Maggie
Meet our client Maggie who gave herself the ultimate gift of health by purchasing a year-long package with us so she could take the pressure off and take as long as necessary to heal her metabolism after years of chronic dieting. She came to us on a calorie roller coaster - eating 1200 to1300 calories a day during the week and then having a few blowouts on weekends with take-out and wine. She was also running six miles/four times a week, doing Pilates, and working out with a trainer.
We slowly increased Maggie’s calories up over 2000 per day, pulled back a few days of her running, and added in some more structured resistance training. While we increased calories, Maggie lost about 5 pounds and an inch off her waist and hips. After keeping her at this healthy maintenance level for about 3-4 months, Maggie began a cutting phase and is now losing weight eating MORE than when she came to us. Everyone wants to know "WHAT are you doing?" because her body is transforming so much.
Maggie attributes her success to taking the pressure off by committing to work on this for a year, and she sees fitting the macros in like a puzzle and tries not to get too neurotic about hitting her targets perfectly. She also works in a treat every day and does not feel restricted. Her favorite thing about her nutrition plan? She has a slice of cinnamon raisin bread toast with butter every morning. Maggie is now two years into this lifestyle and still enjoying over 2000 calories per day while loving her body.
Brooke
Brooke is a busy working mom to three kids. Brooke came to us very frustrated: she was working very hard in the gym 5-6 days a week when she came to CFLC. She was doing a lot of cardio, much of it very intense. But she was not getting results. We cut out most of Brooke’s cardio and now have her focusing her workout time on lifting weights instead. During her first 12 weeks with us, she lost 15lbs and dropped 4 inches off her waist! She also managed to travel multiple times and stay on track during this time. Brooke then entered a reverse dieting phase, where we took her calories back up to a healthy level to give her body a break and keep her metabolism healthy. After a healthy time spent eating at a maintenance of around 2000 calories, she started another fat loss phase. She is now down 40lbs total and looking and feeling fantastic!
Katie
Katie is a busy working mom who came to us under-eating (not drastically, but still not enough - about 1500 calories per day). We started her out by raising her calories up to a healthier maintenance of about 2000 and had her incorporate weight training into her routine. During that time, she lost about six pounds and a few inches off her waist and hips. After staying at a healthy maintenance level for a few months, she was able to begin a fat loss phase eating MORE than she was before she came to us. Katie has now lost about 15lbs pounds in total. She recently traveled to Disney and Mexico City and used those trips as strategic diet breaks. Sometimes a break is just what our bodies need in order to be able to continue progressing throughout a fat loss phase. Katie is living proof that properly fueling your body will pay off!
What Katie had to say while she was reversing her calories up: "Before I started with CFLC, I had been trying to watch calories and carbs but not seeing any results. It's been amazing to actually see results while increasing my calories and carbs, by maintaining a more consistent approach to nutrition. I had already been strength training, but have really been able to push myself further on that as well, lifting more weight than I ever have before."
Regarding her cutting phase, Katie says "although things weren’t fast when I started to cut, it was a slow and steady weight loss that really started to show visible changes in my body. My husband had a friend come visit and he asked if I had “gotten taller” since the last time he saw me… which my husband quickly pointed out was probably because of the weight I had lost. I also just took updated pics and love seeing a noticeable difference in the definition in my arms!! "
Jennifer
Meet Jennifer, who works with Coach Janine. Jennifer is a busy professional and mom of 3 boys. She had no idea what to make of macros or what she was getting herself into. All she knew was that she had to do something to repair her metabolism and lose weight. After being on Weight Watchers for 19 years, she was apprehensive about learning something new.
We started out by increasing Jennifer’s calories all the way to 2000 (starting from the 1200 she had been eating for many years). And has steadily lost weight the entire time! We also had her lifting weights 3x/week and getting in 8,000 steps per day. She loves that she is able to walk and not do traditional cardio. After eating at this healthy maintenance for a few months, Jennifer then began a cutting phase and is losing weight eating MORE than she was for the past 19 years! Two years later, Jennifer is down 50lbs, 10 inches off her waist, and 11 inches off her hips. She has the knowledge now to manage her own fitness and nutrition and is loving the lifestyle she is living.
Kristi
Meet Kristi, who works with Coach Jo. Kristi started putting on weight throughout her 30s, 40s, and 50s. She began Intermittent fasting around the age of 50 and was doing a mixture of IF and low carb and in the beginning, she lost 25lbs. and thought she was on her way to her old weight! But the weight just stopped coming off and she started to have to fast for longer time periods or more often doing 24 hour fasts once a week. She stopped seeing results and I was so tired and worn out. She also joined a Couch to 5k program, but was miserable trying to run!
Here is what Kristi had to say about the program:
"I was expecting the program to be miserable and eating a lot of celery and boiled chicken. I expected the coaches to tell me to fast more and work harder. I was stunned to find out I was eating too little, even on my feeding days. My protein was below 50g a day. I could not compute how I was too heavy but eating too little. I did not know what a macro was, and I had never worked-out in a gym before or used weights. I
was a complete blank slate with this lifestyle change. Jo slowly increased my calories over many weeks, and she encouraged and answered so many of my questions. Soon I started sleeping better and the gym has become one of my favorite places to be. I remember thinking about a month into the program, “I HAVE HELP. I DON’T HAVE TO FIGURE THIS OUT ON MY OWN!” The coaching calls on Saturday morning are invaluable to a beginner like me in addition to the mindset classes on Sunday evening which are the missing link for success! The program offers community support and weekly coaching tips, recipe ideas that keep the meals fun, and even interesting podcasts to experience long form discussions on various topics. "
April
Meet group member April, who works with Coach Lauren! April is a mom of 5 (yes, 5!) as well as an MD and Hospice Medical Director. Before working with us, she said she had not been making her health a huge priority. She reported feeling low energy, not sleeping well, being irritable, and just feeling "fluffy". Because April came to us in a good state metabolically (not under-eating, not overdoing the cardio), we were able to start her in a fat loss phase right away. In just 7 weeks, she has lost 10lbs and nearly 4 inches off her waist! All of this progress while eating about 1800 calories per day! She is hitting a step goal of 9000/day and lifts weights 3 times per week.
April says:
"I really love the focus on boosting my metabolism and letting my body do the work for me..... It's like letting your dishwasher or washing machine do your dirty work while you Superwoman multi-task! I love the accountability and organization/planning that Couture fitness provides. And then I do my part and let my body do the rest. Being in this program and taking care of myself first allows me to ultimately prioritize my husband, kids, family and work by truly being a better wife, mom and physician. I would encourage anyone wanting to try it, to do it now - there's no better time to make a change and move towards being the best you that you can be!"
Andrea
Meet Andrea, a busy mom and professional. Andrea came to us wanting to lose 5-10lbs and just feel more confident with her body. Luckily she came to us not under-eating so we were able to jump right into a caloric deficit (diet). Andrea was extremely compliant with ending her day near her macro targets and also with fitting in her workouts. We had her lifting 3x/week and doing 3 15-min cardio sessions per week. She very quickly (in about 7 weeks) met her weight loss goal and never had to get below 1500 calories in order to do so. We then began a reverse diet (adding calories back in) and our next goal is to gain a bit of muscle in her upper body to create a more balanced physique. Andrea has now been reverse dieting for 6 months, has gotten her calories up over 2000/day, her carbs up over 200g per day, backed off all of her HIIT training, and she is only up about 3lbs. She is happyily maintaining a bodyweight of about 117lbs while eating over 2000 calories per day and loving life!
Katie
CFLC client Katie loves to cook, travel, and go on culinary adventures with her friends. Katie wanted to lose some weight and get back in shape but was sure she wouldn’t follow through and would just sabotage herself by making excuses and ignoring nutrition and workouts on weekends. Katie came to us with the belief that Covid had made “everything out of control.” But she quickly realized that nutrition and exercise were two things very much within her control and that thought sparked empowerment and new behaviors. We started her out on 1750 calories a day, lifting three times a week, doing three 10-minute HIIT cardio sessions, and walking 10,000 steps a day. Katie is killing it and lost 16 pounds in her first 12 weeks with CFLC. She and her friends are going to do a “Couture Dining Tour.” over the next few months. Katie is an example of having her cake and eating it too! She is optimizing her nutrition and exercise, investing in her metabolism, achieving results, feeling more and more confident every day, and enjoying her life. The biggest lesson she has learned is that discipline and deprivation are two very different things. Katie began a reverse diet after losing 20lbs and has continued to lose an additional 10lbs as we have added back in calories! She is now eating about 2000 calories per day and maintaining a physique she loves.
Kim
Meet Kim! She is a mom of two boys and active in her community. Kim came to us under-eating, specifically on protein - to the tune of about 1300 calories and under 50g of protein per day. She was staying active by walking every day, but was not incorporating any weight-bearing activity into her routine. Her goal was to achieve a more toned look. We knew that in order for her to meet her goal, she would need to add in more food and more weight training. Although Kim was definitely hesitant to eat MORE when she just wanted to lose weight, she had faith in our approach and jumped right in embracing the concept of reverse dieting. Kim went gone from eating somewhere around 1300 calories per day all the way up to 1900. Although weight loss was not our short-term goal for Kim (the goal was to first get her metabolism working FOR her), she managed to lose a pound a week during her reverse phase. After staying at that healthy maintenance level for a few months, she has entered a cutting phase. While the weight is coming off slowly, she is progressing eating MORE than she she started working with us. She has done an amazing job of staying consistent and trusting the process and it is paying off!
Heather
Meet Heather, who works with Coach Lauren. Heather, an avid runner, came to us very frustrated when her weight would NOT BUDGE after Covid despite lots of running and watching her diet very carefully. She came to us eating about 1500 calories and doing several cardio workouts a week (running about 10 miles a week and doing Peloton).
We are reversing Heather and having her up to about 1700+ calories a day, have cut back her cardio to just 45 minutes a week, and have her lifting three times a week. Even though she is a bit dubious about this whole reverse dieting concept, she has lost three inches off her waist. She loves that if she has macros leftover in the evening she can fit in some ice cream or other treats.
Recently Heather went for a run and reports that she "noticed a huge difference in my endurance since I have been going to the gym and lifting weights...like a night and day difference.”
Rachel
Rachel joined us for a twelve week transformation and her results were jaw dropping. She came to us with a healthy metabolism and lost 11 pounds and over 6 inches off her waist and hips in just twelve weeks.
The keys to her success were getting her nutrition calibrated and managing her alcohol consumption. Over Covid, Rachel developed a habit of having a large glass of red wine and Cheezits most nights after her kids went to bed to “relax” from the stress of the day. Sometimes the glass of wine turned into a bottomless glass of wine (especially when socializing with the neighbors). This resulted in a myriad of negative results: poor sleep, not feeling like working out the next day, not being able to work out as hard the next day, etc. Additionally, Rachel’s weight would not budge despite working out regularly with a trainer.
Working with CFLC, Rachel started planning her weekly drinks and now enjoys 3-4 drinks a week with a few nice dinners or when out with friends. One realization she had was that she deserves to feel good ALL the time and overconsuming alcohol gets in the way of that. And it's not actually all that relaxing to drink wine when it causes all sorts of other negative consequences. In applying some intention to her nutrition and drinking habits, the pounds just flew off. Way to go Rachel!
Ali
Meet fellow CFLC member Alison. She came to us with a very healthy metabolism: no recent diet attempts, eating 2200+ calories a day and doing moderate cardio exercise. We were immediately able to start her weight loss transformation by cutting her calories down to 1740 calories (and one other drop to 1620 calories and one week at 1490 calories), lifting 3 times a week, giving her a 10,000 step goal, and no cardio (yes, you read that right - no cardio!). She has lost 25 pounds and 3 inches off both her waist and hips since July in what she describes as a "thoroughly doable and enjoyable way."
One of Ali’s keys to success is that she knows that she is motivated by external accountability so she has leaned heavily on all the structure and accountability built into the CFLC program.
Since her cut, Ali has had her calories high (about 2300 per day) and has maintained her weight loss for over two years now.
Kathi
Meet Kathi who works with Coach Janine. Kathi came to Couture Fitness wanting to optimize her health, nutrition, sleep, skin, and energy levels. She had never lifted weights before and was eating about 60 grams of protein (on her good days, LOL).
Mission accomplished! Kathi created a home gym for herself and is lifting three times a week. She has also increased her protein up to about 100 grams of protein a day. The results? More energy and confidence and she has lost an inch off her waist and hips. "For me this has been a journey of self-integrity. For the first time in my life - at age 56 - I can say I am a healthy eater. I am so grateful for my little home gym, and I am so proud of myself for sticking to this."
Two fun facts about Kathi: she and Jo were in the same life coaching certification class and she is preparing to launch her “Year of YOU – 365 Days of Simple Self-Love Practices” program in January.
Jessica
Meet Jessica , who works with Coach Janine. Since joining CFLC in October, Jessica has lost 9 pounds (she's one pound away from her goal weight!), 2 inches off her waist, and an inch off her hips. We started her at 1600 calories and have only had to drop her down to 1555 calories.
"I have always enjoyed high intensity work-outs and thought that the best way to get in shape is to run or workout as hard as possible. The past few years of dealing with an injury made this very difficult and, coupled with an anything goes diet, I saw my weight steadily increase. While a few pounds here and there don't bother me, it had begun to get out of control. What really concerned me is when I started to notice a difference in how my clothes fit. In this program I am learning that exercise doesn't have to be an intense cardio workout and that a restrictive low-calorie diet is basically self-sabotage."
Anna
Meet the lovely Anna who works with Coach Allison.
Anna came to us doing a LOT of cardio (biking 6+ hours per week, plus running and swimming). We took away all of her cardio except for her road biking, which she loves because it is as much a social thing to her as it is exercise. We kept her food high over the last 3 months (over 2000 calories per day) in order to prime her body for fat loss. She will begin a cutting/fat loss phase in January.
The results? Anna has lost over 2 inches off her waist plus 2 inches off her hips. Plus she is feeling very fit and strong! Amazing work, Anna!
Lisa
I came to CFLC having yo-yo dieted my entire life and most recently having gained 25 pounds in the last year- I was defeated, exhausted, and having no hope. After my first week of working with the amazing coaches, I discovered that much to my surprise, I was chronically undereating during the week on a Keto-type diet, with wild swings upward on Fridays/Saturdays. My metabolism was absolutely shot. I am now in the second 12-weeks of a Reverse, where I am repairing my metabolism and learning the freedom that macros are giving me to chart my own course.
I'm eating carbs, which is nuts! I cannot remember the last time I ate bread/potatoes/tortillas without recrimination- and now I do it on a daily basis, just without a lot of the added fat I used to include.
I'm walking about 8,000 steps per day, strength training 3x per week and listening to the coaches calls on Saturdays and Sundays. While I'm not losing weight right now, I'm not gaining either, which again is nuts given that my calories are a lot higher. A big win is that during the first 12 weeks I added about 5 pounds of muscle, which I am told will be great for when I begin my cut in January. For what feels like the first time in my life, I am trusting the process, because at 53, I'm ready for freedom.
Hear what our clients have to say!
”I’ve been working for four years to become more healthy, and thought I just didn’t have time with it being a single mom and a high school teacher. I love how your program caters to my needs, time available, and resources available. Thank you again for everything!”
— Rebecca
“The CFLC coaches understand that there is more to healthy living than losing weight. It's about building a life you enjoy. In addition to losing weight in the CFLC 12-week program, I've learned healthy habits that I will take with me for life”
— Rachel
“It started as a desire to lose weight. But working with Jo and Allison has evolved into so much more. I wake up every morning eager to greet my Head Mother F***** In Charge! She’s back!”
— Kim
“The work I'm doing with CFLC is changing me from the inside out. I came in thinking that I was overeating and doing it all wrong. It turns out that I was doing it wrong, because I had been undereating for years. For the first time in years, I'm actually nourishing and caring for my body in a non-restrictive way. It feels great to be able to eat the same food as my family, and the inches are coming off. If you feel like you need a re-boot and want to get off the diet hamster wheel, give CFLC a try. It will blow your mind."
-Jane
“Great energy, losing weight, getting stronger, body parts shifting - without hunger or feeling deprived - how is this even possible?”
— Katie
I started this program after I saw the amazing results that my best friend had. We both started different programs this summer, and she was eating probably 3 times as much as me, and I was doing way more cardio. I didn't get the results I wanted, but she was loving your program and the results! I don't have to give up wine, chocolate, or chips! It's all about learning balance and feeling amazing. The workouts are simple, but successful, and I love how she personally tailored everything for what I have here at home (free weights, bands) and what I'm willing to do. (Not cardio 7 days a week!)
— Rebecca
“I can’t believe I’ve stuck to something for this long and I couldn’t have done it without being in the program!”
-Kim D.
