Tracey Wallace, Fountain Valley
I had been trying to loose the “baby fat” from my two children, (ages 6 and 8), but had not been successful for six years. And after I turned 40 it was harder and harder to loose the weight around my middle. I hadn’t been comfortable with my body since my second child. I tried working out in gyms, doing Yoga, even running (which I hate). Nothing gave me the results I was looking for. A friend told me about Jennifer’s class “Lift Weights to Lose Weight” and I thought it was perfect fit for my needs.
After a month of classes, I could already feel a big difference. But I was only taking the Saturday class and I wanted more.
So I spoke to Jennifer about some personal training, and six months later, I have NEVER felt better in my life. Jennifer is so motivating, fun, and an absolute joy to be around. She pushes me to always do my best. Her workouts are fun and never repetitive. I am always learning something new.
I have lost all the baby fat, 4 inches, around my waist, one inch in my thighs, decreased my body fat from 20.6% to 19.4%. My cholesterol levels have dropped considerably. My blood pressure is very low. In fact, my Dr. says I have the blood work of a 19 year old!
I have so much more energy and am able to keep up with my very active kids. I sleep better and feel more confident, even in a bikini. In the six months that I have been working with Jennifer I have increased my flexibility and strength. I am amazed at what I can do now. I can do four complete hanging chin-ups, military push-ups, and crunches for days! I have even run a 5K in 27 minutes. Not bad for a 45 year old!
Jennifer has also taught me how to change my eating habits and choose more nutritious meals. I now think about what I am eating and how much I need to eat to sustain my body.
I work out with Jennifer twice a week and take her class on Saturday. I actually look forward to my workouts. Jennifer motivates me to try harder every workout. And after an hour I feel so much better mentally and physically. I wish I would have met her many years ago.
Jennifer has also motivated me to get certified to become a Group Instructor. So now I am hitting the books. I hope someday to help someone change their lives for the better like Jennifer has done for me!
Carolyn was featured in the Winter 2012 Edition of Creative Living Magazine, discussing her race goals and how she achieved them. Download the story here.
Carolyn Smuts, Huntington Beach
When I first called Jennifer, I had already completed my first marathon and I was in pretty decent shape, cardiovascularly. Still, something was missing! I did not look the way I wanted to look and I really wanted to improve my marathon time but I didn’t know how; I ran more and more, day after day, and I saw few results or improvements in my overall speed and my muscle tone. I was scrawny up top and bigger in my lower body and the combination did not look good.
The first thing Jennifer did was start me on a weight training program. Without exaggeration, I began seeing results almost immediately. Within a month, my body looked different—better proportioned and balanced than it had before. My arms and back looked good, but I also had better arm-drive and form when I ran.
Next, Jennifer started me on a program of plyometrics. The high-energy jump training didn’t shave minutes off my time; it dropped HUGE BLOCKS of time off my overall running pace. To be blunt, it was damn hard but after every awful set, Jennifer would make me laugh and suddenly I’d be ready for the next move.
Jennifer next recommended sprint/over-speed training to improve my running times. I am not a teenager and I don’t think I’d sprinted since I was twelve—It was TOUGH and I felt sort of silly at first. Jennifer talked me through it and she never laughed at me any of the times I nearly fell during a burst of speed.
I did not feel silly at all when, after training with Jennifer, I qualified for the Boston Marathon with nearly a half-hour to spare.
I’ve been lifting weights and running and training in various forms since I was thirteen years old. I sometimes feel like I have seen it all and done it all. Jennifer possesses some intangible quality that makes her better than ANYTHING I’ve ever seen. After more than three years training together, I’ve never once been bored, I’ve never once wanted to cancel an appointment, and I see consistent and continuous improvement in myself. Who delivers that?
A final important note is Jennifer is a “real” person who lives in the real world. I have three children and a job and a crazy lifestyle as do many people. Jennifer is not merely a wheatgrass-sipping, sprout-eating guru. She is an expert at being healthy in the crazy real world in which we live. The goals she sets for her clients and the expectations she has for results are realistic and based on knowledge and practice.
I guess I would not recommend Jennifer to anyone…I would only recommend her if you want success, results, knowledge, compassion, and if you are really ready to change your life in terms of health and fitness. I cannot say enough good things–I can NEVER say enough good things—so I will just say thank you.
Donna Ortlepp, Fountain Valley
I have always been pretty active – growing up in a big family, with 8 other siblings, our vacations consisted (mostly) of going camping; so hiking, fishing, and lots of running around. Now that I am in my 50’s I still enjoy doing all of that, and I want to continue to do it, so I know I need to stay strong and fit. I have 4 grandkids that I need to keep up with. I especially want to be a good example to them.
In the past, I’ve joined gyms, taken aerobics and step classes, and yoga. I even joined Curves because my neighbor convinced me to. I don’t know how I stuck it out for a year. It was THE most boring workout on the planet; going round in circles with bells dinging. I guess I just kept thinking it had to get better.
So along comes the City of Fountain Valley magazine, FOUNTAIN PEN, and I am flipping through the fitness classes and I see the Lift Weights to Lose Weight classes and I think that sounds pretty interesting. I had always wanted to lift weights. A class taught by a woman for women only. So I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a try.
I remember that first class with Jennifer, 2 ½ years ago. I thought she was funny. And she continues to be funny AND fun, plus knowledgeable and caring, creative and strong, amazing and motivating, and I could go on and on. I took this class expecting to learn proper form for lifting weights, but Jennifer continues to exceed my expectations. She is a most awesome teacher and master of her craft.
What I like about Jennifer’s classes is that they are never the same. Each class is new and different, even the music is varied. Jennifer makes sure I use proper form so that I don’t injure myself. Jennifer takes the time to get to know each of us and she truly cares about us. She knows when someone is injured and will call out an easier way to perform an exercise for that person so they don’t hurt themselves. As you can imagine, the classes have women of all levels of fitness, which could make it difficult to teach, but Jennifer will show us an exercise and then she’ll show us how to “kick it up a notch” if we want to challenge ourselves, or she’ll show us an easier way to perform it. When the recreation center was closed down for 2 weeks, she worried that we would become sedentary and so she met us out on the grass and we continued to work out.
Being somewhat fit when I started taking these classes, I haven’t so much needed to lose weight, but I have changed the shape of my body. My scale reads the same, but my clothes tell a different story. My “muffin tops” are almost a thing of the past. I am much stronger and more flexible. I continue to learn more about fitness and “making healthy choices” from Jennifer.
Jessica Lindauer, Fountain Valley
Lift to Lose is a great class! Before taking the class I knew very little about weight lifting, and was unwilling to try it at a gym (feeling self-conscious around all the guys). Plus, I always thought it was kind of boring. Not so with Jennifer’s class! She is very upbeat and positive, and you can’t help but love her teaching style… even when you are sweating like crazy! (and she’s got great music to work out to.. what more could you ask for?!) I’ve noticed that I’ve become stronger and more toned, and those are two things I had not accomplished on my own. Jennifer’s exercises are ones that can cater to any fitness or health level, so don’t let the idea of a weight class keep you away! Whether you’re in great shape or looking to get in great shape, you will love Lift to Lose!
Katee Egner, Fountain Valley
In September of 2007, I went to the hospital for observation during an episode of trouble breathing. I was moved to the ICU when my lungs decided that they were done and stopped working. I woke up 5 days after checking in with tubes and machines breathing for me. When I went home, I had a hard time getting around since my legs and lower back had lost a lot of muscle while I was in the hospital. I always assumed that this process takes a long time, but as it turns out, your muscles give in very quickly when not used. I made some changes in my life right away, but continued to eat the same as I always had, and remained very sedentary.
A year after my hospital stay, I was willing to do something about my health. I went to the doctor to have a lap band put in, and was told that I was not a good candidate. They told me that at my weight (over 400 pounds), I could expect to lose 60-120 pounds with the lap band or the gastric bypass but that they highly recommended that I lose 50 pounds before they would do the surgery. I was crushed. Finally, I wanted to do something about my weight and having tried every diet this was the only option I thought I had. Not only that, but after the surgery I was expected to lose enough weight to still be considered obese. I agreed to see the surgeon’s nutritionist and she wanted me to join the hospital’s weight loss program. Since I was not able to afford the program, she gave me some basic guidelines for my new diet and set me out on my own.
The goal became losing 50 pounds to be eligible for surgery. I was ready and picked December 27th as my first day of the diet. Among my gifts that Christmas, was a card that had Jennifer’s information in it. My parents hired Jennifer to work with me at their home twice a week so that I could exercise without going out in public. I agreed to meet with her January 6th, despite the fact that I was certain that she would be just another skinny, fit, snooty exercise person who didn’t have the slightest idea about being fat or what I had to go through every day of my life. I have never been so wrong! I met, and totally loved her right away. She was nice and not pushy at all. Not at all like any of the skinny people I had imagined in a fitness trainer. She described what approach we would take to my workout plan, and asked me to answer some important questions about my goals and me.
When I started working with her, I had already lost about 7 pounds with the diet alone. Most people do have a large loss the first week or two and then it tapers down after that. We knew that due to major foot issues, and my being severely overweight, we would be working with me in a chair. We started working together, and I drove down from the Los Angeles and Hollywood area twice a week to workout. I liked it more than I ever expected to and quickly ditched the chair and was able to move around better and better each week. We talked each time we worked together about food and exercises.
I made a goal chart and would write down every little thing that I did that was exciting. When we met we would review all of the things I had written down and she would give me star stickers for my accomplishments since I explained that I am very prize motivated. I wrote down everything from drinking the goal amount of water that day to making a better food choice to having someone tell me I looked skinnier to doing a dead lift with correct form. I also set out physical goals for us to work on. Doing a real sit up or push up, walking up and down the stairs without getting winded, being able to touch my toes all made the list of things that I wanted to do someday.
With Jennifer’s upbeat attitude and patience I worked out better and better. I gradually moved up in the weights that I used for workouts and I started reaching my personal goals and taking them off of the list to add another goal.
It has been one year and eleven months since I started to diet and workout. I have become a different person completely. A lot of people say that they learned to diet, or they knew what they needed to do but lacked the will power to do it. I went to bed December 26th, 2008 and woke up on the 27th a different person. I left the old me behind. I truly don’t know where she went, because when I see old pictures of me, I can’t remember ever looking like that. I can’t say that I remember her at all, and that doesn’t bother me. I don’t miss her, the new me has so much more to live for than she ever did.
I have lost 182.2 pounds being the new me, and I have loved every moment of my transformation. Trying on clothes and having to go back out to the rack for a smaller size is one of my favorites. Another is that the old me was not able to walk down the street without getting tired or breathing hard, but the new me just ran the Disneyland half marathon! I just can’t believe what I have been able to accomplish, and I know that I never would have been able to do it without Jennifer. She is my biggest fan, and cheers me on every step of the way.
People tell me all of the time that they love the person that I have become, and that my weight is not the only thing that has changed. I am much happier now. I smile more, I move more, I laugh more, and I am able to get so much more out of life.
I know so much about food and exercise now, mostly from Jennifer and some that I have learned through experience. She has had me talk to the classes she teaches so that I can share my progress and story with others. It helps me do better, and I get the joy of helping people take the first step toward changing their own lives.
I still don’t go to gyms, I don’t know if that is something that will ever be for me, but I now take every Jennifer class that I can, and have also joined dance classes and boot camps! I know that had I never met her, I would either be the same as I always was or I wouldn’t be here today. My choices had led me to constant illness and injury and Jennifer has been there for me through all of my challenges to get healthy. There is so much more to share about my story and about Jennifer’s part in it! Working with her is so different from what you would ever expect from a fitness person. It is different with her. It’s like going to hang out with friends, and you just happen to work out while you are visiting and having fun. She doesn’t do the same thing over and over, and she keeps workouts fun and challenging. You can accomplish anything you allow yourself to accomplish, and Jennifer can guide you there!
Susan S., Fountain Valley
The reason I stumbled into Jennifer’s class was because of a blood test. The doctor called me with my results LESS than 24 hours after I took the test. My cholesterol had more than doubled from the previous test and my sugar levels were still high. I needed cardio and I needed to lose weight but most of all, I needed to do something. When my doctor asked if I wanted to be alive to see my kids get married…it hit home. Then he said, if you don’t do anything, you’re young enough to survive, but you will have had a stroke by then. (I totally appreciate his honesty) I started walking, plateaued, then found Jennifer’s class.
I knew I was in the right class when I saw Jennifer and not a female version of the Hulk…which is what I was greeted with at a gym down the street. At the previous gym, I was assigned a personal trainer who never showed me how to do anything. Jennifer was exercising with us from the minute class started, showing us how to do each step and each move safely, correctly, and with good form…and she lived a healthy lifestyle. I didn’t have to copy the person in front of me, I could just watch Jennifer. Jennifer is full of endless energy and information, but you’ll quickly learn that she makes an effort to learn your name & only says positive things. I say I come for the torture, but it really is that great feeling of doing something healthy and feeling stronger. The hardest part is just getting there, then the fun begins! As much as I grumble, I absolutely LOVE her class and all the wonderful and supportive “sisters” that have become part of my quest to be at my kids’ weddings.
At my last doctor’s appointment, he told me that I would be a full blown diabetic if it weren’t for this exercise class and I’m still technically NOT diabetic…AND my cholesterol is normal with the help of meds. (due to genetic factor had to start meds.) The support of Jennifer and the class and everyone’s ability to laugh at themselves, makes it a fun class, and I don’t feel the same when I miss. Thank YOU for your support!!!
Julie Hyden, Fountain Valley
I came across this group totally by the grace of a friend and neighbor who was on her way to meet Jennifer and other class members. She talked me into joining her that morning. They didn’t even have a class scheduled but were getting together to exercise anyway. Everyone was so friendly, so inclusive, and so positive. Jennifer and the others encouraged me to join the class. Needless to say, I did. I started slowly (once a week) and quickly decided once a week was not nearly enough. I’d been looking for some exercise routine besides walking/running with my dog regularly. I had tried some other classes, exercise DVDs, etc. but nothing really seemed like anything I could get excited about until I met up with Jennifer and her students. Now, I hate missing class! The friendships I’ve found are terrific and the workouts are great!
I have come to admire and appreciate Jennifer on so many levels.
I know how hard it is as a coach/trainer since, when I was younger, I was an amateur athlete and became a coach myself. Keeping students with varied needs and fitness levels on track would be daunting to some. Jennifer is brilliant with her positive attitude, focus on correct form and accommodating variations of exercises. She always seems to be able to direct us to the pleasure of accomplishment. She keeps us wanting to push a little harder and do a little more with her kind, caring upbeat personality and encouraging words. Every class is fresh and fun. Jennifer will always go the extra mile (pun intended) to help us on our quest to conquer our own goals. She has a vast knowledge of fitness training and truly seems to care about each individual. She is the best!
My current goals are to improve my overall fitness in the form of increasing endurance, strength and flexibility. Oh yeah, and loosing a few pounds and inches would be a wonderful benefit. Not only do I feel better physically since I started this class but I have gained the confidence to accomplish my goals with Jennifer on my side. She gets me sweating, breathing hard and grinning and giggling in every class. I never thought I could have so much fun working so hard. I truly feel so very fortunate to have come across Jennifer with her volumes of knowledge and the kindest of hearts. I repeat, Jennifer is the best!
Jenny Hedge, Fountain Valley
I joined Jennifer’s exercise class because I was told by my Dr. that my triglyceride levels were very high and not healthy for me and I could potentially have a heart attack if I didn’t start exercising and eating better.
I found out about Jennifer’s classes through a flyer that was left at my mother-in laws club house. We took a few classes back in Dec. of 2009, but stopped going because my mother got very sick and I was traveling back and forth from Orange County to Sacramento to take care of her, so I put exercise in the back burner for a few months, but to my surprise, I received an email from Jennifer asking if everything was okay.
I explained to her what was going on and also told her that I planned on starting class soon. In February, 2010 I was back in the class. It’s been the best decision I have made. I have not only found a great place to exercise, but have made wonderful friends too. I’m grateful that Jennifer has so much interest in people and to go out of her way to follow-up on me, this says a lot to me about her genuine desire to help. I have become stronger and have developed a need to exercise.
Jennifer’s classes are so motivating, she is so encouraging and her personality is the greatest. It makes you want to improve more and push yourself to the next level. With exercise I have been able to lower my triglyceride levels and I plan on getting off the Statin medicine in the future.
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