Six Weeks to Stronger

“The program is AWESOME! Can’t rave about it enough. Below are some of my stats:

Push ups: 20 to 36

Dumbells weight for step ups and curtsy squats: 15lb in each hand (felt hard) to 17.5lb in each hand (feels very do-able, probably time to move up to 20lb dumbells).

Bench Press: 45lb (3×12 reps) to 55lb (3×8 reps)

Curls with Dumbells: 10lb each hand to 12.5lb each hand

Full sit ups: 20 to 21. This surprise me, but then helped me honestly assess that my abs need some extra attention. And that’s OK!

Weight: 118 to 116, and those last two pounds have stayed off. I wasn’t expecting to lose weight, so that was a fun bonus!

When I started I could run a mile at 9:45. But, I’m fairly confident I could do it in less time. I’m sorry I don’t have the actual side-to-side comparison of the fitness test.

While I’m no poster child, I truly valued this program. It was challenging in several ways including: (1) exercising 6 days a week. As a young mom with young kids who weren’t sleeping through the night it was a stretch to go from 3-4 days of exercise to 6. It was challenging to pile all the kids in the car, then get them out and into gym daycare in one piece, and then complete my workout. After week three I felt I got the hang of it and began to look forward to my daily routine. I was by no means perfect and I would feel discouraged when I had to miss a work out due to family circumstances or other responsibilities, but I told myself to stay positive and realistic. This is not about perfection. Exercising 4 days out of the 6 is still good when that needs to be the case. (2) Step ups! The first two weeks of leg exercises had me dying. There were a few times at the gym when I was ready to scream at one more step up. Now when I do my squats and see more defined leg muscles I think, “OK, step ups are awesome!” (3) Low carb days were hard. I was very moody on these days. But, I’m sure this is normal. The difficulty and mood swings eased up as I progressed through the program. (4) the holidays. I did the program soon after Thanksgiving so that I would stay healthy during December. The program truly helped me stay on course with my health, even though, again, I wasn’t perfect. (5) developing endurance. At the beginning the workouts felt so long. But, toward the end I would look at my assignment for the day and say, “Awesome! I can do this in less than an hour!” Feeling my muscle endurance increase was, for lack of a better word, cool! (6) Learning the jargon of all the exercises. At the beginning I created my own workbook in Excel so that I didn’t have to take my printer binder to the gym. I would load all my workouts into my excel sheet on Sunday night and then record my results while completing each set. While this required extra time, it helped me study the exercises ahead of time and I liked having a digital platform where I could keep my results in once place at all times. The workout glossary in the plan was a key reference. Creating this homework assignment for myself each week also helped me stay accountable throughout the program. On days when I wasn’t prepared I found I wasted precious time and energy learning my exercises before I could execute them. Suffice it to say, if you’re a newbie to strength training like me, study ahead of time!

All the above challenges listed were valuable and I’m grateful to have been stretched emotionally, physically and mentally.

There are a couple things I want to call out that I really liked about the program:

(1) The duration. Six weeks felt like a great length of time to work on results. It was long enough to give me second chances (which I totally needed) but short enough to help me stay focused and to “bring it” to every work out.

(2) the meals were tasty. Like any meal plan, I didn’t like all the recipes, but as a whole they were wonderful, and truly helped me feel healthier and “cleaner”. The healthy snacks were great. The meals were also family friendly, which I really appreciated. Going into the program, I knew I couldn’t cook one thing for my family and another for myself every day. I liked that everyone could enjoy the meals and snacks. A handful of the recipes have now become staples for my cooking (homemade granola, for example).

(3) the layout. I liked having the meal plan laid out for the whole week on a single page with a recipe glossary following. I also liked having the portion guides and tips pages. I loved pulling out my binder every morning and talking to my girls about our plan for the day.

(4) the intent of the program. As I worked through the program and followed your Insta account, I felt reassured many times by your perspective on exercise and health. This program challenged me without causing me to feel like a failure when I wasn’t perfect. And trust me, I was NOT perfect. My results would have been even more stellar had I been. I can honestly say this program educated me, and it motivated me to try a little harder to be a little healthier. And on the days when I felt like I could really push myself, the program accommodated for that, too.

(5) Accessible. I love that this program can easily be done at a gym or at home, (as long as you have dumbells and a chair. There were a couple times when one child was sick so I couldn’t go to the gym, but I knew I could do my exercises at home. I definitely prefer the gym, but having an accessible routine was excellent.

In summary, this program solidified the principles of “real” and “practical” for me. Your values shine through on every page, every meal and every set. I knew that no matter what I did, I wanted my progress to result in a lifestyle change. Considering the facts that I now willingly and joyfully pile my kids in the car by 8am so I can make it to the gym before we go to preschool. And, I giddily meal prep twice a week. Both are proof enough that my habits have indeed improved (note: improving my health was a year-long goal in 2016 and this program was an excellent catalyst for the end of a year-long progressing). In addition, I re-learned the value of setting goals and appreciating every effort to reach them. Some weeks I had to be honest about how much I was willing or not willing to work, and other times I had to be compassionate when I did my best but fell short. It’s hard to believe how much I felt and experienced in a little more than a month, but thanks for creating a program that allowed for such a positive experience. It was the perfect end to my 2016 goals and kick off for my 2017 goals.

I would recommend this program to anyone, as well as any program you sell. I myself look forward to doing “Six Weeks to Stronger” again when you start the challenge on March 1. I look forward to increasing my strength even more, because that is precisely what this program accomplishes. I know for a fact I am stronger now than I was two months ago. That is simply remarkable.

Thank you for creating a wonderful product,

Katie

PS I’m sorry one of the photos shows my stomach.”

Oh Katie, you are darling. We are so happy you loved it and so proud of you.