Lean Bodies Consulting Newsletter
Volume 10, January 16, 2008
Welcome to another addition of the LBC newsletter. If you haven't received the previous issues of the newsletter and you'd like to, you can find the archives here.
In this issue we've got an announcement of an addition to the Lean Bodies Consulting team as well as the first part of an interview with LBC client Lyn Sherrell who's currently lost over 60 lbs and counting.
What’s New At Lean Bodies Consulting?
Well, first off Happy New Year. I hope the Christmas season was good to all of you this year. My birthday falls in December as well and this year I ended up having probably the best birthday I can remember having. To make a long story short, I was thrown a surprise party and to say I had no clue is an understatement. It turns out that a few of my clients who've become really good friends of mine flew up from the US to surprise me for my birthday. It was in the works for a couple months and it turned out to be such a great birthday present. Gestures like that really make you appreciate your friends. I posted more about it on my blog here - My Birthday Surprise.
On to the next order of business. After a few months of planning and training, I've decided to add a member to the Lean Bodies Consulting team. Noel Clark, a long-term LBC client, national-level NPC figure competitor and an NSCA certified personal trainer will be coming on board and working on the other side of coin now. In addition to doing what I do, online training and nutrition, Noel will also be taking LBC in a different direction with a Georgia chapter where she will be doing in-person personal training and running some intense LBC boot camps. 2007 was an excellent year of growth for Lean Bodies Consulting, but with Noel as a new addition to the team, 2008 is already shaping up to be an even more exciting year. You can read more about her here - About Noel Clark. You can also check out her regularly updated contest prep blog here.
And finally, I just wanted to invite you to visit the Lean Bodies Fitness forums. This is an online community that I run which is full of like-minded people. People with loads of knowledge on training, nutrition, fat loss, competition prep and everything in between. There's a lot to be said about social support when it comes to realizing your fitness goals and LBF delivers very well in the social support category. With 2008 upon us, I'm sure many of you have committed to taking things to the next level now. Being a part of an active, progressive and very supportive online community could be that extra motivation you need. If not that, then at the very least you'll probably find the Training, Nutrition, and Pictures & Video forums very beneficial.
LBC Client Interview - Lyn Sherrell Part 1
I'd thought it'd be a good change of pace to do an interview with a client of mine. Lyn Sherrell is someone I've been working with for a number of months now and she is well on her way to being a huge client success. To date she's dropped around 60lbs and isn't done yet. Onto the interview:
EL: Hi Lyn. Why don't you start by telling us a little about yourself, and your past weight loss efforts.
LS: Ok, about myself, I'm 38 years old. I live right outside of Knoxville, TN. I work for a large Japanese automotive company in the area. I enjoy reading, journaling, traveling, making jewelry,shopping, and hanging out on the Internet.
My past weight loss efforts before coming to LBC were pretty much all over the place. I was your typical "dieter" who tried every new thing that came on the market. As you know, if something is advertised at 2am, I will buy it. I've tried everything from the Cabbage Soup Diet to Phen/Fen and have bought pretty much every weight loss gadget on the market. I still have my electric ab belt and my Firm Fanny Lifter. It was only after I started visiting various fitness boards like Lean Bodies Fitness that I decided that what I was doing wasn't working and wanted to try a different approach, which brought me to you.
EL: Ok, Lyn, You've had a blog on my site for a number of months now and the people following it have seen you make some incredible progress to date. To recap, if my numbers are correct, you started at 240lbs and are currently hovering right around 180lbs. Incredible progress.
LS: Yeah those numbers are correct. 239 to180-ish so far. Stop outting me! Seriously, yes, your numbers are correct. When I got my first plan I weighed 239 lbs at a height of 5'2. I currently I am in the low, low 180's, hopefully into the 170's by the time this is published.
EL: What kind of lifestyle changes have you had to make to lose this kind of
weight?
LS: Well, I think first and foremost I had to be open to change. Since I had tried so many things in the past that didn't work, I had to open my mind to a new way of doing things. For so long I had the mentality of dieting to get "thin" and then assuming all of my problems would be over. What I didn't realize at the time, that the change had to be long term versus just dieting down for a special event or occasion. I think that's where I got into trouble in the past. After the event was over, I had nothing else to focus on or work towards so the weight came back and usually I gained back more than I had originally lost. The mindset has to be on the long
term, most definitely. Also, I've had to leave a lot of the common misconceptions about dieting and weigh loss in the past. I had to get used to things like eating more, lifting weights in addition to cardio, weighing food, drinking lots of water, etc.. Pretty much everything that the typical dieter is told not to do in order to lose weight.
I think that there is a huge misconception with overweight people that the only options to lose large amounts of weight are surgery, drugs, or common mainstream programs like Weight Watcher's or Jenny Craig. I'm not saying that those programs don't work..I think everything does to an extent, if you follow it correctly, but never is the approach of proper nutrition and
weight training ever considered as an option. Even at my gym, obese people are never trained to lift weights, only massive amounts of cardio. For the longest time, I was told by people I trusted to be "experts" that large people should diet and do cardio first and then after the 'goal weight' is reached, then light weights for 'toning' should be added. It's very unfortunate that most people still feel that this is the way it should be done instead of things being done simultaneously....unfortunate and discouraging....since sometimes I still get those "looks" when I'm in the weight area by people who think that I should be doing cardio because I am larger. Don't even get me started about the "trainer" who interrupted my workout to ask me if I'd be interested in attending the spinning class that was about to start.
EL: Have you had any setbacks during your weight loss and how have you dealt
with that?
LS: Oh yeah definitely. Setbacks are all part of the process. It's like I read once, if this was easy, more people would do it. There have definitely been times that I've adhered to my diet and worked really hard and then wanted to throw in the towel when it wasn't reflected on the scale or with the tape measure. There have also been days when I woke up and wanted
bacon, eggs, and pancakes a whole lot more than I wanted oatmeal and protein powder. I'll be honest, there were days that I went with the pancakes..it happens. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it's true – you can't stop and you can't give up. I learned a long time ago that while
I'm not perfect; I am determined and I will work very hard to get what I want. Honestly, throughout this year I've learned that following a diet 100% or never missing a workout isn't what makes me strong. What makes me strong is getting back up and getting right back on plan after I eat something I shouldn't have, looking past insensitive comments/looks/remarks
that I've received, or going to the gym when I really just wanted to go home and take a bubble bath and a nap. I'm not sure if it ever gets any easier over time, but I do know that I do get stronger over time. I find it so much easier to keep going than having to start over again.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Lyn's interview.
“You have two choices - success or failure. You choose."
If you know anyone you think would enjoy or benefit from this newsletter, please forward it on and pass on the newsletter sign up link LBC Newsletter. Remember, when they sign up to receive the LBC newsletter they also get a copy of my 22-page report on the Top 10 Not-So-Obvious Fat-Loss Mistakes.
Until next time, thanks for reading.
Erik Ledin, B.Kin, CSCS, CISSN, NSCA-CPT
http://www.leanbodiesconsulting.com
http://www.leanbodiesfitness.com
http://www.leanbodiesconsulting.com/blog
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