Kathy Jock
Mother of 2
Registered Nurse, Teacher

April 2006
I decided that I am going to start training with Liza. I have to admit that I never thought I would do this. It is so amazing to see the differences in Julie and Leigh since they have started training with her, I just don’t know how it can work with me. Liza told me it didn’t matter if I was 40 and hearing her say that gave me a little hope that I could change my body.

She is going to show me how to eat right to turn up my metabolism and how to exercise properly. My short term goal is to fit into my black dress pants at pre-school graduation.  My long term goal is to feel better, have more energy and be healthy.

Liza has agreed to just measure me. I can’t weigh myself. I can’t get on a scale. It plays head games with me and I will get so hung up on the numbers, I won’t focus on anything else.  This time it is going to be different; it won’t be a crash, fad diet.  I may not get rid of weight quickly, but I will get rid of it for good.  I am excited for this new start. I am relearning how to take care of myself and feel good and I can’t wait.

First day at Gold’s Gym
Ok. This is very intimidating. Everyone here looks so young. Lots of young, muscular guys with tattoos. I could be their mom!  Oh well, focus on you and why you are here, take time for you and your whole family will benefit, I keep telling myself. 

Liza showed me how to do the weights. Some of the machines I was familiar with some were new. I was so afraid of looking stupid, I would have lifted 1000 lbs. if she had told me to!  I did it though…. I made it through my first work-out and if felt good.  I know that if Liza wasn’t expecting me, I would have just skipped it and told myself, maybe another day.

Liza sat down with me and educated me on healthy food choices and why I need to eat frequently.  The food plan is going well. The hardest part is remembering to eat every 3 hours. I am use to going all day without eating, so it is hard to remember to do it.

Breakfast was tough, because all I ever did for breakfast was drink a Mountain Dew and didn’t eat until around lunch time.  I know it is important to eat right away now to get my body up and running, so I am going to do this.

May 2006 Pre-school Graduation
The pants I wanted to fit into for this day fit and were actually big!  Three weeks of doing this and I feel smaller. Everyone asked me what I was doing and how I got thinner. I showed my friends who were here for the graduation a copy of my nutrition plan and they were surprised at how simple it was! 

I am so glad people are noticing…. I feel it but I am glad others can see it. Yeah…… first short term goal met!  I am going to do this hard core all summer and see how I look at the end of summer.

After first measurement; 4 weeks
My first measurement since I started: I lost 1 ¼ in. off my waist, 2 ¼ in. off my hips, 2 in. off each leg and ¾ in. of each arm! I am so excited. I keep thinking that I could not possibly change anymore than what I have but Liza assures me that this is not a peak and to just keep eating well and sticking to our plan.

I am so happy. The exercising is getting easier and the food is a routine now.  The hard part is the cheat meal.  I feel so much better when I eat the right things now. The cheat meal makes me feel full, fat and sleepy.  That’s how I felt all the time before I started this.  The pay off is how much better I feel now!

July 2006  After second measurement; 8 weeks
I lost even more!  I’ve lost another inch off my waist, 1 ¾ in off my hips, ¼ in of my legs, and another ¾ in. off each arm! Clothes are starting to fall off. I am trying on things that wouldn’t fit over my legs before.  Now they are big and falling down.  The exercising is almost addictive!  Sometimes I workout in the morning and then want to run at night.

Liza has told me to limit my cardio to 30 minutes so I don’t burn the muscle I am building.  I always eat some protein right at bedtime.  I tell myself it is like living in cold weather; you throw a log on the fireplace at bedtime to keep the fire burning all night.  I eat protein at bedtime to keep my metabolism up and working throughout the night. 

I actually get hungry now after about 2 hours.  Liza says that’s my metabolism revving up. I have been eating plain tuna or some chicken breast after 2 hours, just to satisfy the hunger.  I am automatically reaching for the right things rather than junk.

September 2006
Wow.  I knew I was dropping, but to hear the numbers is so rewarding.  Since my initial measurements in April, I now have lost a total of 3 ½ in. off my waist, 4 ¾ in. off my hips, 3 inches of each leg, and almost 3 inches off each arm! Still I have no idea what I weigh, and I don’t care. 

I know that I now wear clothes 2 sizes smaller and everyone keeps saying “wow, you got so skinny”.  It was my goal to return to the new school year after working hard all summer and have people notice.  Boy did they notice!  Everyone was shocked and asking how I did it.  That’s how I was before, wanting the “secret”.  The truth is I worked my butt off all summer and did what Liza said.  I followed her instructions to the letter and it works!! 

I was afraid of looking like a muscle woman scared that my legs would get bigger from lifting weights. They are so much smaller and firmer.  I have lost weight on my own before and even taught aerobics while in college but this has given me a different look.  The weights have totally changed my body.

My thoughts…
Sometime in the summer, I quit looking at this as something with an ending, or finish line. I know that this is how I am going to live the rest of my life.  I am going to eat every 3 hours and lift weights 3 times a week and do cardio 5 days a week.  I have and will slip up, but this is my new life.  The exception will be the slip ups; my new norm is eating like this and working out.  Even my daughters are impressed and encourage me.  My husband doesn’t say too much to me, but I know he is proud because everyone he talks to tells me how he told them all about how well I am doing.  He has encouraged me to do whatever I need. 

I felt guilt at first; I never spend money on myself like this.  But now I know that without Liza’s guidance I never could have got this far. I would rather spend the money now and learn how to be healthy and fit then stay the way I was and pay doctors to treat my illnesses from being overweight or to pay for some fad diet that would allow the weight to come back the minute I stopped. I can see how taking care of myself helps me take better care of my family.