leggings: lorna jane // cropped hoodie: lorna jane // sneakers: matt & nat

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Disclaimer:  I am not a fitness blogger!  I am just a girl, standing in front of a trainer, asking them to make her insanely fit for her wedding.

Here is my situation.  I am built small, naturally.  I have small bones and a small frame, but with a butt and boobs.  In general, I’m happy with my body.

However, being 5’3″ tall, I do tend to look very different after gaining a few pounds. It goes to my face first (you know, so everyone can see it); next, it goes to that thigh-meets-butt area;  and finally, to my stomach.  Yay!

Before you object, I AM NOT SAYING I AM FAT!  And I am not saying that being larger is bad, or anything like that.  But just like you, I have a size and look where I am comfortable and happiest, and I am simply not there.  Ever since getting engaged, Matt and I have been eating like there’s no tomorrow.  It hasn’t been on purpose– we are just happy!  And comfortable. But then, I had an alert go off on my wedding planning website telling me I only had 4 months until my wedding, and I looked in the mirror and was not at all happy with what I saw.  I felt overwhelmed, and negative thoughts swarmed in my head.  To be perfectly honest with you, my first inclination was to do what I’ve always done in the past when I needed to look good for an event:  wait until a month beforehand, then start a hardcore lemon juice cleanse.  But, weirdly enough, I opened up my email and there was an email from Julie Hoang Clayton, owner of FIT 180 – Private Training Studios.  Julie and I had met once before at an event and had bonded over our shared vegan diet (Julie is plant-based because she has an auto-immune disease and for general wellness/health reasons; I am vegan for reasons pertaining to animal rights).  Julie’s simple email read,

Molly!

I would love to help get your body toned and ready for your wedding! Having a personal training will really hold you accountable and take you to the next level. Let me know when you can come do a free consult/session to see if it would be a good fit for you!

-Julie

I immediately emailed her back and set up a personal training consult.

I want to walk you through my experience so far.  Fit 180 is not paying me for this review, in case you are wondering!  But at this point (spoiler alert), this has been a life-changing experience for me, and I really want to share it with you.

At the consult, we sat and talked for an hour.  Something about Julie makes you open up immediately, and so I ended up telling her about my body and my mostly-good-yet-complicated feelings towards it.  We talked about my specific goals and the look I wanted to achieve (for me, I don’t want to look “skinny,” but I want to be toned and  lean, yet still curvy.  I was afraid of building muscle and “bulking up.”  Julie observed that she really wanted to help me with my posture, which she swore would make me look better in my wedding dress, but more importantly would improve my overall, longterm health.  She asked about my daily eating regime, and I admitted that it was pretty irregular– I oftentimes skip breakfast or lunch, and then splurge with a larger dinner at home with Matt.  She told me that my metabolism was likely in need of some help, and instructed me to eat every 3-4 hours no matter what.  She said that, keeping in mind that I don’t enjoy working out, we would begin by personal training 2x per week and go from there. I left feeing newly motivated and organized like never before.

The next step was to take “before pics” and measurements.  Stressful! But I stood there in my sports bra and powered through.  I had originally thought I didn’t want to see my weight, because in high school had gone through a stage where I got VERY obsessed with the number on the scale–to the point where it was unhealthy– but I decided that I was a different person now, with self love and confidence that I didn’t have back then.  The number wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great- I was about 8 pounds heavier than I wanted to be.  Julie assured me it would be easy peasy to get it off. She measured my body’s water, too, and said it was outstanding, which she attributes to my vegan diet (fruits and veggies are inherently hydrating).  Once again, I left the gym feeling INSANELY motivated to tackle my goals and feel great about myself.  I am a competitive type, so these measurements were exactly what I needed.

After that, the work started. Every session is an hour long, and they exercise you in fun and creative ways so that the time really does fly.  I like that you alternate trainers each time so that your body gets newly challenged and you never get bored.  They focus on finely-tuned, personalized workouts that target your “problem areas” and that will achieve your goals while also improving posture and increasing your general strength.  For me, it is a lot of circuit training using my own body weight.

Why personal training is working for me:  The main reason is accountability.  I can’t not show up– that would be so rude, not to mention a waste of money.  Also, they tailor workouts to your body and any injuries.  For me, I have a weak neck from a car accident a few years back– so they keep that in mind and make sure that my neck is never strained. It also helps that every Sunday, you email them your availability for the week and they will schedule your workouts accordingly.  For me, this is huge… My schedule is CRAZY and erratic, juggling the blog with my day job with 100 other commitments… And it just works so much better than trying to randomly squeeze in workouts when I have a spare moment. Lastly, this system is working for me because it is FUN!  Miraculously, I actually look forward to the workouts because you are chatting with your trainer the whole time and are facing new challenges all the time.

4 weeks later, what results have I seen?: I feel tighter already, especially around my core area.  I feel stronger and more confident during my photoshoots, because I am already noticing a difference in my face.  I feel peace of mind, because there is a plan in place, some structure. Matt says he can tell a major difference in my booty– it apparently looks lifted and toned. And finally, I feel my posture improving, which is something I’ve wanted help with for years.

I will keep you all posted as I continue my personal training fitness journey at Fit 180.  I do feel like at this point, I am addicted, and will most likely continue the training sessions in some capacity after the wedding… Because for me, it is not all about looks.  I want to be healthy and strong, and these sessions are the first thing that has made me feel that way in years.

Thanks for listening!  Let me know if you have any questions at all!

xo

Molly

Fit 180 has several locations around DFW. For more info, go HERE!