Posted on March 25, 2024 by Jenny Cromack

I met Terri a year ago, March 2023. It was a bit of a random meet…she was making a cushion for a bench in my dining room and happened to ask what I did as a job and the rest they say is history. Terri started her personal training journey with motive8 and never looked back (hopefully!)

When I first met Terri mentioned that she was a bridesmaid at a wedding abroad in June and was worried about how she would look in the bridesmaid dress. She also felt tired and lethargic most days. Terri had tried various eating/diet regimes in the past only to find that any initial weight loss was then re-gained once she went back to normal eating. In addition to this, including exercise into her weekly routine had massively dropped down her priority list which was having an impact on her health and energy levels.

When I mentioned that I could help Terri, she said she didn’t know if she could afford a Personal Trainer. We agreed that if Terri could apply the nutritional knowledge and guidance I would share with her, and commit to training x3-4 times per week whether or not she was seeing me that week, then she could get results by only seeing me once per fortnight. Terri seemed determined so I was sure we could still achieve what she wanted to without a weekly session.

The First Three Months – Mission Bridesmaid Dress!

For the first three months we focused on:

  • Exercise – 3-4 x workouts per week (depending on work schedule). These included a mixture of strength training combined with HIIT training for a higher calorie and metabolic burn. During the strength sessions we mainly focusing on compound moves and nailing Terri’s technique.
  • Nutrition – Terri tracked her food and I would check in on a weekly basis to give feedback. We didn’t cut anything out or follow any drastic plans, however we were mindful of highly processed foods and focused on high protein, good, natural slow release carbs and good fats. We didn’t even really count calories to be honest, again we were both mindful of not going wild, but we didn’t massively restrict calories. Both restricting calories and certain foods just isn’t sustainable long term. As Terri had experienced success following other food plans/diets only to then put weight back on, I wanted to teach Terri that long term success could be achieved through realistic modifications to her diet which were sustainable in the long term.
  • Outcome – Terri smashed her goals and looked amazing at the wedding, feeling comfortable and happy in the bridesmaid dress. If you’re interested in her stats they were:
    • 13lb weight loss – almost 1 stone!
    • 20 inches lost – this is what impresses me the most! 20 inches! Wow! 6 of those inches being lost from her abdominal area. Phenomenal!
    • Consistently fitting in 3-4 workouts per week.
    • More energy and va-va voom!

The Next Three Months – Mission Abbey Dash & Getting Strong

After being a bridesmaid, Terri decided she wanted to continue with her personal training sessions. She planned to run the Leeds Abbey Dash and get stronger. Terri had developed a love affair with weight training that I have loved to see develop, she is strong! She had also been doing some running in her build up to being a bridesmaid so I was confident she could run the Abbey Dash.

  • Exercise – We continued to focus on strength training x2 per week, with a good focus on exercises which would keep Terri strong and injury free for running. Terri also ran x2 per week, one session focused on a long, steady run to build running endurance, and one shorter faster run to focus on speed.
  • Nutrition – as above. Nothing faddy, just good old healthy, balanced eating.
  • Outcome
    • Terri ran the Abbey Dash in under an hour – nice work!
    • 1 stone weight loss achieved
    • 22.5 inches lost in total

The Next 6 Months – Mission Strong!

Whilst Terri was pleased with her time for the Abbey Dash, she realised that she actually really enjoyed the strength training element of her weekly exercise regime more than running, and that she wanted to get stronger and continue to see more progress with her weight, fat loss and inch loss. With this in mind, we now purely focus her training on strength training. Terri walks to and from school every day which is a good 1.5-2 hours walking for her, so she gets some good cardio in doing this, allowing her to put all of her energy during her workouts into strength training.

  • Exercise – Terri’s weekly routine now focused purely on strength training 3-4 times per week. This has allowed us to be able to add in a split programme for Terri focusing on different body parts over two training programmes. We’ve also changed Terri’s rep range to a lower rep range, with heavier weights than when we first started training and Terri is bossing this!
  • Nutrition – Whilst we haven’t changed anything with regards to Terri’s nutrition, what we have changed is that we no longer track Terri’s food. This is testament to Terri that she feels confident enough to apply the principles of health eating to her day to day food choices – what a feeling this is, for healthy eating to be part and parcel of every day life!
  • Outcome
    • Improvements in all ‘big lifts’ such as squats, deadlifts and bench press
    • 23lb weight loss
    • 30 inches lost – 7.5 inches from the abdominal area (wow!)

I’m super proud of what Terri has achieved and love being on this journey with Terri. She is like a little sponge, everything I tell her which will help her to achieve her goals, she absorbs and applies it. It’s this dedication and consistency which has lead to Terri achieving the goals she has, but more importantly making healthy eating and exercise become as much or her day to day life as cleaning her teeth.

Recently, work has been extremely busy for Terri. For many people, exercise would have slipped down the to-do list and become a low priority. However, when Terri was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed with fitting everything in, we had a chat and put together some shorter 20 minute workouts which Terri could do instead so that doing some exercise was still realistic. Again….consistency and dedication are two words which spring to mind.

I’m loving being on Terri’s fitness journey with her, she works tremendously hard in her personal training sessions and I can’t wait to help her achieve her next goal of a Hyrox Mixed Doubles in October 2024! Bring it on!