Since starting the Get RIPPED!® program in 2004, I have surpassed all of my personal fitness goals! I have always had a passion for athletics and I have been involved with group sporting activities for most of my life.However, I had always trained ‘harder’ not necessarily ‘smarter’! For the last ten years, I had focused most of my efforts on pure aerobic/ cardiovascular workouts and I spent a minimal amount of time in the weight room. The Get RIPPED!® program launched me out of my workout plateaus and diversified my fitness activities through the high reps and low weights training phases combined with cardio interval training. I loved the program so much that I became an instructor! Since my involvement in the first Get RIPPED!® video (September, 2004), I have improved my cardiovascular fitness, decreased my body fat, and increased my lean muscle mass – all while enhancing my overall toning and conditioning. I have been a size 12 since I was 15 years old and now, for the first time in my life, I am a size six and I feel phenomenal! I am in the best shape of my life and I feel energetic, strong, fit, and empowered!
I am officially down 14.7 lbs. For the first time in nearly 20 years I can say that I’m starting to like what I see in the mirror. I’ve been very shy about “telling my story” because I’ve tried it all – Weight watchers, the gym, personal trainer, you name it. But RIPPED!® is different. Not only do I think the workouts are fantastic, and completely changing my body shape, but the nutrition advice and support are the key for me.
Coming from a place where I was embarrassed and ashamed of my body after a teenage pregnancy at 15, I always told myself that I deserved a large stomach, and stretch marks, etc. because of the choices I made at a young age. Now, FINALLY, I am ready to admit that my body image is changing and I’m proud of myself for sticking with this. I’m shedding away layers that are more than just fat, and my story about my body is becoming more positive and hopeful. I’m not just someone with a strong “heart” or “soul”- soon I’m going have the strong body too! And I owe it all to the Get RIPPED! Program, and Crystal for introducing it to me. What I’m enjoying most is the unpredictable workouts, and the relationships and support from both the trainers and participants. Most importantly, for me the Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp program is not just changing my body- it’s changing my life. Thanks guys!
I have lost 57 lbs and counting! How did I do it? Let me tell you. I originally started with changes in my diet but then found that I got stuck at a certain weight and couldn’t lose any more. I was on a month long plateau, so I called Jari, since I was doing her DVDs at home. Along with changing my exercise, she gave me a diet plan. I started eating every three hours, with lean protein and either fruit or veggies at every meal and really cut down on all of the carbs I was eating. I also stopped eating at night and I found with eating every three hours, I didn’t have cravings for “junk” food as much.
Talking to Jari about my diet was a real eye opener for me. I realized I was eating far too much food, even if it was good food, and I was eating some foods that just were not going to help me lose weight. Diet is so important when losing weight.
My main motivation for losing weight was for my health and my children. I had struggled with being depressed and with working night shifts. I put on about 45 pounds with the combination of the two. I felt so unhealthy. I was tired all of the time and I felt really old. In fact several people, strangers, had commented on me being a grandmother! Also, I want to be around for my children: both of my parents had heart attacks when they were in their late forties and early fifties. I didn’t want to put my girls through that. Finally, I decided that I need to start looking after myself. I think women often think they should be the last one cared for, well I have realized that I can care for others even better when I care for myself first.
I cannot describe how much better I feel! I’ve stayed on track and continue to try and get some exercise every day, but a minimum of five days per week. I try to do RIPPED!® at least three times a week and I also try to get cardio in on alternate days. Now that I am in better shape I have really increased the intensity of some of my workouts. Other days I do longer low intensity workouts. The key for me is really mixing it up that way I don’t get bored and my body doesn’t know what to expect. Also, I have some days that I workout with someone else – that way we are able to help challenge each other.
Support is key when it comes to weight loss and I am lucky in that I have had great support. My family, friends and Jari have been my biggest supporters. Most people can’t believe that I was as heavy as I was, and I didn’t tell them, but now that they know how much I have lost, they are so complimentary. One of the ladies at work said, “It’s just so great; we have our own success story right here at work!” My brothers saw me for the first time in a while and just looked in awe – that was a wonderful feeling! Jari has been great at keeping me going, some days are harder than others and she’ll be so positive that it keeps me motivated. From the first time that I met her she has made me feel like I can do anything!
I started this journey because I simply got lazy! I lost about 40 lbs nine years ago and have kept it off. I fell into some old habits and developed some new ones that caused me to gain about 10 lbs over the last year. I felt awful and hated looking in the mirror. Everything was too tight and I did not feel comfortable.I was still working out-some cardio and Ripped workouts each week but obviously not enough intensity and was not watching my diet. I added in the food groups of “wine and cheese” and “sugar” to my food plans and the weight found its way back! I knew I needed a “kick in the butt” and to be accountable for getting back on track and there it was – Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp 2010! I was on board from the moment I saw it and knew this was the answer. I was a big fan of Jari’s already and loved the videos so this was just the perfect fit for me.
Since we started, I am down 19 lbs and have lost almost 10 inches. That does not include inches lost on my bust (it wasn’t on my chart that is in our notes!) but I’m pretty sure I have lost 2-3 inches in that area. So probably about 12 inches overall. I feel great albeit more tired and a little sore here and there, but great none the less. I look forward to my classes and have not missed any. The key for me has been the diet. I use the sheets that we received at the first seminar in our packages and just keep copying more. I write down everything and plan my meals every night. I am now addicted to yogurt, protein and berries!
I know I will do another Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp to continue toning and just getting into the best shape of my life! I have also reacquainted myself with previous eating patterns and exercise that I used to incorporate as well as new ideas for meals that I will carry forward to stay on tract.
Skinnier and feeling great!
July 7, 2004 I was rear ended by a guy doing 80km/hr and I was stopped. I lost all rotation in my neck, tore all the muscles and stretched all the ligaments in my back and neck. Needless to say I endured years of physio therapy and prolotherapy. Three years ago they started to do ablations on my neck. This is where they laser off an inch of the nerve and it gives you 8-12 months of pain free living. I had six nerves done in my neck.
Life was getting pretty good for about nine months of the year. I wasn’t back to my normal self but I was at about 80%. Just had the ablations done last July and just when I was starting to recover I was hit again! I have been going to physio since September. I was talking to my physiotherapist one day and she asked me why I was scared to move. I had spent three months walking around and protecting myself because everything hurt!
That’s when I decided to do something about it and I signed up for the Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp. I was scared to death when I first started. Scared I would cause worse damage but really what could be worse. I felt like my life had been taken over by my pain. Bootcamp has given me so much….I am a better happier mother, wife, employee and friend. I have spent years alienating myself from everyone because I didn’t want to talk about it. Three weeks ago I ran for 50 minutes on the treadmill with Darren, when I left the gym I sat in my truck and cried because I actually did it!
I still have pain and I still go to physio every week but I’m in such a better place and so much stronger. This is not a story I tell often. The instructors that run the Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp are such great motivators and really great people. I can hardly wait to sign up for the next one.
As a kid I was active in dance and swimming. I never worried about my weight. I was a tall, skinny kid. I stayed at a normal weight throughout high school, even though by that time I had stopped dancing and swimming.
I started watching what I ate and exercising in my early twenties. I was mostly concerned with keeping my fat intake down at that point, so I was eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, low fat dairy etc. I worked out like a maniac – mostly aerobics classes – Step Classes, Hi & Lo Impact Aerobics. I had a friend I worked out with and we were hooked on cardio. If we ate something like fast food we would do two classes that day to counteract the bad food.
I think that is when I started messing up my metabolism. I rarely did any weight training and was just all about the cardio. I’m sure I wasn’t eating enough calories in a day. I was small but soft. No muscle to be seen. At that time that is what I wanted – to stay small.
The further I got into my twenties, the worse it got. I continued to be a cardio junkie but eventually my weight started creeping up. I was still barely lifting a weight. I hated doing weights because it was too boring, plus I was worried about gaining too much bulk. I wanted to be small. This is when I started playing around with different diets. I tried many diets and deprived my body of foods that I needed and had very low energy. I was having such a hard time finding a diet that I could stick to and after each diet I seemed to gain even more weight. It was really frustrating and depressing. I felt like I was the only person in the world that couldn’t stick to a diet, I felt like a total failure. These diets worked for other people, why not for me? I would say I wanted to lose weight, but then I would make every excuse not to do it. The diet is too strict. I’m too busy to exercise or plan my meals. I will start Monday. Eventually I accepted that being fat was my fate and gave up. Even a wedding engagement of almost two years didn’t spark anything inside me to get moving. I was fat for my wedding. That is a huge regret.
I can’t say what it was that made me ready this time, but something just clicked in my head. I decided it was time to hire professional help because I was tired of trying to do it on my own. My track record of trying on my own wasn’t great. I needed help. I had definitely hit a plateau in my weight loss and needed help to shake up my routine and surprise my body. I had a body composition done to find out my percentage of body fat and measurements.
The results from the body composition were horrible and seeing the numbers in black and white really made it hit home for me – my body fat was 34%. Seeing those results really motivated me to make changes.
Hiring a personal trainer was key. Jari really set me straight about what I had to do to lose the weight. Gone were the days of 60-90 minutes of pure cardio and nothing else! She put me on an intense program based on the results she found through scientific testing on the metabolic cart. I started doing the RIPPED!® workouts 3-4 times per week as well as some cardio – 45 minutes, three times per week. I was hooked on RIPPED!® from the very first workout! I had no idea weight training could be so much fun! I love doing the weights in a group setting with high energy music – it really keeps you motivated! What else kept me motivated was all the lean, fit women in the class. That is what made me realize my goal should me to be fit not just small. It didn’t take long before I saw results either. Within 4-6 weeks of doing the RIPPED!® workouts, I started to notice some muscle definition and a decrease in body fat – something I never got from my hours on the treadmill. Doing the high reps with dumbbells really help me to see the results I was looking for. Seeing those results really motivated me to keep doing RIPPED!® I could feel myself getting stronger every week and it made me excited to workout again.
When I first started working with Jari, she had me get a VO2 max test to find out what my maximum heart rate was. I found it really helpful to know my heart rate zones and where I should be working to see weight loss results and how many calories I burn in each of the zones. My max heart rate is 210 based on the metabolic cart test and using the formula (220- age) my max heart rate would be 186 – that is a huge difference! I feel very confident in the way that I am training now because it is all based on that scientific test. I also had a Resting Metabolic Rate test as well which was really interesting. According to that test the minimum number of calories I need to keep my body alive is 1137. Good information to have while trying to lose weight. I now make sure that I eat a minimum of 1200 calories per day so that my metabolism won’t slow down.
I was really hesitant to start doing weights because I was afraid of getting big and bulky but just the opposite happened. The unusual number of repetitions and low weights really helped me to lean out, see muscle definition and drop body fat. Because we are doing so many reps, my heart rate stays elevated and I burn a ton of calories. I wear a heart rate monitor and I average 600 calories per workout! Since starting doing RIPPED!® I have lost 55 lbs and my body fat has dropped from 34% to 18%! The changes I have seen in my body have been amazing.
My before photo shows me at a very sad time in my life. I had just lost someone very close to me and fitness and exercise took a backseat to other priorities for a few years. When I finally felt like getting fit again I spent a year doing all the cardio work I used to do and managed to lose 20 of the 35 lbs I had gained.Then I hit a plateau and no matter how much cardio I did I just couldn’t lose any more pounds. Then I started RIPPED!® and in six months I not only lost the 15 more I wanted to lose but an additional 5 lbs just melted off. I lost 20 lbs and my body fat went down by 7%. I went from a size 12 to a size six. I’m now more firm and toned than ever and I feel energized. I was so impressed with the results I became a Get RIPPED!® instructor. Now two years later I still feel great and I’m maintaining the weight loss.
My name is Barb and I’m a 42 year old mom of three in Phoenix, Arizona. In May 2005 I decided after seeing myself on video to change my life. I had dropped 20 lbs after the birth of my son in 2003 but was still a large girl at 4’11” tall weighing 165 lbs and wearing 18’s and 20’s. I started doing some low impact aerobics – Leslie Sansone’s program and counting calories – learning to eat ‘clean’ and dropped 45 lbs in about 7 months! I appeared in her testimonial shoot, an infomercial for her program and ultimately in one of her workout DVD’s that was released this past January – Walk Slim, Fast break.
I hit my goal weight of 115 lbs in November 2005 and did the testimonial in 2006. We shot the workout video in November 06. I had already gotten strong through adding light weights – 2, 3 and 5 lbs but knew the next step was to LIFT – sculpt, tone, define and well, Get RIPPED!®
A friend turned me on to the original Get RIPPED!® and I started – slowly at first, and then building up. I got a pretty neat gift for my 41st birthday – my first barbell! My husband and kids got it for my birthday and I love it!
I’ve maintained my weight loss now for almost two years but the fun now is changing my body. I’m in better shape now then in my entire life and I thank you and your program.
I know I still have a long way to go, but your program is helping me to feel strong and the results speak for themselves. I love the end of the workout when you talk about taking care of ourselves – I work full time, have three kids and I deserve my time to workout !
Thank you for the program – you’ve helped change my life! I look (and feel) 10 years younger.
It was a cold day in December when I found myself in the back of a limo with one of the fittest women I have ever encountered in real life. I think I am not alone in my (now former) belief that women do not ever look that good in person – I thought that there must be always be a little air-brushing & photo trickery involved in those pictures you see of ‘perfect’ bodies. Enter Jari Love. Well as I munched on my holiday treats (thank you Robyn Moser) and we judged the Christmas Light Competition in Hidden Valley, I got to know a truly amazing couple, Jari & Ray Love who own a little fitness empire called Fitness Plus. I had brought along my good friend Fuzzy Love (no relation!) from our sister station Vibe 98.5 that night and before I knew it I had repeated a pattern that I have become famous for. Jari & Ray were telling us about the Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp that was starting up in January and how there was a challenge involved…and before Fuzzy could push me out the door I had entered us into the competition – as rivals! Since I hate to suffer alone, I also included a couple of our co-workers. It became gals vs guys…CJAY 92 vs Vibe and the battle was on. Kelsey Moore joined my team under the tutelage of Jari & crew and Fuzzy & Mastermind under Ray. (Please note that due to my ‘Monica’ personality – from Friends – no one else was willing to be my teammate!! Weird…)
We had been on quite the journey so far…having our fat pinched by a guy half my age…(thanks for not laughing, Adam), changing up our diet (I miss pizza) and doing some workouts that I am still shocked to get through. Don’t get me wrong – I have never been ‘unhealthy’…but I have had two kids over the past three years, have a very busy life, and no matter what excuse I want to give I was not where I wanted to be. I am a firm believer that opportunities in life find you when you are ready and that moment in the limo was one perfect example. I was tired of sucking in my gut, cursing my dryer for shrinking my jeans and having to pick out clothes to cover up my body parts that I was not happy with. I don’t really know what happened and why I didn’t ever lose the ‘last 15 lbs’. But really, that doesn’t matter does it?! Six weeks into the challenge and I’ve dropped 11 lbs and felt so great – stronger, and most importantly, much happier.
As moms I think we sometimes put this pressure on ourselves that we should not ever take any time for ourselves and that we owe it to our kids to be at home every minute of our spare time. I can speak from experience that I am a much better mom today than I was before this challenge began. I have more patience and I am so proud of the healthy example I am setting for my children. Thank you to Jari, Miss Brittany, Ali & Lesley for all of your hard work so far. I am so excited to be working with you, so inspired by all of you, and appreciate you putting up with the two of us (examples provided upon request). We can’t wait to win this challenge (couldn’t get through this without a little trash talk) and we look forward to continuing to be the best that we can be! Six weeks later… Challenge is officially done.
As I worked through the last third of it I confess to have found myself wondering ‘WHEN will this ever be done?!’ And then when I realized the weigh-in loomed around the corner right next to bikini season I mentally prayed for a way to turn back time. Did I work as hard as I could? Could I have done better with the diet? How can I pay off the photographer to crop my head onto Lesley’s body?!? But-that is the beauty of the Ripped Boot Camp. I did have low points, I did fall off the wagon on occasion, I did bust Kelsey for cheating too…(hey I’m not going down alone!!) but at the end of the whole thing-I did do some amazing re-working of what God gave me. Pants were falling off of me, bra sizes were falling like the economy of ‘09…it was crazy!! I lost 17 ½ lbs, almost 9% body fat, (I’m considered an athlete now on the charts!) and I have not tired of the compliments.
On top of that I am so happy with my fitness level. SO HAPPY-that I want to continue on. This journey has not ended for me yet. Size four – here I come. I may even consider running a 10k sometime. Hey – I said ‘may’… Thank you Fitness Plus, thank you ladies (angels) I mentioned before, thank you Ray, Adam, Chris & Darren. If you guys find my lost LBS in your facilities-please DO NOT return to me!
My name is Colleen Schmalz I am 33 years old. I work part time as a registered nurse, I have been married for the past eight years and have three small children. I entered the 12 week Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp after losing a significant amount of weight under the guidance of a personal trainer. My goal for the challenge was to continue to increase my fitness level and continue my weight loss journey. I also wanted to use this challenge as a way to structure activity into my daily routine and figure out how to balance my family time, work time and leisure time.
I was a fairly active child growing up. Weight wasn’t an issue until I was in university and I increased my caloric intake and reduced the time I spent on physical activity. Recently I began watching a reality show called Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. In the program Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef from Britain follows an American town and tries to educate and change the way the town eats. The town is called Huntington, West Virginia. Jamie Oliver chose this town because Huntington, West Virginian was cited as the unhealthiest city in the United States. Nearly half the adult population in Huntington are obese. The reason I mention this is because my mother is from this same town. My extended family continues to live in this town and the surrounding area, and my extended family fall under the category of obese. This past year three members of my West Virginia extended family died unexpectedly, all three were obese, and all three had heart disease and diabetic complications. Unfortunately after the birth of my third child I weighed over 250 lbs. I was hypertensive, I was making bad food choices and I was too tired to exercise or play with my children. I was heading down the same path as my extended family. I was OBESE.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to attend the nutrition and exercise seminars that were offered throughout the 12 week Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp challenge. Not only did I learn how to change my way of eating but also I have been able to change the way my family eats. After the seminars I would return home beaming. I was excited to share my new knowledge with my husband and children. Since attending the seminars we have tried food that previously I had never offered to the children because I assumed they wouldn’t like it. An example of this is tuna; today my children prefer to have tuna sandwiches over a box of macaroni and cheese. I have also incorporated portion sizes. Both my husband and I eat off of salad plates so we don’t overeat. I also have size appropriate plates for the children. Egg whites seem to be a consistent breakfast meal in our house; my favorite is egg whites, oatmeal and berries. Also, my husband and I made the decision to eliminate alcohol from our lifestyle.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp classes, I found each one challenging and I loved the variety of exercises the instructors provided. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to learn from each of the instructors. I had the pleasure of being part of the Tuesday/Thursday group at the South club. The other participants were welcoming, encouraging and always up for a good laugh. The hour that we spent together flew by. The Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp showed me how to perform compound exercises. This came in handy when our family went on holiday for two weeks during the middle of the 12 week challenge. I was able to get a full body workout in half the time and because I wore a heart rate monitor I was able to keep track of my heart rate and keep my intensity up in order to burn more calories.
The Get RIPPED!® videos that were provided to all bootcampers were a great way to get that workout in when time wouldn’t permit me to go to the gym. I find that the best times for my workouts at home are before the kids wake up in the morning. Having so many videos to choose from I never had to do the same video back to back, although I do have my favorites. I have also recently started taking our dog out for an evening run after the kids go to bed. By incorporating exercise and nutrition into my lifestyle I now sleep better than I ever have before and I no longer suffer from chronic headaches.
The Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp Challenge has given me the gift of life, endurance and health. The Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp represents the midpoint to my weight loss and my fitness training journey. I can now see myself today and in the future as a healthy fit wife and mom, this vision did not exist a year ago. I have been able to find a balance between my family, my work, and my health. I look forward to what the future has in store for me.
My journey of self discovery started in 2004 while I was pregnant with my son Chase. In my seventh month, I noticed a small, movable, painless lump on my right breast and chocked it up to my being very cystic. By my ninth month, the lump grew to a size of a marble and poked through my skin. On January 4th, my beautiful boy Chase Adam was born, he was a healthy little fire ball that warmed my heart. The thought of that lump lurked in the back of my mind. Deep down in my heart, I knew that it was breast cancer. I did not want to burden and put additional stress on my family so I waited until Chase was a little older and easier to take care of. I received a mammogram and a biopsy and had the tumor removed. It turned out that I had a stage three breast cancer. I opted to have a mastectomy and reconstruction. I received four rounds of aggressive chemo therapy that left me sick and weak. Not even 14 months after my last round, the cancer returned on the same side. My doctors urged me to do chemo again, but I refused and opted to heal myself naturally. I used a clean diet, exercise and a positive attitude. I gave up sugar (sugar feeds cancer), dairy, all foods with hormones, preservatives and all flour. I learned how to revise and cook healthy foods.
I am happy to say, that I reversed my own cancer and thankful that I am here! Along the way, I discovered Jari Love, I saw how strong and healthy she looked and not to mention her zest for life. I started purchasing her Get RIPPED!® DVDs and began my transformation. With every squat, lunge and push-up, I got stronger and stronger. I had a new fire inside me that was burning to get out. Not only did my body transform, but so did my mind, soul, and spirit. I turned into a confident, strong, healthy woman. My “NEVER GIVE UP” attitude has brought me very far in life. In a way cancer saved my life, and I am thankful that I changed my bad eating habits. I gained back the confidence that cancer took away from me. I have a deep desire to help others change their lives for the better. I became a Friend For Life volunteer, they are a non-profit organization that helps newly diagnosed cancer patients cope with their new diagnosis. In a way, I hold their hand through their journey to give them hope, health, and fitness information.
Today, I am a partial vegetarian and enjoy actually tasting the true flavors of food. It was hard to give up all of the food that I used to love, but life is better without it. I want to be here for my two amazing boys and husband, I lost my mom to Ovarian cancer when I was 12 and that’s why I fight so hard to stay around! We are blessed to be given such a wonderful body that needs to be treated with kindness and respect. In all, I have endured seven surgical procedures and have always bounced back with exercise, clean eating, and a positive attitude. I love life and life loves me back! I am so motivated to help and inspire other people like Jari does. She is an amazing person that I have always looked up too. Thank you Jari, for all that you do, I truly appreciate you!
My 10 week Get RIPPED!® Bootcamp experience was a very positive learning experience. The instructors were incredible and tested our capibilities. For me, I was very excited to be able to feel stomach muscle building underneath belly fat and slowly noticed upper body defination. I could tell there was a big change as I kept putting on jeans that were smaller and everyone commenting on my changing apperance. Also a great group – mostly women – who were a great motivation! THANK YOU for your help and support!
I am a synchronized skater which keeps me active 2-4 days a week and I thought I had decent eating habits but I have never been able to lose weight. I have gained 10-12 lbs over the last decade despite wishing for the opposite. I am very ambitious, competitive, and hard-working; I have a M.Sc., a good job and a happy life. With my drive and work ethic why was I allowing myself to slowly become a fat person? I kept telling myself things like “I workout, the weight will come off,” “It’s ok to have an extra dessert, I’ll work it off,” and “If I buy my pants tight they’ll fit perfectly when I loose some weight,” and so on. Well you know what? I never did lose any weight and I had to retire many pairs of pants as they became too tight to wear. In the last year I accepted the fact that they would never fit again and gave them all to goodwill. It was pretty disheartening because I was giving up and enabling myself to grow into my new, larger clothes collection.
Last fall I decided to take a year off of skating so I needed to find an alternative form of exercise and fast. I knew that if I didn’t find a way to take control of my slow and steady weight gain I would become obese in a few years and that was definitely not one of my life goals! I started attending RIPPED!® classes two days per week but I didn’t change my eating habits. I was not losing any weight, much to my dismay, however I was becoming stronger and I had some bicep definition for the first time ever!
I decided it was time to use the focus and determination I apply to the other areas of my life to reach my fitness goals. When I learned about the Get RIPPED!® Weight Loss Challenge I knew this was the perfect program for me and it was time to seriously commit myself to changing my body. The RIPPED!® team provided guidance and was very motivating and encouraging. There were so many great role models in the program it was easy to believe I could do it too. Completing RIPPED!® workouts 3-4 times per week, cardio 3-4 times per week and watching what I ate was simple enough and it paid off! Within the first month I lost 8 lbs, fit into clothes I haven’t worn in a couple of years and was becoming stronger. Cardio workouts were feeling easier, my endurance was increased and my resting heart rate had decreased. I increased my weight load and stayed committed to the diet and workout regime. As a few more pounds dropped from my body my beautiful lean muscles started to show! I was encouraged by the results and kept working hard, although it really wasn’t work at all. The RIPPED! classes were fun and exhilarating; I always left with a smile on my face and a feeling of accomplishment.
After 12 weeks I lost 13 lbs and my body fat composition decreased from 21.5% to 15.7%. Now all of my pants are too big! I am thrilled with the results, I am more confident about my appearance and I feel fantastic knowing I will enter my 30’s strong and healthy. It is empowering to know I will be able to stay fit and lean as I age by continuing with this straightforward approach to total fitness. It really is as simple as lifting weights, doing some cardio and watching what you eat (and now I really know what it means to eat a healthy diet). I have learned that increasing my lean muscle mass is the key to revving up my metabolism and maintaining the shape I want. As an extra bonus my skating skills have improved because my body is stronger. Inspired by my own success I am not done yet and I will continue with the RIPPED!® workouts because they are fun, efficient, and I love the results. Maybe someday I will even be able to instruct the class!
My name is Amanda and I’m 33. In my mid 20’s, I began gaining weight. When I weighed myself the day after Thanksgiving 2006, I saw that I was 247 lbs! I knew I had to do something or I would be basically sentencing myself to an early death. On November 26, 2006, I began my journey by starting Dr. Ian Smith’s Fatsmash Diet as well as moderate cardio DVDs and walking outdoors. Dr. Ian’s plan is basically a diet that teaches one to eat a clean and healthy diet to lose weight on a four-phase plan. After a month of Fatsmash and exercise, I was pleased to see I had lost over 10 lbs!
At that point, I realized that I would need to incorporate weights to enhance muscle tone and hopefully downplay the loose skin I may get from the weight loss. I wasn’t sure what to do about weight training though. I knew I wasn’t ready for a gym, and I wasn’t sure which DVDs to go with. I visited Collage Video’s website and they were featuring Jari Love’s Slim & Lean on the front page. After reading the description and reviews, I decided to order it and give a whirl.
I started using the Slim & Lean DVD in January 2007 and boy oh boy did I feel it! I was VERY sore but determined that I would do it three times a week, and I did it, no matter what. That February I ordered the other three DVDs and started rotating and haven’t looked back. I’ve recently incorporated RIPPED!® and Chiseled and I love it.
Jari’s DVDs are great because they use functional fitness, upbeat music, and the people on them are so motivating-especially Jari and her “Jari-isms”: “Turn your scars into stars” from Slim and Lean has become my own personal motto. Plus, almost anyone can do the Get RIPPED!® program; sure it’s challenging, but the moves are easy to learn and take up very little space.
While I haven’t reached my goal yet, I have lost 88 lbs and only have 35 more to go! I know I will reach this goal. Jari mentions in one of the DVDs that when you gain control of your health that you have a better outlook on life. This is so true. Since losing the weight, I feel like I can achieve anything if I put forth the effort. Thanks to a clean diet and Jari’s DVDs, I am motivated every day by the success I’ve already experienced and am looking to more in the future.
