SUCCESS. SUCCESS. SUCCESS.
After making a commitment to their health, and small changes to get them there, these clients have simply amazed us all. See what they have achieved while working with us. It's nothing short of empowering.
MEET JESSICA
I have always struggled with my weight, despite being relatively active as an adult. I’ve cycled between 240 lbs. and 165 lbs. a few times during my life. Additionally, I have herniated the same disc in my lower back multiple times and had surgery to repair it.
When I came to True 180 Fitness, I was towards the heavy end of my spectrum, yet again. My back and foot problems made me afraid of most resistance training; I was worried I would re-injure myself and end up more limited than I already was. Working with the T180 team quickly gave me confidence that my program was a safe way to regain my strength and make progress towards my fitness goals.
In the 15 months I’ve been with T180, I’ve gone from a size 16W to a size 8/10 (and on her way to a size 6!). While I’m not at the lowest weight I’ve ever been, I’m wearing the smallest clothes I ever have as an adult. I’m currently 30 lbs. lighter than I was when I graduated from high school.
It is definitely harder to be consistent sometimes than others – and my progress has happened in spurts, with frustrating plateaus in between. Ultimately, I feel much healthier, stronger and have greater confidence that I can manage my weight and fitness than I have previously.
MEET LORI
When Lori first came to us she was out growing her 8’s. It was either get back into her clothes or buy a new wardrobe of 10’s. What she was doing – group aerobics classes weren’t working and the pants were getting tighter. Good news: Lori got into her 8’s, then her 6’s and eventually bought a size 4 for the first time in over a decade.
Her problem now is that her clothes are too big and they’ve been taken in as much as they possibly can. Most importantly Lori has maintained this success for over 3 years now! Way to keep it up and keep it off Lori!
“Every morning I look in the mirror and say, ‘Thank you!’”
MEET DANA S.
For the last 15 years I had struggled and been disappointed with my weight and size. I would try crazy diets, dedicate obscene amounts of time to the treadmill every day, or put myself through tedious calorie tracking activities and all for minor and fleeting results. When I started at True 180, I was at my worst. Even though I'm not very tall, I was over 140lbs and a size 6, with size 8 as my not uncommon "back up" size. I also came in with a lot of misconceptions about what was good for me and what results I would get out of the type of nutrition and fitness program True 180 advocated.
And now, a little over a year later, I feel like I got the education and accountability I didn't even know I needed, and it got me down to a comfy size 2 with a 0 as my back-up size. I am thinner and fitter today than I was at my high school senior prom. And best of all, I know why and I know how to maintain it while still enjoying the occasional treat or drink.
I definitely started out a skeptic about "getting the body you want in the time that you have", but the experience and results have been amazing for me. The fitness and nutrition regiment I have now is something I can not only do, but also maintain. I don't go to the gym more than 4 times a week and each work out is challenging, but doable and interesting--not the horrible, monotonous cardio grind I had previously associated with "going to the gym". Also, my relationship with food is phenomenally better. I eat differently, but I'm cooking and eating meals I love, eat whenever I want, and always eat until I'm full and never track calories.
I had honestly resigned myself to always being cutely chubby in a best case scenario and never pictured myself achieving any fitness goal beyond losing a few pounds. I'm happy with the progress I've made in terms of weight loss and excited that I've started to tackle other fitness goals like strength and balance.
MEET COACH CHRIS
Four years ago I weighed 330 pounds and recovering from my 4th knee surgery in 7 years. I was given orders of strict bed rest for 3 weeks so my knee could recover from surgery to help patch cartilage that was missing in my knee. I had been a great athlete in high school, using my 6’4 280 pound frame to propel me to success in varsity football. I identified myself as an athlete and built my mental framework around it. So when I looked at myself in 2011, bedridden, soft and weak I decided that that wasn’t who I was and it was time to do something about it.
I began with walking. The Mt. Vernon parkway in Virginia was my spot; in March of 2011 it was where you could find me from 9am-11am, like clockwork. I would walk for a brisk pace, always switching my interval time each day. Some days I would walk as fast as I could for 40 seconds and rest for 2 minutes; others I would go for a minute on a minute off.
Eventually I built on my success by adding strength training to my work outs. I got a gym member ship to a Gold’s gym by my house and I went their religiously. My training sessions were intense! Not really knowing what I was doing I looked at what the other guys were doing and would mimic their work outs. By the fall of 2012 I was on my way to Longwood University’s Exercise program weighing 100 pounds less than I did the year prior and fueled by a new passion to help other do the same!
In 2013 I started an internship at True 180 Fitness (formerly The Body You Want) to get school credit for my degree in Exercise science from Longwood University. Two years later I am True 180’s Director of training, where I actively coach our members to achieve their best and healthiest lives just the way I have. I am now weighing 210 pounds (120 lbs total loss) and I’ve gone from a size 44 pant size to a 34!
If you are ready to begin your own personal fitness journey, click here to meet me and try True 180’s 14-day trial to see if we’re the right fit for you!
MEET YUMIKO K.
It was pure luck that I encountered True 180 Fitness in Georgetown. I feel extremely fortunate as this gym has become a part of who I am now.
One thing about joining a new gym, just like the first day of school, is that the experience was half exciting and half filled with nervousness. It requires courage to step into something totally unknown, especially for me as a foreign national who was relatively new to the area. One of the strong characteristics of True 180 Fitness that I appreciate the most is a sense of community. Although the sessions and classes can be challenging, the True 180 coaches and members are very friendly and welcoming. This environment has helped me to feel that I can trust and be happy as a part of this community.
Reflecting back on my first day I stepped into the gym, I had two goals in mind.
The first goal was, possibly similar to that of many others, to lose weight and see the ideal number on the scale which had been on my mind for more than a decade. Since I moved to DC from Asia a few years ago, every year I was getting the same recommendation on my annual health check-up report, which was to lose some weight. It was always the same lecture by the doctor which I had to sit through for 10 minutes annually. It was not that I did not care, but that I was constantly busy with my work, travel, socializing activities, family and friends. Also, in the US, if the clothes feel tight, there is always the next size up that can “fit” comfortably. Therefore the gap between my ideal and actual weight became wider instead of getting smaller. I also started avoiding taking photographs so that I did not have to see myself.
The second goal was to be ready for the Marine Corp Marathon 10K which was scheduled in two months’ time. I ran the same race in the previous year for the first time. At that time, I practiced more “running activities” well ahead of the race.
For the second time around, however, having some experience with the race prevented me from getting serious with a running routine. I felt that including this in my manifesto when I joined the new gym was a good opportunity to get me motivated to practice running to avoid injury due to the lack of preparation for the race.
Looking back at my journey in last five months, there have been many surprises.
For the first two months, I was able to manage my “busy” schedule and made it a habit to go to the gym three times a week. As each session and class was not more than an hour, I was able to focus better on the work out when I was in the gym. The trade-off, however, was that I could not fit my “running” into the schedule anymore except on the weekend. Without much actual running practice prior to the race and spending time working out in the True 180 classes and sessions, I remembered on the day of the race feeling less prepared and thinking I would be more than happy to just complete the 10K. The result was very interesting because I ended up running much faster and completing the race in significantly less time than the previous year.
Within five months, my clothes have gone 2 - 3 sizes and “fit” well and I have lost 20 pounds. People around me started noticing the change and giving me nice comments. Though I am still on the way to see the ideal number on the scale, I definitely feel better and more confident. This is due to all of the coaches who are amazingly knowledgeable, and are very good at helping me sustain my motivation, and making me want to challenge myself even more. Last year, if anyone had asked me to share my story, I would definitely not have accepted. I have to say that sharing about myself is such a big transformation of who I am now!
MEET JENNY M.
I joined True 180 in early 2013 because I wanted to get back in shape after having my son. My son was a little over two old when I joined and, while I had lost most of the baby weight a while before that, the last 10 pounds or so were hanging on and I still felt out of shape. Before joining the gym, my main activities were running, biking and yoga. I have always been fairly active and have been able to stay in shape fairly easily. I was in good shape before I got pregnant but I stopped running when I was about 3 months pregnant and did not really get back into after my son was born. And, while yoga was very therapeutic and a good way to stretch and relax, I did not feel like I was getting an intense workout. Even though I had not lifted weights recently, I had done so in the past (about 10 years prior), and remembered how strong I felt when I had lifted regularly. I knew that I needed some good coaching to make sure I was lifting correctly, along with some motivation to do it regularly.
I searched for good personal trainers and found True 180. I really liked their holistic approach to fitness. They emphasized getting strong, having your clothes fit better and feeling good about yourself and de-emphasized obsessing about losing weight and a number on the scale. I like that the coaches continually challenge me with new workout programs every 4- 6 weeks and this, along with coach’s workouts and the metabolic classes, keep me from getting bored at the gym. While being consistent with my workouts has really helped, I saw the best results when I combined the workouts with the trainer’s other advice about what to eat, the importance of sleep and drinking enough water.
