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Testimonial | Luisa Ruiz

“I struggled with weight for years…having the yo-yo effect…up/down/up/down.  I always considered myself a very competitive and active person but with the weight I carried, I knew I wasn’t anymore.  I reached my heaviest weight of 225 due to circumstances in my personal life and I found comfort in food.  Once I closed a much needed chapter in my life, I began to find myself again.  I did several diets and I was able to lose weight but never achieved what I truly wanted.  I would go to the gym 5 days a week and ate what I thought I needed to eat.  The missing part in all my work was nutrition.  My cousin Carlos suggested that we attend The 12 and he offered to pay for the gym.  Who can say no to that?  Well he took it up a notch and said to enroll in The 12 Week Fitness Challenge and work with Jen Toro, his wife who is a nutritionist at The 12.  He was willing to pay for all of this so I accepted.  However, I had to meet a specific goal they would set, if not, I would have to pay him back…the gym cost and nutritional coaching…yikes…this was over $3K!!  Of course I accepted and at this point this became my motivation…there was no way I could afford this and wasn’t about to pay it back.

I began my journey to health and worked with Jen throughout the 12 weeks.  I was being educated on my body type and what foods to eat.  What certain foods would do to my body and when to eat them.  Wow- was I doing everything wrong before.  But now with Jen’s guidance I was seeing results.  I went to the gym 5 days a week and once I began seeing results, I now found myself doing this Challenge for me.  Not paying Carlos back was no longer my motivation.  I was now in it for me because only I could stand in my way.  I wanted to prove to myself that I can do this.  This time I wanted to take it up a notch, feed my body like a machine, to enhance muscle composition and my ability to perform.

I did it!  Healthy eating and exercise.  That’s all I was focused on.  I saw improvement in my flexibility and strength over the course. I was holding poses I couldn’t get into just two months ago.  Whatever the highest level of modification is demonstrated for each exercise, I’m at least trying it, if not doing it the whole time.

I can see my body reshaping, especially around the obliques, hips, buttocks, and arms – all places that used to be my trouble spots. I enter my exercise routines with my game face on and push hard the entire time because I have the energy to do it. My body is working for me these days, not the other way around.  So, now I am at 153 pounds and 11% less body fat.  I can fit into smaller sizes. I can lift more. I can go longer and harder. I can see that I’ve gained more muscle and more focused when it comes to my fitness program, and that makes this a successful 12 Week Fitness Challenge.  I am in a different place in my life now and can always stand to improve. Besides the gains I achieved on a fitness level, the acceptance of this lifestyle from my family makes doing this program multiple times worth it a hundred times over.” –Luisa R.