So as many of your reading this already know - my husband and I are involved in Bill Phillips online social site for health and fitness -  www.transformation.com. Which is an awesome site with lots and lots of information and motivation from so many involved in overcoming adversities and still learning to live healthy and fit lives that is a must check out if you are at all interested in changing YOUR health. Sometime over this summer Bill rolled out an upgraded Transformation.com site that included a section on preparing healthy meals. Now really there are lots of opportunities on this site for anyone to learn how to live healthy mentally, spiritually and physically.  In fact there is even a section that has videos of how to weight train correctly. Of course of the most interest to me, at this time, was the food videos on how to prepare easy meals. Anything that cuts down on the guess work in the kitchen is a huge plus for me. Yes even though I’ve been into fitness for many years I am aways interested in discovering anything that makes time in the kitchen quicker and easier. Anyone with me here? Can I hear an AMEN!

So I am watching this video in hopes that I will discover another meal to add to my limited meal lists that I am good at and it was an egg meal. Bill and this Chef guy are making it look easy and delicious, both important factors for me to be interested. Now at the end when the meal is complete Bill says something to the effect that this would be the serving size for him. And at that point I almost fall out of my chair. WHAT!!! So I am thinking well if that is Bill’s serving size and he weighs ohhh a few more pounds than me – well, well, well! This is a problem.  Are you getting the hint here that maybe, just maybe I am starting to think that my serving sizes have grown to be probably a BIT more than they really should be. At least if I am interested in trimming down some bodyfat versus adding some bodyfat. Like who really needs help adding bodyfat anyway?

So that was my moment of enlightment. Hmmmm maybe I need to start paying attention to exactly HOW MUCH I am eating whenever I eat? And this folks is a BASIC step of living healthy and fit. It can get out of whack for all of us sometimes. And restaurants don’t help with portion control. Recently me and the girls went for our regular Girl’s Night Out and I ordered chicken kabobs and because I am NOW paying attention to my serving size I ate  just a quarter of the plate and brought the rest home to my husband. The whole plate was about 4 servings for me.

So again if you are trying to trim down it’s a must to get your focus back on how much you are eating at each meal. You see this small, simple stuff can catch you up sometimes if your are not paying attention or are going out alot or are just really, really hungry. Which, by the way, the last part is NOT suppose to happen, the getting really, really hungry because your suppose to be eating through out the day. Yes another BASIC step on your journey.  If your like me and have suddenly discovered, that heck, your eating for two and no your not pregnant!!! Time to get back on track. Back to the basics… Where are you with this basic step?

God Bless You,

Evey

I just finished reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography “Open” and it was interesting and well – really good. I liked it. Fortunately it was not ALL about tennis.  It was written to be entertaining and it was. In fact as I started to read it all I kept thinking was that this guy did not write this alone. He didn’t. But I loved the style of the writing and most of all I loved the content. Chapter after chapter of this guys life and his achievements always seemed to boil down to his thoughts. When he made his comebacks it was all about what he was thinking. Like can I or can’t I? And boy did he make some incredible comebacks and break all kinds of records.

It’s like that famous quote “IF you think you can or you think you can’t, your right.” So often when dealing with our clients or potential clients we come across this mindset of “but I can’t do that. I can’t be like all those other folks your worked with who had changes because…..  (You fill in your own very special reason(s) you always use for not changing here)” “Yes you can” I would say, ”why not?” I believe in the plan and you should too because it has proven effective for hundreds and hundreds of other clients of ours.

When my husband, Lynn Lingenfelter, was in the hospital, almost two years ago, fighting for his life do you think he was thinking I can’t survive this? NO, No, NO I KNOW he was thinking I WILL survive this. Even though ALL his doctor’s were convinced that he would NOT! And most of his family and friends as well – me included!

I have to say here that sometimes, personally, even after being in incredible shape and tranforming my body many times successfully I have and do sometimes get that niggly thought in my head like can I really do this again? Am I too old? Can I really have a flat belly again? OR is my body NOT going to let me? I am currently in your boat folks. When my husband got sick I had just competed in my first Figure Competition two months prior and  was in phenomenal shape. While my husband fought for his life and spent months recovering I LET IT GO and have not gotten back to even my regular fitness level since. Fortunately my letting go is at this point after much up and down about a 15 pounds weight gain.

But not now. I KNOW that if I just follow the plan – the plan works. Maybe not as fast as I want. In fact NEVER as fast as I want but it will work nonetheless. I will not let the thoughts sometimes in my head defeat me. Even when I start thinking “but I look good enough” I will not stop now till I get back to my maintenance size. Sometimes you just gotta move forward and rely on FAITH. Faith that your actions will cause the reactions your looking for.  Faith that the plan will work for you as it has for so many others in the past and will for so many others in the future.

My husband and I recently got involved with Bill Phillips Transformation online social site and it is incredible for motivating and helping keep folks on target. I recommend you read Bill Phillips book “Transformation” as well. It is your road map, your plan to getting healthy and fit mentally, physically and spiritually. It is my plan! I have done and and am doing it. Look forward to seeing you reach your goals and achieve some things you may have thought impossible in the past.

Always interested in your thoughts and comments …

God Bless You,

Evey

Some of you reading this might be one of the folks diagnosed with asthma and control it with inhalers or you might be someone who has to take other medication. Either way you suffer either regularly or irregularly with symptoms the rest of us do not suffer with. For those that don’t know what asthma is- it is a chronic disease that affects your ability to breathe. The inside walls of your airways get constricted, swollen and sensative to all irritating things, which causes your airways to get narrower and so your lungs of course get less air. You might then start to cough, have trouble breathing, feel chest tightness and wheeze. When these symtoms become worse than usual, it’s called an asthma attack.

In reading up on asthma and the lastest research I came across a study done this year published by Reuters Health that has determined that moderate exercise has shown to help asthma folks to have less asthma problems. In fact it states, “The take home message from this study is that 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at a moderate to vigorous intensity on three days of the week can lead to signficant improvements in asthma control.”  This was a small study but a significant first step in determining that aerobic exercise is a big, big benefit to asthmatics.

And as we all should know by now that exercise is proven to help with weight control, reduce risk of heart disease, reduce risk of certain cancers and help blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels. So sometimes you just might want to ask yourself “WHY NOT EXERCISE”! If you know that it will help your quality of life with asthma and reduce chances of dying young from certain health situations why wouldn’t you spend that 30 minutes off the couch and moving your body AND just three times a week?

Hope this helps.  So make sure to take the time for yourself this week and get outside or go to the gym and move that body. Shoot for whatever you can do and slowly increase the time and intensity so that you are always pushing your body to the next level. Whatever that level is!

Always intersted in feedback – good or bad!!!

God Bless You,

Evey

While watching a movie on TV last night with the kiddies (unfortunately it was NOT recorded), we got hammered with advertisements for the Bowflex, for Nutrisystem and for several other gimics that promise everything for very little. Do you want to look like you just got off the magazine cover for Men’s Health? Then I recommend you use the Bowflex in your garage because according to the advertisement that is exactly the results you will get. And what about Nutrisystem? For a small weekly fee you can buy all their food (yes that would be processed not quite sure if it is REAL food) but low in calories and guess what? You will lose weight just like the folks hawking it on TV like Marie Osmond! It’s all baloney! And that’s what I told my kids.

But what about the gadgets like Slendertone? You know the one that fits about your waist and sends currents to your abs and gives you a six pack in a few short weeks. Or the new one on TV, another that we had the pleasure of watching, the Shake Weight – the one that is shaped like a dumbell and vibrates and miraculously you will have nice full muscles all over your body if your a man and have a very toned tush and abs if your a woman! Again I say hogwash. Garbage! Believe me the kids now know too! They had to listen to me talking (OK maybe yelling) to the TV…first because the ads just never seemed to stop and then because they seemed to be all about losing weight and well I just don’t like all the propaganda! People need to get educated and learn how their bodies work.

So my question to you is HOW COULD YOU REALLY THINK THEY WILL/WOULD WORK? Is it just wishful thinking? Like something for very little? Or do you think you can get your abs out by just putting a belt on and the fat will just disappear? Or a beautiful, fit healthy body justing holding a dumbell that vibrates? So let’s get back to the basics again. How does someone go about losing abdominal fat? In fact how does someone go about losing fat?

I’m going to put this as simply as possible here. If you’ve been reading my blogs at all you are sure to recognize that there are really only a few things neccesary to get fit. Unfortunately they DO REQUIRE WORK! I know, I know and I know again. WORK can be a dirty word sometimes BUT if you really, really, really want to get healthy and fit (and possibly have a flat belly) then I suggest you get to WORK. Stop wasting your time and money on stuff that is NOT going to do the job for you in JUST FIVE SHORT MINUTES A DAY. So here goes….

You have to learn how to fuel your body. That means EAT. FEED the body. Yes eat food to feed the body all the nutrients it needs everyday to do the healing and growing that it is suppose to do. For many, many women I know this is also like a dirty word. BUT eating healthy food through out the day is necessary. TO fuel your body and to get your metabolism going. So eat the right foods no junk here and not a TON of healthy food either. If you don’t know how, when, how much and what that means FIND OUT! You know we actually help our clients with this step and I am sure we can help you too…..

You have to weight train. Resistance train. Strength train, use bands…whatever as long as your causing your muscles to adapt to resistance. Should do this 2-3 times a week. Again if you don’t know how….find out how. Most gyms have Body Pump classes and of course there is always personal trainer’s available with great private studios. Hint, Hint!

And then there is the cardio exercise. I do believe this is probably everyone’s favorite step. Most of you I know reading this LOVE the cardio and could be called cardio Queens. Believe CARDIO before all else. Like lets eat just once today and I will cardio for 2-3 hours and…and…and, well why aren’t I getting a flat belly? How come I still have flabby arms, flabby butt, and flabby belly? How can it be? Been there and done it! Well not the excessive cardio but the one meal a day!!!! That was me all through my teens and twenties. Until I learned what my body needed from me. Until I learned that IT MUST HAVE FOOD THAT IS HEALTHY REGULARLY. That after 30 it was vital to my tush to weight train.

And there you go. The basics of getting a healthy and fit body. Of course this is just the basics. There is more to it. But these can be some first steps on your road to having a healthy and fit body. If you been working out (used loosely to describe burning calories while moving your body) and you have NOT achieved your goal then I suggest you sit down and figure out what exactly it is your shooting for and also write down what you NEED to do daily to get you to where you want to go. And get help if you KNOW you just cannot do it alone. Some of us have food addictions (sugar anyone) or other issues with food, drinks or drugs and just need more support. A great online community that me and my husband (and many clients) have joined is Transformation.com. It’s an online social community for people to interact, develop friendships and work through some stuff on their road to health and fitness. It is an excellent site that I highly recommend. So go ahead, get involved, who knows you could end up with that nice flat belly, tight butt or firm arms you’ve been looking for for the last ten years.

Always interested in YOUR feedback so don’t be shy…

God Bless You,
Evey

I don’t know about you but the kitchen and me, we’ve been in a love/hate relationship for a long time now. Way back in 1997 when I first met my husband, Lynn Lingenfelter, I was of the mindset that I could live my life without using the kitchen. In fact the only things I had in my frig when we started to date were beer and oreos. No ketchup, no mustard, mayo, salad dressings or ANYTHING else! I did not EVER cook or use the kitchen. In fact I don’t think I even had pots and pans. If I did they were NEVER used.

This aversion to the kitchen ocurred, I believe, because I was brought up to understand that when you wanted to be thin you just stopped eating too much and basically just ate one meal a day. And that meal could be just potato chips and dip, just yogurt, oreos or any other small low calorie food item. That’s how my mom did it. That’s how my aunts, my friends, my cousins…well pretty much everyone else I knew during childhood did it. When dieting just starve and get thin…that’s the way! Not much interest in nutrition. In fact I don’t think I realized that what I actually put in my mouth regularly really impacted my WHOLE life and HEALTH till my thirties. And I know for a fact that there are many, many folks out there just like me. I know this because I have met them/you often in our personal training business, over and over again. So are you like I used to be, thinking that you can live a healthy and vibrant life without using your kitchen? That you can be better than just thin but healthy, fit, energetic and alive? Not going to happen eating junk. And guess what consitutes junk? All fast food, many things on regular restaurant menus, and well pretty much anything that has no nutritional value like most breads, crackers, all pastry items and true junk food items …and the list goes on. “You are what you eat.” and don’t forget it!

So how did I go from being someone that never used her kitchen, unable to cook, (I was able to warm stuff up – ie soups, any canned stuff and any premade meals, although I can’t say I did much of that either) bake or make a meal to someone who cooks all the time (OK maybe just three days a week) and insists on having healthy food in the house at all times? Great question! All I have to say about that is it’s all my husband’s fault…. OK and Bill Phillips too! “Body for Life” and all Bill’s numerous articles on a healthy lifestyle were so well written and simplified that even I could follow along and learn.

So I meet my husband and one of the first things I noticed about him besides how incredibly fit he was, was that he appeared to eat ALL THE TIME. This was astonishing to me. I just could NOT believe that he could look so FIT and still eat all the time! How does he do it? That is what I wanted to know… So I asked him. That’s when he told me he had been fat before and it’s all about eating healthy, nutritious food through-out the day. And then he said the magic words….he said “YOU CAN DO IT TOO!” So then I’m thinking like in a ahha moment….”I can eat healthy food through out the day and look as fit as you? You mean to say that to be incredibly fit and healthy requires FOOD?” Well this set me back on my heels for a bit. Who would have thought? Not me! Definitely not how I was taught…. I am in!!!

So I realized with his help that I could NOW learn how to feed my body. That, of course, required me to learn what to do in the kitchen. I have to say here that I still am not Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart and I can tell you with extreme conviction that I will never be like them. Why you might asK? Just not that into cooking in the kitchen BUT I will cook a few times a week lots and lots of different proteins and do some prep work with the fresh vegetables and fruits but NOT everyday. So yes I now go to the grocery store quite regularly like in twice a week. Which was also a culture shock to me and did take some getting use to….but anything is possible.

If you are someone unlike me who really enjoys the kitchen well how awesome is that. Good for you. Then I am to assume that you are spending lots of time making sure that you and your family are eating healthy and nutritious meals that will make you all stronger, healthier and vibrant to live life…. If not remember this story…You to can LEARN how to prepare foods, how to grocery shop, how to put foods together to make nuritious meals. In fact you can learn as much as you set you mind to. Remember that!

Always interested in your feedback!

God Bless You,
Evey

So I am innocently reading the newspaper today in between clients and I get to the Health and Fitness section of the Orlando Sentinel and what do I see? A picture of Oprah and Dr. Oz toasting with what looks like champagne. The title of this very interesting article is “The Trouble With Dr. Oz” which of course captures my undivided attention. So I start reading….

In a nutshell this whole article is about whether Dr. Oz and his show as “America’s Doctor”, is a service for people or a disservice to them. It questions whether the information supplied is scientific and proven or just more information (implied as maybe useless) to the general public and most likely to just cause confusion to the people? And well great questions but….

Basically it is implying that unless the information is scientifically proven WHY put the info out there? To confuse the people with useless info.? To “have people’s heads spinning like Linda Blair in “The Exorcist.”" By the way, the last quote here about Linda Blair, it is a nice touch for the end of the article. It even has a sidebar that helps, you the helpless, stupid consumer who can’t think for yourself (my opinion of the gist of this article), “ways to navigate the WEB for advice”.

So there I said it. All I got from this article was that Dr. Oz is NOT a specialist about everything and some of his guests have questionable treatments for some health situations. Also, that he should NOT have some of this alternative stuff out there to CAUSE US SIMPLETONS to swivel our heads off with so much info…. God forbid we have the opportunity to question others and maybe look for a different answer that, by the way, science MIGHT NOT HAVE AN ANSWER TOO YET! Are you getting the hint yet that this article has set me on FIRE. Yes I am a little pissy about it. I am upset that this reporter is indicating in this article that first we are all too stupid to read lots of info on a subject that might have something to do with whether we live or die, and maybe we will get taken in by some natural cure by some alternative Dr who is full of crap. Alright maybe I’m reading a lot into this article!

Dr. Oz’s spokepeople wrote, “For it to be a fair discussion, we must include a multitude of voices and opinions, even those that may be controversial.” And I say YES. Let’s hear from all different perspectives and get the discussion going. Maybe we will even explore NEW WAYS OF LOOKING at an OLD illness and discover a NEW WAY to solve the problem in a less invasive and better way! Can you imagine? Or maybe we will FIND A WAY TO SOLVE THE MANY, many illnesses that still have no cure?

So my questions to you are; Why is the scientific/medical community so fearful of these voices our there that are spouting different stuff then them? Are they afraid these alternative Dr’s might have something helpful for the people? Are they afraid they will lose business to these wacky Dr’s? Or are they afraid THE PEOPLE will find a cure for what ails them with cheap, normal stuff, from everyday life and NOT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS that cost an arm and leg?

You will have to answer these questions yourself. And there are a lot more questions you should ask. I personally believe there are some BAD, BAD doctors out there, and some are alternative drs and some are regular DR’s that work in practices and hospitals. I believe that you MUST be careful who you get your info from and pay attention to the reason(s) they are giving you the info. What Do they know about the subject? Why do they think what they think? Where did they get their info.? What is that info based on? And so on….ask lots and lots of questions. But do not be afraid to look at an alternative options.

There are a lot of unknowns still out there in the medical/scientific community. And just because today an idea may seem very controversial or very, very wacky does not mean tomorrow it won’t be THE WAY to solve the medical problem. How do you think we got to where we are now?

Love to hear your input on this. Live healthy today!

God Bless,
Evey

As a few of you reading this might already know, my husband, Lynn Lingenfelter, had a film crew here filming him and the family (that would be me, the kids, his sibs and parents) over May 1st weekend. While being interviewed and asked about Lynn and his recent 1/2 mile Marathon challenge that he completed, this tendency for Lynn to give 100% occurred to me. When the lady interviewing me asked about Lynn and what I thought about him running and completing the 1/2 Marathon I told her I knew two things.

First, I knew that once Lynn decided to compete in the Marathon that he would do it or die trying. And second that he would also run the whole thing. I knew this because I know my husband. I know that he was confident that he COULD do the run and could run the whole thing. He was and is confident in his physical and mental ability at this point. I also knew he would give it 100%. He would give it his all and he did. He finished that 1/2 marathon in less than 2 1/2 hours and did not train AT ALL before running it. That should tell you something. Would you do the same? Would you even try? Why or Why not? Think about it!

This is not a new situation for Lynn. Often when people look at Lynn’s before and after pics and then learn that he did the transformation in just 12 weeks, they are in shock. They say “really he did that much change in that short a time?” Yessiree…. Then they look at mine and say “wow you did great too. How long did it take you?” I tell them a year and well they are just not that excited about it. Yes I did complete the transformation but I didn’t do it in an incredibly short period of time. However, the very first time I did the transformation, shortly after meeting Lynn I did do a great deal of change in a very short period of time. And yes I gave it 100%. I am still convinced it had a lot to do with several people questioning my ability to do it and do it well that set me on fire.

So think about it. When was the last time you gave 100% to something? In deciding to do something you became focused day in and day out on that goal. You knew what you had to do everyday, all day to accomplish your outcome. You recognized things you would have to give up to achieve that goal. You realized stuff you would have to do, whether you really wanted to or not, to achieve that something. And you gave it your TOTAL FOCUS. Not a little here and there. Not some days great and other days just OK. But everyday 100%! Have you ever been committed to that degree on anything before? Yes or no? Do you believe you can do that? Is it necessary to achieve stuff? I think all things to be achieved require some attention everyday.

When someone comes to our studio and says they want to “get in shape” (which to them usually means losing body fat and putting on some muscle) my question to them is how much are you ready to commit? Not how much in monetary terms, though that also matters. How much time and energy are you prepared to commit to this endeavor? Are you just going to show up and half-heartedly go through the motions or are you going to come in ready to give every little movement your undivided attention? Make everything you do count and do it to the very best of your ability.

I have had the opportunity within 8+ years working with clients transforming to recognize that the people who come in ready to roll and who are committed to make stuff happen almost all the time have incredible results. Not that you can’t also have great results using the long, slow route. You certainly can. It obviously just takes a little longer and you must maintain your progress and attitude through out which is sometimes difficult to do. Which are you right now? Are you someone willing to commit to a rigorous workout and eating schedule? DO you just want to give 100% but for only a half an hour a day?

One thing you can be sure of… if you give 100% everyday YOU WILL HAVE AN INCREDIBLE transformation. If you give just HALF MEASURES then you will have only HALF THE RESULT. I know this is not a complicated concept but for some reason people still insist they deserve incredible health and fitness while still eating McDee’s and other junk several times a week and very irregular workouts. So if you are someone who has been beating yourself up because you are sort of trying to do something with your health and fitness but well it just isn’t happening. Or you are someone who thinks the next best “diet” book coming down the pike is your answer I really think it’s time to wake up. Let’s get real here. Recognize where you really are and HOW MUCH you are really committing and you will have a starting point. Be realistic in what time and energy you can give to this endeavor and coordinate your result expectations with your output of effort. Then you will be right where you expect to be along your journey of getting, staying healthy and fit.

Always wishing you the very best. Please send along some insight on this topic. Would love to hear it!

God Bless You,
Evey

So what the heck is this Gluten Intolerance or Gluten Sensitivity or Celiac Disease anyway? Great question and I have to say one that is starting to get alot of attention. Apparently if you are allergic, even a little, to gliadin, a protein found in gluten which is in many of our foods, well you are or will suffer anywhere from no side affects (right now) to life threatening side affects. And yes you might not have any side affects that you think are caused by this protein but have other things going on in your body that no one is sure what causing it and it can be a gluten sensitivity!

Recently I’ve had a client come to me with questions about what I know about this and I told her quite frankly “not much”. I know that it is an allergic reaction to grains and if you stick with REAL food as God MADE THEM (NOT humans) like: potaotes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, oats (a little controversy over this one), all other fruits and vegetables and lean protein you wouldn’t have any problems. And quess what? I was right! That is exactly what we teach our clients when they come to us to get healthy and fit. STOP eating the JUNK and great things will happen. By the way that would mean Gluten Free Junk is a no-no too if your looking to actually be healthy and fit and not just reduce symptoms you currently are dealing with that are making your life miserable.

So I got on the Net to delve a little further into this topic and I have to say there is a TON of information and now I think EVERYONE should go on a gluten free diet for at least 30-60 days to see what happens. In fact the website I found most interesting was http://www.easy-immune-health.com/Diagnosing-Gluten-Allergy.html. Excellent information. In fact this site recommends that people do a self test like I just suggested to find out if they have a gluten intolerance instead of going the medical route. Apparently it is very difficult for doctors to diagnosis a gluten sensitivity with the current tests available. It also appears that MOST doctors will not even look for it.

At this point you might be saying WHO CARES? Well you should care because here are some of the symptoms. See if you can recognize any from your life.

1. Excessive fatigue, depression, and weight gain – MOST common and also the most common with all chronic illnesses
2. Body aches and joint pains
3. Frequent infections – colds and sinus, allergy problems
4. Infertility problems
5. Immune problems as it casues an autoimmune response in your body
6. Nutrient deficiences – or malabsorption of nutrients

And the list goes on….this should make you sit up and notice. If you suffer from any of the above and have for a long period of time without a diagnosis then what the heck. Give it a shot. Try living gluten free for a while and research some more and who knows what can happen. Here is a very short list of foods you will have to give up. This list is by no means a complete list.

1. All forms of wheat ( including semolina, spelt, kamut, eikorn, and farro) and this means: bread, crackers, cereal and pasta made with these flours
2. Rye
3. Barley
4. Triticale
5. Oat bran
6. wheat germ
7. bran
8. graham, gluten, or durum flour
9. farina
Some of the following also have gluten like many, many processed foods
1. salad dressing
2. cold cuts
3. egg substitutes
4. Beer
5. Instant flovored rice mixes
6. flovored potato chips
7. some herbal teas
8. licorice and some chocolates

Ok at this point you may be thinking “holy cow BUT I will have to change everything I eat and do with food.” Well isn’t that better then continuing to suffer, maybe needlessly? Are you going to give it a shot? In fact if 30 days is too long then how about just two weeks. At the end of that time do a check on your symptoms. How are you feeling? Are you sleeping better? DO you have more energy? Less stomach problems? Lot less physical problems? You could end up feeling like a brand new person.

Always love feedback. Would love to hear your responses.

God Bless You,
Evey

In Part I on this topic I mostly covered how we physically became a personal training studio. Going from living without a home(moving back from LA, pregnant without a place to live), to having the studio in our home to taking over a turnkey operation and making it our own. As you can imagine quite a bit more goes into having a successful business than just where it is. So if your venturing forth into the future with dreams of your own studio read away…hopefully this will give you some ideas for questions to ask yourself and maybe abit more in your quest as a studio owner/personal trainer.

We arrived back in Orlando, Florida on my birthday, December 31, 2001(I turned 35 years old). It was the afternoon and I remember we made it a point to get to our friends house in time to meet up with them to go to a New Year’s Eve Party that evening. Why was this party so important to us? Well it definitely wasn’t to party. I was three/four months along (never did figure those months along stuff out) and by this point very obviously pregnant. This was to be our very first opportunity to share the good news about our starting our own personal training studio. Seeing as we didn’t really know too many people in Orlando at the time and little family this was pretty important to us. We decided this night was to be the beginning of our future adventure in personal training.

So we showed up with a plan. Our plan was to tell everyone what we could do for them if they trained with us. First we both had done BFL(Lynn taught me all he knew), with Lynn very successfully winning in 1997 so we were confident we could express our knowledge and skill of then helping others transform themselves as we had. So if anyone was around us who was looking to get fit we were the ones to help them achieve that goal. And it turned out well for us. We had for sure one couple that wanted to come talk to us with the possiblity of another couple(making us quickly think about a couple’s package). So while looking into where we would live and therefore where we would start training clients we figured out what options we would offer potential clients. Although Lynn and I had not been personal trainer’s working for someone else I always thought that was to our advantage. We didn’t set any limitations on ourselves and therefore on any potential clients because basically we didn’t know any better. That turned out for us to be a good thing. Most trainer’s at that time were pitching a max 18 sessions and asking for the whole chunk up front(lots of gyms still do this). We pitched 36 to 72 session with weekly payments and no contract. Who needs contracts when both parties are delivering on their promises. And guess what? Very few people didn’t honor their committment to us.

So we found our house with the sun room, set up the computer and got to work on our mission. We were going to be the Before and After folks. Yes we were going to TEACH people how to live a healthy and fit life. How to eat. How to weight train. How to cardio effectively. No matter if they walked in just wanting it alittle. We would hold their hand till completion. And they would then tell everyone they knew who had helped them transform. Did I say already we started with a referral program in place? Yes we did. That was to be our main source of advertising(and proved to be the ONLY advertising that we did for the next 5 years). Nothing, I repeat NOTHING is more powerful than a personal testimony from family or friend about your business to get some serious credibility. Is credibility important? I would say that is a yes. If people are going to hand over money, time and energy they will usually be making sure it is worth it. That they will in fact get what they expect to get out of it and if you are the people who deliver, well then it is much easier to close the deal.

And in fact that was to be our business in a nutshell. We were going to be the people who spent the time and energy or whatever it took to push, pull, drag or just encourage you through this system (BFL) called getting fit. And that was our promise and come hell or high water we were going to deliver. BUT…. BUT you the client surely were as well. This was to be a team effort and together we would overcome…We realized from the getgo that this business was all about relationships. If we were really going to help people as we planned and did then we would have to get involved with them and their issues. This was a given for us. And of the ORIGINALS (the 11 folks we initially trained in our house) most of then to this day are very good friends of ours.

Again our steps:

1. Where are we NOW? Again we are with out steady income with baby on the way in a few short months. No clients!
2. Where are we GOING? Our plan was to set up our training packages to coincide with BFL. SO we would offer our clients 36- 1 hour sessions for a transformation. Thats 12 weeks training 3 times a week. Yes it does only take 45 min to do a workout but we were going to do the whole shabang…food, cardio the works. This is what seperated us from ALL the other trainer’s out there!!!! Also a plan that would keep clients with us for a time period so first we could assure the transformation occurred and second to have a steady cash flow without having to constantly look for new clients. In fact we have had clients stay with us for years and many, many repeats.
3. Why? We wanted to make sure the clients that came to us had a transformation. SO we figured it was best if we had at least 12 weeks and if they stayed on they would get a discount on the second 12 weeks so progress would happen. Not so surprisingly most clients stayed on for 6 months if not longer.
4. When? NOW. We had monthly bills to pay with soon to be alot bigger expenses with a newborn.
5. How? For some reason the HOW is always the biggest or hardest one to determine or get. Like I wrote earlier we had a referral program for our advertising. From the very first FREE CONSULTATION we would tell them about the opportunity to make some money back by referring us to family and friends. Once their referral completed one of our packages (all our pkgs were for 36 or 72 sessions with a discount in $ for couples) they would get money. And if they were really good and got enough people training with us then maybe it would cover the expense of their training. Yay. Our second couple that started out of our house brought in five more clients of the originals and she earned some good money. And we were on our way…

For all you folks following Bill Phillip’s Transformation.com which includes Lynn and I, well now this here opens up a whole new world. Online social community to go to anytime, anyday with questions, concerns or just looking for relateability or friends looking to do and doing what you want to do. PRICELESS!! Well what an incredible advantage for anyone looking to get healthy and fit inside and out. 18 weeks to a new you! I’m in…

Hope this helps. Any questions feel free to ask….

God Bless You,
Evey

Since Lynn and I started our Personal Training Studio eight years ago this past January people have often come to us for advice and knowledge of how to get started and what it really takes and many, many other questions along the lines of running a business. So with all past and recent questions in peoples minds about what it really takes with knowledge, experience and money I have decided to share our story. If your interested in going down the path of being a Personal Trainer or having your own studio one day then I hope our story inspires and motivates you to realize that you can do it too.

In the fall of 2001 Lynn and I were living in LA in a guest house of friends (yes that would be you Demi and Larry) while Lynn and his assistant (Dawn) worked on getting Lynn gigs puplic speaking. Lynn just finished writing his book (which we later self published) and was getting some seasoning with sharing his story of inspiration to others. Our plan at that time was to continue along the path of Lynn speaking and getting the book out there and growing it. At this time we had both personal trained people here and there but definitely not as our main source of income. We only planned on being in LA for 3-4 months working it and seeing what happened. Lots of speaking events Lynn did at that time were for gyms, studios and a few business seminar’s.

Well shortly into our stay in LA I realized that I was pregnant and well this was BIG. We didn’t have a home at the time and it was still hit and miss on the speaking gigs and sooooo….. the plan now had to change. So we started thinking, talking and questioning…what to do? And the new plan started to get formed.

First I remember we decided what we wanted our life to be like with having kids as a part of it. For example, I was firmly of the mindset that I did NOT WANT my kids in daycare. So that ruled our getting a regular job. Many people don’t realize this but Lynn with HIV is non hireable… most employers want nothing to do with a person that has a life threatening disease. So that ruled out Lynn getting a regular job and anyway neither of us really wanted to get a regular job. Ok so what to do. Fortunately we had visited many gyms and studios during this time period and it started forming in our heads that hey we can do that too. We can have a studio, bring our child and future children to the studio with us because it’s our business and best of all it keeps us into health and fitness which we both love and need in our lives.

So the picture started to form in our minds. We stared to envision having a studio and helping people change their lives and do the steps that we ourselves had done to transform (thank you Bill Phillips). Now it’s great to have a vision but you have to have a plan on how you going to realize that vision. So on our drive back across the country and up and down the east coast visiting family and sharing the great news of baby soon to be on board with us… we planned. Some questions we asked ourselves that helped create our plan.

1. Where are we right NOW? Ahhh pregnant without a home or stable environment to bring a baby into this world. Unsteady income… Also WHERE do we want to do this? For us the where was wide open. Where do we want to live? I personally love the sun and believe that I need to live somewhere that it is out alot so that narrowed down the options for us. So we decided on Orlando because we still had a couple friends there and a few aquaintances. At this time we had not lived there for three years. I am sure your plan might be where in your town would get the most traffic or visibility for potential clients.

2. Why? And Where are We Going With This? Well the idea was to get our own personal training studio going so we could keep our kids with us while they were young till they get to kindergarten. In fact the time limit we initially planned on having a personal training studio was 5 years. Till our son Brent was in Kindergrten. This changed after Erica arrived 20 months after Brent.

3. When are we going to do this? Well for us this was a no-brainer. Like as soon as possible. You know the baby comes out in just 9 months. My plan…something will be in place before this baby arrives!

4. How? Ok so this was the toughest question to answer. We didn’t have a home. We only knew a few people in Orlando and we didn’t have alot of money to invest in this endeavor at that time. But we did have some equipment. Lynn and I always had the basics like a bench with attachments and lots of free weights. So the very first order of business for us …as we were living in a hotel when we got back to Orlando was….find a house. In fact our plan was to find a house that we could also train out of. With the plan to build it up and move to an actual studio. Thank you God and friends we found a house we thought would work for us in two weeks. And we moved in and set it up.

The house had a sun room and that room became our studio. Now remember I am pregnant and just getting bigger and bigger everyday. Now to get clients first we were constantly praying and we also never thought for one moment that it wasn’t going to happen. We believed it could and would happen for us. No self doubts even though we really didn’t have too much experience training people and no certifications either at that time. We didn’t know too many people but we knew we HAD TOO MAKE IT WORK as baby was coming soon. So our faith was very strong!

Needless to say getting the clients is very, very important. As it is your business. I was and am the salesperson for our business. Not to say that Lynn never sold it because he did. In fact we often sell it together. What were or are we selling? We are selling you the opportunity to change your life. Just like our lives were changed when we embarqed on the path of living with intention and focusing on being healthy and fit our clients lives can as well. And we show them how. We set up our training packages to coincide with Body for Life training and stuff happened. Later and over the years lots and lots of changes…

Everywhere we went we talked to people about getting healthy and fit. What it takes and that we had a studio to teach them how to do it. In short order we had 11 clients training out of our sun room (2 months). This was a small house and I remember thinking very early on, we have to get this studio our of this house before this baby arrives because it is just not going to work when the baby is here. So we started planning on moving the studio. Also bear in mind that I am a pregnant women and progressively getting more pregnant telling people about getting healthy and fit and guess what …they believed us anyway!

We constantly talked about moving it and looked at locations and one day Lynn goes to a used equipment store to buy some smaller dumbells like 3, 5 and 8lbs for the women we were training. When he goes into the store the guy working behind the counter recoqnized him from BFL and in fact pulled his book out and pointed to Lynn in the book and said “Is that You? Sure is and Lynn told him what we were up to and that I was pregnant and that we had a studio out of our home. This guy says hey come check out this studio we have upstairs. Lynn did and within a couple weeks we took over that studio. This was May 1, 2002 and my son was born the next month of June 18, 2002. So we had done it….

This is a really long entry so I am going to make this two parts. If you noticed our first steps, by the way, are the steps that Bill Phillips teaches about “Where are you NOW? “Where are you GOING” “WHEN” “WHY” and “HOW” and the steps used to help you and your future clients get healthy and fit. They can and should be used for all the transforming you will do in you careers and relationships and so on. Next entry will be just about getting the clients and building the business. What we do, how we do it, why we do it, when we do it….wow all the steps all over again.

Always interested in feedback…don’t be shy!

God Bless You,
Evey