing on a weekly basis.
By the time they finished the 12th week and took their final Bod Pod test, the results were truly amazing. Todd had lost 20 pounds of pure fat while gaining 10 pounds of lean muscle. Melissa looked like a shadow of her former self. She had dropped a total of 40 pounds in just three months, but there was much more. Todd had previously been on blood pressure medication and had dangerous blood pressure readings as high as 183/134, but by the time he finished, it had dropped to a mind-blowing healthy 118/66 and he was completely off his medication.
When I asked them how completing the program as a couple was beneficial, Todd said, “I wouldn’t want to do it any other way. Meal prep was the same, meal times were the same, gym times were the same.” These factors helped them support each other and gain momentum throughout the program. Both Todd and Melissa felt excited because they could share their results and encourage each other to stay focused and work harder even on days they didn’t want to work out. There is no doubt their cooperation is one of the main reasons they achieved such incredible results.
On a side note, Melissa has committed to a second transformation. She is three weeks in and has already lost an additional 11 pounds for a grand total of 51 pounds since the beginning. Stay tuned for her final results to be showcased in a future column. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for motivation, her story will be sure to inspire anyone to get moving and get back in shape.