You have probably realised that The DVCC is all about helping clients achieve their OWN personal Transformation. For most it is weight *loss, and once they have* lost the weight they want it is time to *increase their muscle tone. Read below to see how Amanda has achieved that first part of her journey and is now on the second. Amanda: My name is Amanda Julianne. I'm, dare I say, 57 years old.
Transcript
Amanda: My name is Amanda Julianne. I'm, dare I say, 57 years old.
Mark: 57? You don't look a day over 56!
Amanda: I'm a PA at a business in Milton Keynes, and I live with my partner. I have a daughter who's 27 and she's single. She lives in Yorkshire, so whenever I go and visit or when she comes to visit me she notices my weight loss.
Mark: So that leaves me on to your first question, how much weight have you *lost?
Amanda: 2 & 1/2 *stone.
Mark: And in what period of time?
Amanda: Thats since I would say the first of November last year, so how may months would it be?
Mark: Heading towards 10 months.
Amanda: 10 months. Yeah.
Mark: So 2 & 1/2 *stones in 10 months, excellent.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: And is that 2 & 1/2 *stones of weight?
Amanda: That's - well, I'm well below my bodyfat goal now, there's no fat issue. I'm just building up muscle weight now.
Mark: So let's go back to November just before you joined The DVCC, what were you doing in terms of exercise or your daily living compared to now?
Amanda: Well, I had begun to go to a local gym. I had an induction and I had an hour with a personal trainer who gave me a program, but I must say when you're left on your own it doesn't quite work. You don't know if you're doing it right, the technique, you could hurt yourself, injure yourself unknowingly and you haven't got that much -- you haven't got person that's pushing you, to do that little bit extra.
Mark: So you saw him, got a program and how long were you trying to do that for?
Amanda: Only for about a month.
Mark: How often did you go to the gym?
Amanda: I went about three times a week.
Mark: Every week?
Amanda: Mostly, yeah.
Mark: Oh, good. And did you get results? Were you *losing weight or were you feeling better?
Amanda: I was feeling a bit better obviously because it's a bit of exercise, but nothing like how I feel now.
Mark: Sure.
Amanda: Certainly you also get the "buzz", but it's nothing like I get when I leave here.
Mark: So then let's go back to what made you join the DVCC as opposed to carry on at a normal gym.
Amanda: It was a link up with the business I work at but mostly seeing Julie and the change in her and Nick. And then we would talk about what they were doing. Then we trialed it and…
Mark: I think it was more of we were trialling you, weren't we to be honest?
Amanda: Ha yeah, I think so.
Mark: To see whether you guys were the right type of reprobates.
Amanda: Yeah, I felt we are.
Mark: Were you nervous before you came in?
Amanda: Very nervous?
Mark: Why? What were your fears?
Amanda: The fears of who -- you feel very unfit, looked overweight, particularly in my age, I felt very old, you know. Everyone else would be a lot younger...
Mark: Right. Did you have a perception that there would be a lot of young lycra clad women…
Amanda: Yeah. The ones that you see the majority of the times in the gym.
Mark: Did you feel that and did you see that at your normal gym?
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there was not much interaction between people.
Mark: Right, so you were kind of head down.
Amanda: Yeah and I just got on with it and you never really made any contact or new friends…
Amanda: Yeah, that's it. But since we came here, everybody is so friendly. That cheers you on, encourages you on and it doesn't take long, you just form that relationship that friendship with all of the other clients. They're all brilliant.
Mark: I used to watch a lot of Cheers and Stephen and I both did and that was one of our aims of the DVCC is trying to make a way that everybody knows your name and everyone is happy to see you just like in Cheers.
Amanda: Yeah, exactly.
Mark: And it just makes you want to come back.
Amanda: It makes you come back. You don't feel out of place. You're not that person stood in the corner in the distance and nobody is talking to you and -- but you get included in conversation so quickly and easy, not just female. Male as well.
Mark: Exactly. And it's good, it's a good dynamic male and female. Sometimes there's a lot of centers or studios basically trying to steer one or the other but I actually prefer, we prefer the combination because we don't have any macho men so everybody is aiming for the same kind of thing, weight *loss in general.
Amanda: Absolutely, yeah.
Mark: And all are happy to see everybody else's results.
Amanda: Absolutely.
Mark: So then how long until you started seeing results?
Amanda: I would say about a month after and then it was a gradual thing. Personally with myself, I've never hit a plateau, but I'm expecting that anytime now because I've *lost enough weight. Yeah.
Mark: Well exactly. You've *lost enough fat.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah.
Mark: It is obviously about muscle tone increase.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: Especially, dare I say at your age, obviously muscle tone is something you want to at least keep, if not increase is something that you -- that does decline with age especially in females and 40 plus.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: And actually it's one of the main indicators for longevity of life is muscle, the more muscle tone you have on your body, the healthier you will be.
Amanda: Oh, right, right.
Mark: It's in the latest research.
Amanda: Oh, right. Oh, that's good to hear.
Mark: So you formed friendships pretty quickly which I assume would have helped you coming back session after session?
Amanda: Oh, definitely, and also the guys, the trainers, they are so quick at learning individual's characters and strengths and weaknesses.
Amanda: And then they encourage you to take that further step forward. They know how you've been about yourself emotionally.
Mark: Right, exactly.
Mark: It helps remind you to not go into the gap which is where you are comparing yourself against the future vision of how you want to be as opposed to looking back to where you were…
Amanda: Yes.
Mark: …and seeing the difference and what you've achieved.
Amanda: Exactly.
Mark: And everybody gets into that sometimes -- someone who's *lost 3 *stone, I'd imagine you might get into that sometimes, as you forget how much you have achieved so far.
Amanda: Oh, yes, yes.
Mark: I mean, it isn't that long ago, it's not even a year.
Amanda: Exactly.
Mark: And you were carrying 3 *stone of fat more.
Mark: You just touched on something there. Obviously, when you're 3 *stone heavier, I would imagine that you don't feel you're most confident or as healthy or as alert as you do now. What do you think are the main differences in terms of mental state but more how you feel about yourself?
Amanda: Oh, it certainly gives you more confidence in yourself. In fact, I feel as though when I walk, I'm in fact 2 inches taller.
Mark: Oh, good.
Amanda: Possibly not physically to look at but that's how I feel in myself.
Mark: Did you find that you're kind of shrinking?
Amanda: Yeah, shrinking but now, I'm sort of saying, "Here I am, even at my age. Here I am, I like my haircut?" Go with it, yeah, and shopping for clothes is so much more fun now because before, you're just so restricted…
Mark: Did you not look forward to shopping?
Amanda: No, I just went for certain things and hoped they had my size and that would be it, you know. I wouldn't experiment because I've got this maturity thing going on in my head as well, you know, you're getting old, you can't wear that, but you can.
Mark: So is it now actually an "occasion" when you go shopping?
Amanda: Yes. It's great. It's enjoyable now.
Mark: Awesome.
Amanda: Yeah, really enjoyable.
Mark: And what would you say your partner -- what is the differences your partner has noticed in you, would you say that or you think you're happier -- I don't want to throw happier, I mean, does your extra confidence transpose into you're dealings with other people?
Amanda: Certainly, yeah, yeah. You don't go as inward because you want to hide behind everybody especially if there are those people that are slim and attractive. You just want to say, oh, I'll just stand back. I'll listen to the conversation but I won't actually put myself forward…
Amanda: Yeah, my boss now calls me skinny! :)
Mark: Awesome. So what do you feel then because obviously it's not always plane sailing, you've *lost 3 *stones, you're going to have ups and downs along the way. What have been any roadblocks, any things you've had to overcome?
Amanda: I think the initial is getting used to the nutritional side of it, you know, giving up not -- to start with giving up the bread and giving up the refined carbs and you think well, protein, what can I eat in protein, you know, I'm not used to this new shopping list that I've gotten and what fruit. But once you've been having the one to one tracker appointments, with the guys and they encourage you go buy this, you can do that, and then it will start fitting into your daily routine.
Mark: Good, so it becomes a habit.
Amanda: It becomes a habit, yeah.
Mark: Do you think or do you actually think about it now or is it just becomes your daily routine, it is just what you do?
Amanda: Yeah, it's just what I do now. I am beginning to introduce some kind of good carbs to help build my muscle up. But no, the rest of it is -- in fact when I have gone out for a meal and it's been quite rich…
Mark: You pay for it the next day, do you?
Amanda: You do pay for it, yeah. And it sounds bizarre but even a slice of big cucumber is so refreshing, nice to eat and you wouldn't ever think that at one time but yes.
Mark: No. But it's funny, isn't it, because you get so used to having whatever you want. You kind of don't appreciate it.
Amanda: I never deprive myself -- if I see something like a cake or at work, you know, in the office, it is someone's birthday and there's a cake, I would say to myself before picking it up, do I really want that cake.
Mark: That's the point, it's a choice.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: If you choose to have it, that's fine. You have it and there's no need to feel guilty. It's your choice.
Amanda: No. Exactly.
Mark: But it's a healthy way of looking at food. If I eat something bad, I'm choosing to eat that bad food. I'm not going to worry about it. It's when people are eating things and then hating themselves for doing that, that there is a bit of an issue.
Amanda: Yeah, exactly. And then you just go back on track again, as simple as that.
Mark: And then when you want to treat yourself, you treat yourself and you enjoy it even more.
Amanda: Yeah, absolutely, yeah. I mean, I remember the times I had chocolate in my fridge and I'm a person if there's chocolate, a whole lot goes.
Mark: The less sugar you have the less cravings you have.
Amanda: Exactly, yeah. And I did find, we went for a period at work, in February it was a month of everybody's birthday and there were lots of cakes and lots of treats and it was constant. So I did have one or two things through that time and I felt, myself starting to crave it more.
Mark: The thing with sugar is that it's just not good. There's nothing good about it, they are saying, it's actually as addictive as cocaine.
Amanda: Really?
Mark: Yeah, yeah. So that's backs up your point, when you have a little bit, you start feeling you want more.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: So it is a lot easier just to go without it because there is nothing good about it, sugar, unfortunately.
Amanda: No, no, that's a shame but yeah.
Mark: Which is a shame, I mean it tastes good and manufacturers make it so but there is nothing healthy about it.
Amanda: Yeah, exactly. If it's in your face all the time, you have just got to turn away from it.
Mark: Yeah, exactly.
Amanda: And that's just discipline really.
Mark: And I guess any things that you've done without of your last 10 months are easily worthwhile when you're sitting there that much lighter.
Amanda: Oh, yeah, absolutely and I don't miss it. You know, I don't miss bread. I don't miss potatoes.
Amanda: I don't miss those which would be quite a usual food that I would -- regular, something like I would normally eat.
Mark: I guess you're just being educated, that there are other options which are healthier that would get you to where you want to be.
Amanda: Yeah, I love my broccoli.
Mark: Do you love broccoli?
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, and I love my spinach.
Mark: Do you?
Amanda: I eat them cold in a salad or as a base for breakfast.
Amanda: Yeah, underneath, not cooked, underneath. I have a scrambled egg on top and I'll probably have a gluten-free sausage or some type of salmon.
Mark: Nice. It's like a treat.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: That is a very good breakfast, to our listeners, that's an excellent breakfast. Spinach, eggs, salmon, that's the kind of thing you'd have in a hotel, a nice hotel when you're out but actually that's a brilliant breakfast for fat *loss, for health, for being effective at work.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: Has anyone -- Nick obviously -- I mean, he's *lost a lot of weight as well so he obviously has noticed the difference in terms of his effectiveness at work. And have you noticed that you are more alert?
Amanda: Yeah. I think you're probably right though because at one time, probably the fact that I know I must leave at a certain time to get to the gym, I did spend a lot of time in the office for long hours. I'm still coping with the same workload.
Mark: You probably actually get far more effective work done in a shorter bit of time.
Mark: Same results in less time.
Amanda: Yeah.
Mark: Perfect. And what would you say to anyone thinking about joining a gym, a normal gym compared to the DVCC, what's the difference between the two that you feel? What would you say the differences are between a normal gym when you are at the DVCC?
Amanda: The DVCC gym, as I said before, it's very encouraging. You learn the technique, if you're feeling a bit negative, they'll get you feeling positive again. In a normal gym, the time you spend in there, an hour and a half, not achieving anywhere near as much as you do in 30 minutes of intensive work like you spend with DVCC.
Mark: Half the time, double the results.
Amanda: Absolutely, yeah.
Mark: Awesome. I think that everyone will get a lot from this, from your story. Thank you very much.
Amanda: You're welcome.
Mark: And it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be! So once again, this is Mark and Amanda from the DVCC.
Amanda: Bye.
Mark: Bye-bye.
