Children’s Mercy Nurse Loses 20 Pounds

On December 22, 2016, Jennifer came to me with a goal to lose at least 10 lbs, look good in a bikini, and feel better about her body again. No doubt did she surpass her goals! Jen is a night nurse at Children’s Mercy, so sleep, eating, and numerous food temptations were a struggle for her. She not only had a goal to lose weight, but to also figure how to live a healthy lifestyle with the temptations she is faced with on a day to day basis. Her first session was a wake up to her and I think she thought she was going to die ? But I reassured her that she will look back on this day and see how far she has come! Jen came in with a sweet, adorable, bubbly personality, but left with so much more. Her smile became bigger and her pony tail wag became stronger every single time she walked in the Hitch Fit door! She even started wearing tank tops to work out in after being so self conscious about her arms. She went from doing body weight exercises to lifting 20 lb dumbbells. Jen lost 20 lbs, 28.75 inches, and 10.5% body fat. She gained confidence, strength, a new lifestyle, and definitely a friend. I’m so blessed to have been able to watch and train her through this process as she has one of the most sweet contagious personalities I’ve ever seen! Love you Jen and never give up!

My story starts with the “Freshman 15,” well actually it is more like the “Freshman 30.” Throughout high school I was pretty busy with extracurricular activities, like swim team or cheer, that I was able to eat whatever I wanted and I didn’t gain weight. When I entered college I would buy easy-prep meals and constantly ate fast food. I ended up gaining a total of 30 lbs throughout college because all I did was study, eat, and sleep. My nursing curriculum was stressful, and I found comfort in eating. When I started my career as a nurse, I fell into the same pattern as I did when I was in college. Eventually I ended up gaining even more weight. Family members would comment about my weight gain, and I would just laugh and play it off like I didn’t care. In all honesty, I felt terrible about the way I looked. I tried to lose the weight by trialing various diets, workout plans, and other weight loss gimmicks. I couldn’t find enough motivation to stick with the plan.

Last year I was at my heaviest, and I ended up following a strict diet by limiting my carb intake for almost 3 months. I eventually lost 20 lbs on my own from the diet, but immediately gained some weight back after vacationing in the spring. Summer came and I avoided the pool. I couldn’t wait until winter so I could hide under sweatshirts and sweatpants again. Sometime in fall, I was scrolling through my Groupon app, and I came across the Hitch Fit groupon to trial 2 sessions with a trainer. A few people I worked with had successfully completed a transformation through Hitch Fit, and their experiences were positive. I bought the Groupon, but I was too afraid to make the commitment so I didn’t use it right away. The week before it was supposed to expire I finally made the call, and it was probably one of the best decisions I had ever made!

I met Amanda on my first day, and she was nonjudgmental, encouraging, knowledgeable and motivating! She had the confidence in me that I lacked for myself. I threw up twice during my first session with her, and I almost quit right then and there. She assured me to not be discouraged. Amanda motivated me to give it my all every week and never made me feel bad if I was struggling. With each session I felt stronger, and eventually the workouts started to take longer and longer for me to get to the point where I felt like I was going to vomit. Whenever I felt like I wanted to give up, she pushed me to keep going, and that’s exactly what I needed. She kept me accountable through the whole program. Amanda personalized meals for me and helped me through times when I wanted to turn back to my old ways.

I would encourage anyone thinking about this program to do it! I never thought I would enjoy lifting weights or doing the workouts that Amanda had me do. I always thought that the way to weight loss was solely cardio, but that’s where I was wrong. In no way was it easy, and I am lucky to have supportive friends and family helping me and listening to my complaints every week about the workouts or the dieting. It really does take hard work and dedication to follow the meal plans and workout regimen, but in the end it was definitely worth it. My body has changed just from this program and I feel so much stronger! I hope to take what I learned here to continue to reach for higher goals I set for myself. I obviously couldn’t have done it without Amanda and have her to thank for everything!!!