Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Brian Bill-MFC Client

I had seen Noel in the gym over the years and had said hello in passing a few times. She was in terrific shape! Something told me she had the answers I was after. I was at a point where I was getting a procedure done to close the veins in my legs, and was told I would need to take it easy in the gym for a couple months. So right before I had the procedure done, I approached Noel with my situation and asked what I could do to “stay in shape” (which I laugh about now, because I don’t think I was anywhere near in shape. Big, maybe. But in shape?). Her first question was about my diet. My answer was foolish, and I find a lot of people say this, “I know how to eat good/healthy. My diet is fine.” And by that I meant I only ate Taco Bell, pizza, chicken wings/fries, subway and Chinese ONCE a week (every week). The rest of the time I was eating processed foods, chicken (in large quantities) and various “good” foods. That’s why I was a whopping 245 lbs.
            Once she told me that she helps others to attain what she has, I was in. Once starting with MFC, I learned quickly that by just changing what I put in my body and HOW MUCH lost me about 10lbs a month! No quick dieting, no nonsense, no pre-packaged weight loss foods. I simply listened to what Noel said and ate normal foods that I chose. Of course I had the teasing from coworkers and peers (who are not in the best shape) about not getting to eat this or that, or questioning what I was eating and if it was part of my “diet”. It can get on your nerves. But I had a goal and nothing was going to stop me. My response to that now is, “Yeah, but I enjoy THIS body” and they shut right up.
I get asked a lot if it has been hard. Of course! Nothing worth having comes easy. Noel said this to me, “If it were easy, everyone would be walking around with six pack abs and lean bodies”! But I had been weight training for 11 years before meeting Noel, and I’ve had greater success and far superior results in the past 6 months than all that time! For me, it has been easier to do HER program than MINE. I say this because I was doing cardio almost every day (and not just light cardio. I’m talking gut wrenching, sweat pouring cardio) and weight training for 2 hours a day. And yet, I stood at 245 lbs and chubby. It’s much harder to spin your wheels with no results than work hard and get results…fast. I’m looking better now than I ever have, but I’m so excited about reaching the next level of fitness that I try even harder every day to be a better me. And I have most definitely learned about good nutrition, making smarter choices with food, and self-control thanks to Noel.
And to top it all off, MFC helped my fiancĂ© reach her goals and feel better about her self, and my mother will soon be a client of MFC. How exciting is that! I can only imagine the changes she will go through and I can’t wait to read her story!





Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Client Testimonial

Well I can’t even call this one a client as much as I call her a close friend.  MaryBeth has been working with me since BEFORE I started my own company and I have known her for longer than that.  You want to talk about an inspirational woman!?!?!?!  She has been through so much physically that it is amazing that she continues to train and work at this as hard as she does.  I guarantee that most people would have quit by now.
Thanks so much MB for the kind words…I love you to death!
Two years ago, I was begging to work with Noel.  I’d gotten to know her while working with a previous trainer and envied those who were working under her care.  So I switched as soon as possible.  Why, you ask?  I’ll tell you.
I come with medical baggage.  Not an easy thing for a trainer who has to make workouts for me.  She’s had to work around issue after issue.  Some of those are injuries but some are a bit more “serious.”  But Noel is a true professional.  She wanted to know each and every detail of my annual doctor visits.  And then would be sure to include strict instruction, that if anything were to become an issue, to s-t-o-p.
Noel has become more than just a trainer to me, simply due to her personality and easy-going nature.  She’s kind, caring, trusting, informative, concerned, genuine and an overall breathe of fresh air.  Don’t get me wrong.  She’ll hold you accountable when you slip!  Friendship or not, she keeps her professional side in the forefront and keeps you on your toes!
What amazes me most about Noel is how responsive she is.  Anytime I have a question about an exercise, a food allotment, or even a question like, “what if …,” she is there in minutes with a response.  I’ve had various trainers over the years and not once did any of them respond in her timeframe.  Throw into the mix that she is a mother of three (very beautiful and intelligent) young girls who participate in their own activities.  I know for a fact that one time, she called me back on a weekend, while at one of her girl’s soccer games.  Yes, you read that right.  A weekend.  And while at one of her kids’ games.
Every plan I’ve gotten has been given thought and concern to what ever I’d had going on at the moment.  She’s given me nearly about every plan known to man.  From PSMF to maintenance, she’s full of information and not afraid to explain it to you.  Other trainers I had felt threatened if I asked a question or took it as if I was questioning their direction, when my inquiry was based on my wanting to learn more about and to educate myself.  Noel’s confident about herself and enjoys helping people and it shows.
Remember when I mentioned that I have medical issues?  What trainer/friend offers one of their organs to someone?  I mean, seriously!  She has a heart of gold and so much more.

Testimonial

Another great testimonial to share and awesome physique changes to see.  Thanks so much Matt!
Before I met Noel, I had been dieting and leaning down for several months. Lack of progress from my plan, coupled with nagging injuries were too much to continue dieting. I had decided to start training for strength and was hoping the change in my routine would heal my body. I asked Noel for some advice on my new strength program that I created.
From her first response, I knew instantly that this lady had the knowledge that I lacked. Noel broke down every exercise, every set and rep in my program, told me why this wouldn’t work, why that would work, and suggested new and better ideas. At that time, I did not ask advice for nutrition, but low and behold, she asked me! She offered suggestions to better my nutrition, which were a huge help in gaining strength. I wondered why Noel was so gracious with her “free” time in regard to helping me, so I asked her about it. She told me that she always enjoyed helping people that were willing to help themselves AND that she felt great joy in life by helping others.
As the weeks went on with the strength training, I became stronger and stronger. I then decided to enter a powerlifting meet in the upcoming weeks. I had decided to go “up” in weight class instead of dieting down, so I needed an additional 12 pounds on my body. Unfortunately, more injuries cancelled the meet for me. I can tell you that those 12 extra pounds on TOP of what I already had was NOT the right direction to go. Yes, I needed to be at my heaviest to push/pull the weight I wanted to hit, but it left me completely uncomfortable being that heavy. I was fat and out of shape.
After I healed from the strength training, I started dieting down for the summer. It was the typical diet for me where I lose a great deal the first month, then I hit a plateau soon after. My style of dieting was always the stereotypical “yo-yo” effect. I blamed my genetics, stress at work, lack of time, etc. for my poor progress. In my head, I knew I was doing it right and never could understand what kept me from going further with dieting. That’s when I started working with Noel. I made a promise to myself that I would let go of everything I knew and put my full trust in her. That was the best decision I ever made. Over the course that we worked together, I lost weight, I lost inches, and I lost fat AND gained muscle! Coming from my style of lifting, a style where I was very comfortable over to her training method was brutal on me, lol. After time, as I got into better shape, I was able to push with more intensity and felt awesome in the gym. At the same time, her programs were getting tougher and required more out of me. It was a brilliant plan on Noel’s part that worked quite well.
Nutritional side of Noel’s plan was spot on right from the beginning.
She adjusted the amounts during the months we worked together, but it was always subtle. It was easy to follow and stay on course. I dare say, almost too easy to be on her plan. Noel was always asking what foods I wanted to change, what foods I was tired of eating. She always stated, “What can I do to make it easier for you?”
Working with Noel was such a blessing for me. Without her expertise, my attempt at dieting would have been the same ole song and dance…down a bit, but right back up. I hit my weight goal working with Noel!! So many people came up to me and said they didn’t recognize me, that I was a different person. I felt like a different person. I felt comfortable being in my own skin and I had regained confidence that once was lost.
I love that last line!
Here are a couple shots of matt–


Obviously he made changes all over but I love the difference in his legs:

Our goal was to hit under 200lbs and he got down to about 198!

Thank you Scott

A Testimonial from a great client that I have talked about before HERE I really appreciate all the kind words Scott!
If you’re like me, things that really impress, are rare.  our society is rife with over promise/ under deliver products & services, over hyped everything, instant gratification schemes and things that are simply too good to be true.  Every once in awhile you do find something or someone that meets or exceeds expectation.  When that happens, whether a store, restaurant, product or service, the cost becomes secondary and sometimes even unimportant.  I found a great example in noel & her maximum fitness consulting.
I’m just an average guy who was somewhat athletic once a few years ago…ok a few decades ago.  I wasn’t looking to enter a competition or become an elite athlete but knowing that noel lives & competes in that world gave me confidence that she could help even me.  I will say that the benefits & value I’ve received from her plan have been priceless.  How do you put a price on your health, self confidence & the many compliments received by friends, family and business associates??
Noel gave me a clear, concise roadmap to be successful both in nutrition & training.  Her follow up to questions./concerns is very quick and she addresses these in detail, point by point.  I have found that she uses humor, tough love, bribery, blackmail, threats of bodily harm whatever it takes to keep her clients on plan.  She knows when to push & when another approach is best. At least this is my experience.  And I was just kidding about the blackmail :-) .
I highly recommend noel & maximum fitness consulting.  Again, it’s so nice to be completely satisfied in an investment you’ve made.  It’s not easy, but the satisfaction and results I’ve received have been terrific so far.  Truly a 5 star, no brainer, guilt free investment in yourself or someone you love.
Here again are some comparison shots.

Another Great Transfomation

Another great experience with an amazing woman!
Choosing to work with Noel for my contest preparation was really a no brainer. I have known Noel for quite some time and have followed her figure contest experiences as well.  I have had the pleasure of watching her compete on the national stage twice.   I knew she was knowledgeable, experienced and capable of leading me into my show.
Competing has been a goal of mine for quite some time.  My life until Fall of 2010 had never really afforded me the opportunity to actually achieve that goal.  I have had some serious health and metabolic struggles over the past several years and it took some time and patience to figure those out.  In the summer of 2010, I finally realized a solution to many of my challenges and found myself back on track.  In August I decided that a November show could be a reality.  I started seriously dieting on my own in August and then about 6 weeks out from the show enlisted Noel’s expertise to take me the rest of the way.  I had steadily been dropping weight and fat since June and was concerned about stalling in my progress.  I received my first plan the first week of October and never looked back.  My body responded incredibly well to everything Noel prescribed for me.  My losses never stalled and in the six weeks from starting with her into my show, I lost over 13lbs and inches in all the right places.  She knew exactly what my body needed.  I am not built like most women but she was able to minimize my losses in my lower body, which is naturally leaner then the rest of me, while I continued to make progress up top.
Even beyond the physical expertise, a valuable component of this experience for me was Noel’s support.  There were:  constant e-mails!  constant checking-in on me!  Quick turn around time for biweeklies and all of my crazy rookie questions.  I never felt alone in this process.  The support and communication the last week of prep and the day of my show was incredible.  We communicated everyday, multiple times a day, that last week.  The day of my show felt like she was there.  I just counted, 50 texts between us that day.  50!  This is on a Saturday, in the midst of family commitments and a life, and she communicates with me 50 times!  I could not have asked for a more professional experience that felt completely personal!
I continued to work with her for the three months post competition.  There was NO rebound after the show.  Three months later, my weight is only 2-3lbs more than the day of my show.  My body still looks great and continued to respond to the training.  I set some recomposition goals for my trouble spots and those have improved in that since the show.  Every training plan placed me squarely out of my comfort zone.  When you consider your self a veteran in the weight room, it is refreshing to be challenged in ways that you never imagined.
I leave this experience much more knowledgeable about training and diet in relationship to my body.  At 44, I love my body more than  ever have in my life.  Noel is a large part of that, and I can never thank her enough!  As I consider my future goals, working with Noel again will be a must.  I cannot think of a better person to guide me towards my goals!
Thanks so much Mel!!  Here are before and afters of Mel and some pictures of her competition.


And I love this shot because you KNOW Mel is having a blast up there:

Testimonial

I have always been active and enjoyed exercise.  I’ve been a runner since high school for both exercise and stress relief.  I also have lifted weights on and off for years.  I gained the dreaded freshman 15 in college but mine was more like the freshman 20.  At 5’2, 20 lbs is a lot!  I kept those extra 10-15 lbs until I was about 32.  I had just had my second child and felt frumpy and miserable.  I hired a local trainer who put me on an extreme diet of 1000 calories a day, with 6 days of cardio a week.  I lost weight very quickly, and was at the lowest weight I had ever been, 114 lbs.  I weighed 120 in high school.  But I still hated the way my body looked.  It was not how I imagined I’d look at that weight.  I felt flabby and told myself I needed to lose more weight to get the body I had dreamed of.  I wanted to rock a bikini for once in my life!
Fast forward a few more years.  I gave birth to my third child, and found myself struggling to get the last bit of baby weight off.  I would lose a few pounds, then the scale would stop moving and I’d panic and add more cardio and eat less food.  Then I’d feel so crazy and quit dieting and gain the weight back.  After yo-yoing for 9 months I decided I needed help!  I found Noel through some friends of mine that had worked with her before and raved about her.  It was a big paradigm shift for me.  Her diet had so much more food than I was used to eating!  At first I was scared, but I trusted her completely and did exactly what she told me to do.   In the past I had not eaten to fuel my workouts.  I thought less food was always better.  But I could never sustain the low calories and lots of exercise.  There were lots of moments of panic because the truth is the scale did not move much for me at all.  Noel was always there to reassure me that the scale didn’t matter and that I WAS making progress, and to keep at it.
The thing I loved the most about having Noel as my coach, is having that extra set of objective eyes on me.  I couldn’t see my own progress.  I wanted to believe the scale.  When it said I was the same weight for months and months, I thought that meant nothing was happening.  She kept on me, always encouraging me and even smacking me around a bit when I needed it.
I cannot say enough how grateful I am for the experience I had working with Noel.  She truly cares about her clients and is extremely knowledgeable in her field.  She was always very quick to respond to my emails and questions.  I have three young children and work part time as a professional and she made her plans fit into MY lifestyle.  I’ve had trainers in the past, both online and in person that gave me what was obviously a cookie cutter workout and diet.  With Noel, I had a custom plan tailored just for me.  If I told her I didn’t like something or if the workouts were too long, she would tweak it and make it fit my life.  Most importantly, in this process she taught me how to eat and I know this is a weight and lifestyle I can maintain for the rest of my life.
Now I’m back into my clothes I wore before I got pregnant, but the best part is that I look 100 times better!  I weigh more than I did before, but my body looks leaner and tighter.  I am living proof that you can’t live by the number on the scale.  My husband loves that I have a butt now, before I had the dreaded runners pancake butt.  He asked me the other day, “How does it feel to look the best you ever have at 37?”  Let me tell you, it feels amazing!!  Thank you Noel!

THANK YOU JENNIFER!!! So Proud of how far you have come!

Here are her shots!


Kelli's Testimonial

Here is another good one!
It’s quite the Cinderella story for me. The word “diet” being the evil stepmother, all the “different diets” being the evil step sisters, Noel being my fairy godmother, and my perfect fit glass slipper, was my personalized plan.
I wasn’t over weight, but I wasn’t happy with the person I saw in the mirror every day. That reflection wasn’t complimenting the woman on the inside. Just like anyone that has tried a diet, I go in with such a positive out look and end with disappointment and being even harder on myself. Failure isn’t something one takes easily. You’re left wondering why you can’t succeed. That’s where my “fairy godmother” Noel came in. She has given me a new outlook on diets, healthy living, life, and myself. Noel taught me that not every diet is created equally. All the diets I continued to fail at, weren’t created for me and that’s why I couldn’t succeed. What I thought was healthy and good for me necessarily wasn’t. She got to know me, what I wanted out of the program, what foods I liked, and my every day life style and activities. She designed me the perfect plan “my glass slipper” that was just for me. My favorite part, I was eating normal foods I ate every day and foods i enjoyed eating. Not foods that came out of a can or frozen box. She took the worry out of the whole diet. Unlike every other diet I’ve been on, I started seeing results in the first week. In 3 months I was absolutely amazed  how different I felt and looked. The problem areas are gone completely. I have more energy throughout the day, sleep better at night, my skins healthier, and I have more strength and endurance during my workouts. I’m not the only one that see’s the difference in my body and self esteem, I get complements all the time now.  More importantly I feel so much better about myself. Noel has completely changed my life and has passed along knowledge that I can use every day to make better choices in life and keep myself healthy. Working with her is by far the best decision I’ve ever made. I am extremely happy with the results.
Kelli was tiny to begin with….but her changes are definitely still pretty dramatic. I think that what I was most happy with was seeing things like-much healthier eating, better sleep, better skin, more confidence….because she already had a beautiful body!

Kelli dropped 8lbs total but lost 13.1 inches!

Here is a recent shot of her and Brian (another MFC client) on their recent vacation!  Brian’s changes will be posted hopefully later this year–he has made some amazing drops as well!!

Jen's Testimonial

Fitness isn’t new to Jenn.  I was excited that I was going to finally get to work with her after “knowing” her for so long.  I knew she would be one of those easy clients that just needed a little push in the right direction and a little accountability.  She and her husband both signed up with me and were both very successful! I told her that it looks like she got a butt lift! She looks great!  Now if I can get Chris to let me post up HIS pics!!!!

I met Noel many years ago on a fitness forum I was a part of and later I personally met her at a figure competition here in Atlanta, GA.  I have always been a fan of Noel and her work ethic in regards to her own physique, parenting and overall life management. 
   When it came time for me to seek out accountability and direction for my physique goals she seemed a logical choice for me. Not only is she local but she is female and I wanted a female perspective this time around.  She has not let me down in her professional knowledge, care and compassion as I have struggled to lose the added weight I had put on.  It was a little slower than I had planned but Noel was very helpful and encouraging along the way.  I can say that I met my goal and will continue being accountable to myself and my family for our health and well being. 

   I would have to say the best part of working with Noel was my husband working with her as well. I have seen a change in his mentality towards health and fitness and I believe that has been the single best part of the experience. We are now doing health as a family and not just me. I pray that with this new mentality it will be easier for me to meet and exceed my physique and fitness goals. Thanks Noel! 
 If I need accountability, Maximum Fitness will be my “GO TO”.