The "Catwalk"

On Saturday April 24th two of my clients were featured in the Pickering Town Centre Fashion Show. Stephanie E. has lost 55 pounds and took her Body Fat % from 43% to 33% and Lucia M. took her weight from 170 pounds down to 129 pounds and has kept her weight there for over one year. I’m sure when these women sat down at my desk for the first time they never in their wildest dreams ever imagined that they could lose all this weight and then be walking on the “catwalk” modeling today’s fashions. I’m sure if I told them this was how things would turn out for them if they did the 10 Weeks To Wow! Nutritional Weight Loss Program they would have told me I was nuts. But they did it…. I can’t tell you how proud I am of both of them.


We had a good time that day getting ready for the show. I picked Stephanie up in the morning and we headed over to the mall to meet Lucia for “hair and makeup”. Kindly, Modern Touch Hair salon donated their time to both these ladies and for the first time I saw Stephanie’s hair straightened and out of that ponytale she always sports around the gym…she was looking beautiful. Lucia always had great hair so just a touch up for her. After their hair was done we went to Visage for makeup – the owner of Visage, Jen was awesome she had her team make all three of us up…our makeup looked incredible. I didn’t know my eyes could look like that. If you ever have a special occasion and need your makeup done you should book an appointment at Visage. I watched Stephanie come alive….they both looked gorgeous…it touched my heart so deeply.

At the show, I was once again surprised by the amazing friends I have made at the Womens Fitness Clubs of Canada. My client and girlfriend Tanya D. showed up camera and tripod in hand and was kind enough to snap all the photo’s I needed. In the audience were a few more of my clients (and now friends) Debbie R. (and her mom), Saara R, and Grace A. I can’t thank these ladies enough for all their support and I hope next year they will be featured in the show. (I also have to give thanks to my childhood friend Helen M..she constantly sends me the nicest notes on Facebook and always reminds me of the struggles women constantly have with their weight..She is real and I’m going to post some of her notes…I think a bunch of women can relate to what she is saying…thanks Helen for your constant support! )

Check out the photos and video Tanya and I took at the show. This was a magical day for all of us. This has been an incredible journey and these ladies have changed so much not just physically but mentally. They are now in control and have more in common than anyone would have known. Stephanie is currently enrolled in school to become a nutritionist…I’m so proud of these ladies and all the women that take back their lives and learn to eat properly FOREVER.

One other funny thing that happened at the show…I got a tap on my back and heard someone say “excuse me, is liposuction included in your program?” I must have swung around and given this woman the look of death. I couldn’t believe what I just heard…if you know me I believe in healing your body with nutritious food and changing the way you think about food forever! I starred at this women and then she said “Terri, it’s me Amanda N”…..OH MY! This was my best friend from college and man did we have good times back in the day. Amanda is the one girl that could remember every joke ever told to her….I loved that about her, she always made me laugh and we partied our faces off “back in the day”. I had often wondered what happen to her and had looked for her on Facebook but for the life of me I could only remember her married name so I could never find her. I can’t tell you what a great day this was for me, the fashion show…finding Amanda again.

On a different note – last Thursday as I entered the Yoga studio at Womens Fitness, Lynda one of the Fitness Instructors asked me if the McDonald’s McMini’s were any good. Of course they are not going to be good for you but I had to look it up so here are the facts: The “Spicy Thai Grilled Chicken McMini sandwich as 260 calories and 9 grams of fat (remember 20 grams is your daily max) and 740 mg of sodium (daily max is 1500 mg). The Pesto Grilled Chicken McMini sandwich has 280 calories 13 grams of fat and 670 mg of sodium. Again, I ask myself why we are allowed to serve this food to people? The other day on the Dr. Oz show I heard that by 2030 86% of people will be overweight or obese…we certainly have a real crisis on our hands and all these restaurants are contributing to the epidemic. Please take the time to prepare your food at home…walk with snacks….an apple and a healthy Kashi bar travel well in your purse and then you always have something to nibble on. You will get hungry, I can guarantee that so why not have good choices on hand then you don’t have to go to Tim Horton etc. Remember my motto “don’t get caught empty handed”!

Earlier in the week one of my other clients told me she went to Pickle Barrel with her work colleagues and thought she ordered something healthy for lunch. I suggested to her that next time you are going out to eat go the internet first and check out the nutritional info…..you can find it for most restaurants. I went home that night and looked up what she had…sadly I had to report to her that her “healthy chicken wrap” and 1920 mg of sodium and 760 calories!!!!!! Oh my! One of my newer clients told me on Friday that her family had an outing this weekend to Hero Burger in Markham….BUT she was ready; she had already been to the website and knew exactly what she was going to have to stay within her daily caloric intake. Remember, there is no real secret to weight loss…calories in, vs. calories out! If you want to lose weight always have breakfast, don’t skip meals, have snacks on hand and choose low calories nutrient dense food and move around a whole bunch. If you are over 40 remember you need to work out harder than your 20 something children…yep that’s right you need to workout harder than them. So don’t think by coming to the gym 3 days a week and walking on the treadmill will be enough. You must lift weights, stretch and strengthen your heart. Health Canada recommends you get at least 60 minutes A DAY of exercise…it does not have to be all at once but you must find a way to make this happened. Recently, I have had a few of my clients pick up pedometers so they can track and see if they are getting their 10,000 steps a day…are you??? Keep in mind most people die from “frailty” so stay strong at all ages…feed your body the nutrients in needs every day, not just some days! Move around a lot and surround yourself with like minded people and you will have success.

Congratulations to my Sunday morning yoga “posy” we meet on Sunday’s at 10:00 am in my office…we catch up and then all go to yoga together. Thanks to these ladies that with open arms welcome any “newbies” I bring into our group. Not sure how this group started but I love it….and I love yoga at Womens Fitness…the instructor’s – Sherry and Tina have changed my body and are helping me so many other women have the same experience!