A couple weeks ago, the RFT coaches organized a meet-up in the Washington, D.C., area with our local STRONGER TOGETHER Training Club clients. After years of working with these ladies online, we FINALLY got to meet them in person - including this amazing woman: Rikki.
Rikki first worked with us in early 2019, and she was one of the first clients to join STRONGER TOGETHER when the COVID lockdowns started closing gyms. She has a kick-ass, demanding career, works part-time as a group fitness instructor, and she’s a mom. (She’s not at all busy…clearly.)
We’ve had a front row seat to her amazing transformation over the years, and we’re so excited to share it with you here.
Because Rikki is not only one of our FLLS “OGs”…
She is also a POSTER CHILD for long-term consistency.
Once she started in 2019, she did. not. look. back. Even when it was hard, she just kept leaning in, showing up, learning, and moving forward.
Thank you, Rikki, for trusting us as your trainers and coaches, and for showing other women what is possible when you DO NOT QUIT!
"I have been a group fitness instructor for 21 years.
While I have always been pretty fit - I describe myself as “fitter than the average person, but nowhere near an athlete” - my weight was still an issue.
As I entered my 40s, I became more frantic about how to lose weight - and I was still exercising like crazy. At one point, I was teaching 7 or 8 group fitness classes a week, but the weight still wasn’t budging.
MY LIFE BEFORE FLLS
Like many women reading this, I had tried everything. I won’t bore you with the names of all of the different programs, but I was always looking to "do something":
Some meal plan, some program, some challenge, some THING.
And it always seemed really hard. And complicated. And time-consuming.
Add to this the fact that I am like an angry toddler when I am hungry, so being hungry just wasn’t an option for me.
Sometime in late 2018, I heard about a fellow BODYPUMP instructor that started a fat loss program and I jumped at the chance to try "something" else.
Little did I know how life-changing this program would be and that it would be the last "thing" I ever had to do to keep my nutrition, weight, body composition, and overall health in control.
I did FAT LOSS LIFESTYLE SCHOOL in January 2019 and I joined the STRONGER TOGETHER Training Club in Spring 2020, right when it first began.
I guess I am considered an “FLLS long-hauler” or a “long-time alum” or an “OG.” ;)
Here is what I want you to know:
The way you are doing it (eating, training, losing weight) may seem like it is working…but if it feels hard, you are doing it wrong.
If you’re spending hours in the kitchen cooking vegan meals for some 30-day detox or choking down smoothies that make you want to chuck the container across the room, or looking at a chart that has all of your meals mapped out for you and includes food that you hate, you are doing it wrong.
It. Does. Not. Have. To. Be. That. Hard.
MY LIFESTYLE NOW
The simplicity of how I now eat and train, how I move my body, how I think, and how I sleep - well, sometimes I just wanna bop myself over the head when I think about how many years I wasted.
It’s all the things that your doctors tell you to do, wrapped up in a very manageable and easy-to-understand way.
Building my meals now takes no thought.
Taking my 30-minute walk every day is non-negotiable, no matter what the weather.
I strength training 3-4x a week - which includes limiting how many times I teach group fitness each week. I do 30 mins. of cardio twice a week and I do my yoga 3 times a week. (This is a far cry from my old schedule of 7-8 group fitness classes each week.)
If you feel like you are always “doing a thing” to get smaller, fitter, leaner, stronger, healthier - but it never lasts, consider that maybe there is a better way!
LIVING MY BEST LIFE
FLLS has allowed me to take back my life - NO, scratch that - this program allowed me to create a new life, a new way of living. It has given me the freedom to enjoy aging.
I no longer fear menopause or worry that as I finish my 40s and ease into my 50s and beyond, I will still be fighting my weight or suffer from aches and pains from working out too much in a way that my body can no longer handle.
Don’t get me wrong, lifestyle change is not easy and it’s taken me years to get to the place where this is truly my lifestyle - but what else was I gonna do with that time?!
You have to do the work.
You have to be committed.
You have to put on your big girl pants and say "no" to the donuts at work, and you have to want it for a purpose bigger than a smaller size jeans.
But you will never know truly how good and free you can feel until you get your nutrition and your training on point.
This has been the best 3 years for me and while I am fitter now than I have ever been in my life, I am overwhelmed by the thought that I can continue to get stronger through the years. I mean, how many 46 1/2 year olds think they will just keep getting fitter as they age? And there’s pretty much no other “thing” that I need to do other than what I’m doing now.
Changing your lifestyle really can be simple and it does not have to be as hard as you are making it."
- Rikki, January 2019 FAT LOSS LIFESTYLE SCHOOL alum
Left picture: December 2018. A couple of weeks before starting FLLS (age 43)
Right picture: Currently (April 2022 - age 46)
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