Catching up with Pam: Overcoming Adversity

Last week, I took a moment to catch up with a dear friend and fellow Venus, Pam. She had a hell of a 2017, but has overcome a horrendous accident in spectacular fashion and her story is worth sharing…

Interview with Pam

(Liss) Pam, you placed in VT12 in December of 2014. Looking back, what did Venus teach you that has stuck with you? 
(Pam) Venus taught me that lifting weights is the only thing that will change the shape of your body. I was a runner/instructor for years but didn’t make time to lift myself. Venus started my love affair with weights and at age 50 I can say my arms/shoulders have never looked better or been stronger.
The most important thing Venus/lifting did was possibly save my life. I was hit by a car while running and because I am very fit and strong, I didn’t break any bones. I literally walked away from the accident only missing some teeth but that is it.

(Liss) What has life been like since 2014? 
(Pam) My life since 2014 has been a roller coaster! It’s had many ups and downs. I was just a soccer mom who coached fitness classes and was a personal trainer until  Dec 2016. That’s when my accident occurred. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had to stop working because I had so many surgeries to go through. But, I was able to start a website-www.theperfectbalance.guru where I have fitness videos, answer people’s questions about food/fitness, have some recipes, and send out a weekly newsletter. I also wrote 4 books! I never would have done any of this pre accident. I was happy being a coach and trainer. Now, my next chapter will be a motivational speaker! I’ve always excelled at motivating my students/clients and now I want to take it to a bigger level.

(Liss) What workouts are you doing these days?
(Pam) I lift 3-4 days a week, run 2-3 days a week and try to get one yoga class in per week. My 51st bday is in April and as a present to myself, I hired a trainer to get me in the best shape possible. Last year I had to take so many breaks from working out. Now all the surgeries are over and I want to see some great changes!

(Liss) What is your nutrition like now?
(Pam) My nutrition now is still on point.  I know what keeps me full and how best to fuel my body. I know I have to get enough protein to fuel my muscles, lots of veggies,  and water as well as enough healthy fats. I still use MFP daily to stay on top of things.

(Liss) What is the hardest thing about maintenance?
(Pam) The hardest thing about maintenance is that it’s all about the choices. That’s the bottom line. Life will always throw you curveballs, there will always be struggles and good times. You have to learn to eat for function and not eat your emotions. It’s so easy to get carried away and shove your feelings down with food but it never solves whatever problem is in front of you. It’s a daily choice and you’re the only one to make it.

(Liss) How do you stick to being fit?
(Pam) I’ve always loved exercise. I grew up with 2 big brothers who taught me every sport possible. I started running when I was 11 and haven’t stopped. Fitness has always been my stress relief and happy place. My body and mind are happier when I move my body. I plan my days around when I will get my workout in- it’s a priority every single day.

(Liss) Wisdom from one Venus to another, what is yours?
(Pam) Don’t ever stop lifting weights and staying on top of your food. We lose muscle mass every decade and lifting can prevent that. Our muscles protect our bones. Stay in control of your life, your workouts, your food. Know that you CAN do anything you put your mind to!

…. Wow huh? Pam is one amazing lady! She was also recently featured on Fit Radio, you can check out her story here as well 🙂

Check out Pam’s new books HERE
Check out Pam’s website HERE

Best,
Coach Liss

The 2017 Venus Transformation Contest schedule

Believe that you can do it. It does not require special powers, it merely requires simple day to day steps. The Venus System can help you with those steps.  You don’t have to think about the workout, you pull out the page and it’s something different and fun every day. Yes you will be sore at first, but then the empowerment happens.

If you want daily support with the workout, we are very active in the Venus Factor Workout accountability group on FaceBook. You can join whether or not you decide to join the contest. Everyone is posting their workouts and daily victories and holding each other accountable in there.

If you want help preparing for the contest I’ve available to answer questions in the Venus Factor Contest Prep Facebook group.

Venus Next Year (2017) Contest schedule:

  • VT19: January 16 to April 10

And this is where you signup once you get a Venus login below:

(but only during the dates above) JOIN the CONTEST.

The Venus Contest rules and regulations are HERE.

And anyone is welcome to select their own premier Venus coach anytime, not just during the contest or for a contest.  Anyone that needs help, we are here for you.

Feel free to email me if you have questions.

Alright ladies, Let’s DO THIS!

-Coach Roberta

 

Venus Factor Week 1 Day 1 – Let’s DO THIS!

Meet Malissa again, she placed in our VT11 contest.

 

The Venus Transformation Contest VT19 is quickly approaching.  Many of us are getting a head start with the Venus Workouts in a 12 week workout challenge starting this week.  We will just roll into the new year getting done what needs to get done.

Feel free to join if you want some workout support. It’s the Venus Factor Workout Accountability group on FaceBook.

You can view the Day 1 Venus Factor work-along video to help you get started.

 

Ever wonder why the guys can do this so much easier?

One of the Venus ladies in the Workout Challenge group had a question about her son the other day.  Her son Mikey needs to lose weight and is doing the Venus workouts with her (which is actually great for the guys too!).  Anyway, she wanted to know her son’s maintenance calories so I ran them on the Adonis calculator.

Holy freakin maintenance calories! Maintenance Calories: 3145 cals.  Can any of us even imagine!!! Notice that he can eat 1200 and it won’t hurt his hormones so much. Not fair!! At the same time, guys can binge too so if he does that bumping it up to anything under maintenance consistently is the WIN just like us females.

NOW, does anyone notice the room of margin for error for calories? THIS IS WHY I came up with the “Calorie tightrope” we walk. A serving of something here are there can make or break a deficit for us. A freakin DAY OF OUR MAINTENANCE can make or break the deficit for this 25 year young 6 foot 5 male. NOT FAIR!!! We can scream it to the mountain tops how unfair it is, but it will not take away the excess fat on your body. Knuckle down and roll up your sleeves if you want it!! DANG, Let’s do this anyway!

 

Venus Next Year (2017) Contest schedule:

  • VT19: January 16 to April 10
  • VT20: May 15 to August 7
  • VT21: August 28 to November 20

And this is where you signup once you get a Venus login (but only during the dates above) JOIN the CONTEST.

I also have the Venus Factor Contest Prep group on Facebook which you are welcome to join.

And then there is the bigger support group with only women doing any workout, any diet, all empowering each other with love and support in Nibbles Fitness as we all nibble away at our goals.

Alright ladies, Let’s DO THIS!

-Coach Roberta

 

VT17 Contest Winners Announced (beautiful pictures included)

And the VT17 winners are…  Drum roll please…

And it is important to note this is merely a 12 week window in the journey of all these women.  They all have a much bigger story to tell.  That is why we did something special in this contest and we will continue to do this going forward if you submit your stories to us.  You have a chance to win even when the contest time period does not fit your current season of life.

First Place – Deborah

VT17 Deborah BnA Collage

 

Second place – Lisa

VT17 Lisa BnA Collage

 

Third Place – Kimmy

VT17 Kimmy BnA Collage

 

Fourth Place – Teresa

VT17 Teresa BnA Collage

 

Fifth Place – Amy

VT17 Amy BnA Collage

 

Sixth Place – Anita

VT17 Anita BnA Collage

 

Seventh Place – Elizabeth

VT17 Elizabeth BnA Collage

 

Eighth Place – Melissa

VT17 Melissa BnA Collage

 

Ninth Place – Monica

VT17 Monica BnA Collage

 

We did something special for our tenth place this time.  It will come as a complete surprise to her because she did not enter the contest.  Heidi just turned 60.  She has a special story to tell and you can listen to it in the podcast below.  She really struggled even after getting Venus because the fact of the matter is that some people need a little help understanding how to use the program.  Once she figured it out, everything clicked for her.

If you have a unique success story to tell and are willing to share your pictures and do a podcast with us, simply contact me and let’s do it.  It does not matter how long it takes you, make it a lifestyle.  Sometimes the 12 week contest fits your life and other times it doesn’t.  We all have the various seasons in our life.

Tenth Place – Heidi

VT17-BnA-Heidi

Heidi recently celebrated her 60th birthday with an 18 mile bike ride. She is super happy with her life now and you can hear the enthusiasm in her podcast interview. She is very inspiring!

Heidi recently celebrated her 60th birthday with an 18 mile bike ride. She is super happy with her life now and you can hear the enthusiasm in her podcast interview. She is very inspiring!

 

Congratulations to all the winners!  What beautiful pictures.  What hard work.  It all paid off.

And the journey continues.

We will be contacting all of the 1st to 9th place ladies to see if they want to share their story and possibly do an interview, and of course Heidi already shared her story and I’ll contact her about her prize.

The Transformation Contest place has prizes for placements:

  • First place: $500
  • Second place: $350
  • Third place: $250
  • Fourth place through tenth place: $200

OR, any of the winners can choose Immersion which is worth more than any of the prize dollars.

Find out more about the Venus Transformation contests, they can be very motivating.

What about online coaching?

Many of our successful clients decide to invest in one on one coaching. You are welcome to choose which coach you would like to work with.  Our premium coaching program works for many!  Contest winner Andrea talks about what coaching did for her in our Venus podcast.

 

When is the next contest?

VT18: Start August 22 – End November 21

So next Monday there will be a post here on the blog with the link to enter, in the meantime check out the rules and regulations.

So get ready for more awesomeness this year!

Never Settle!

Never Give Up.

Live Your Dream

-Roberta

 

Listen to Heidi’s energetic story in the podcast below or download save it for later:

The Deadline for VT17 is in TWO WEEKS. Are you ready?

The deadline to get your before and after pictures in is August 1st at midnight Eastern Time.

Contest Rules and Regulations

How to enter a Venus Contest

Check Out the Previous Contests

 

Most of the winners had no idea how far they came and some almost didn’t finish. So don’t let your own mind stop you from finishing.  If you need some help deciding what to do please feel free to email me roberta.saum@gmail.com.  You are not alone, although the process feels lonely sometimes.

 

Remember this is a lifestyle you want to keep.  The contest is merely a stop along the tracks.

 

Here’s a video of of many Venus Veterans having fun (except the handsome young man G’Angelo  in the first clip), some are previous winners and all the rest are Venus ladies who never entered the contest. Not everyone needs or wants to enter a contest. It’s not a requirement to have a Golden Venus Life!

 

If it’s something you want to do, go for it!

We are here for you.

-Coach Roberta

 

The 2016 Venus Transformation Contest Schedule:

  • VT16:   Start January 11 – End April 11

  • VT17:   Start May 2 – End August 1

  • VT18:   Start August 22 – End November 21

Previous VT contest winner is now one of our BEAUTIFUL cover winners

Meet Malissa again, she placed in our VT11 contest.

Meet Malissa again, she placed in our VT11 contest.

With only 3 weeks left in VT17 it’s perfect timing for learning from someone who has figured out how to do things after a contest and stay successful.  Malissa has done an amazing job of maintaining!

Malissa is one beautiful woman who has learned how to keep going with the Venus lifestyle.  She felt she over shot the mark a little during her previous contest.  She has now found her happy size range and has learned to roll with the seasons over the years.

 

She's pretty happy with her life right now!

She’s pretty happy with her life right now!

 

Malissa’s diet has evolved, she found that she can’t eat as low as she did during the previous contest.  What she eats has changed a little, and it ebbs and flows with the seasons.  She has a tough battle as she works night shift as a nurse.

Malissa loves to share her recipes and workouts on Instagram.  She is a constant source of inspiration knowledge and is very active in the Nibbles Fitness support group.

 

Malissa posts on Instagram daily!

Malissa posts on Instagram daily!

 

It’s been extremely rewarding to watch Malissa grow on social media and gain a following.  She’s found the Golden Ticket to happiness and health.

Here's one of her recent recipe posts, yummy!

Here’s one of her recent recipe posts, yummy!

 

Malissa-side-lying-pose-couch-blue-dress

Check out what Malissa has to say about dealing with the ebbs and flows of life and maintaining.  She’s proved it can be done, with class!

Listen to her podcast now or save it for later:

 

The Stay At Home MOM Venus makes it happen! (Meet Tara)

Tara is one of our amazing success stories! And her story is not over yet.

Tara is one of our amazing success stories! And her story is not over yet.

 

We all have a story.  We all have struggles. And the journey continues for all of us as we reach our goals and learn to live our lives.  It is not easy so there is no reason to be jealous or feel bad when you see others succeed.  I know it tends to make us all feel just a little insecure.

So just KNOW, that it is never easy for anyone.  Everyone has their battles you know nothing about. No one is ever perfect at this game, they just learn to never give up.

Even you.  You just need to keep going and never give up!

One of our Venus Veteran’s, Pam, was Tara’s local trainer and it’s how Tara learned about Venus.  So the three of us (Pam, Tara, and I) decided to get together to put Tara’s story in a video and podcast (audio podcast is below).

 

Tara (in blue), and Pam (in pink) and I decided to get together to document Tara's success story.

Tara (in blue), and Pam (in pink) and I decided to get together to document Tara’s success story.

 

Here’s what Tara wrote in her own words:

I have been on a long weight loss journey. In 2013 I decided to make a change. Weighing 211#’s, and not wanting to go up another pant size, I started eating clean and biking.

It worked out well with a weight loss of 40#. With that, I got comfortable and a little more lazy with my food choices.

However, I kept up the cycling a few days a week. By January of this year, I had put on a few pounds. Enough to make me uncomfortable.

I joined a weight loss challenge. I had some success with that, but again bounced back to the uncomfortable range after a necessary surgery.

So, with some input from friends, I looked into the Venus Program.

I’m a ‘stay at home’ mom, so the 3 day a week workouts seemed reasonable. I joined a gym and made my workout schedule with every intention of fulfilling it.

We are all feeling pretty Venus "bright" in Pam's backyard. Letting our Venus Light SHINE!

We are all feeling pretty Venus “bright” in Pam’s backyard. Letting our Venus Light SHINE!

 

Three Venus days and 2 cardio days per week. The food was a tough hurdle to leap, but I managed to maintain a deficit on most days.

With the tools that Venus has given me, I am currently at the lowest weight since having my first baby 16 years ago.

That’s a HUGE milestone for me.

I also know how to keep improving.

The knowledge of my deficit calories vs my maintenance calories empowers me to accomplish my next milestone.

One of these days I will see the abs that are hiding from me now. I know they’re there and they’re strong, yet they still hide.

The ever changing workouts keep me from getting bored and help me to feel my progress in strength.

This is so MOTIVATING!!

I’m proud of my accomplishments over the past 12 weeks and can’t wait to continue along this journey.

-Tara

Tara is very motivated to keep going and is currently in our Venus Transformation challenge.

 

And the video interview in Pam’s beautiful California backyard:

 

 

You can listen to the audio podcast below or download it for later:

Tara is very happy!

Tara is very happy and enjoying her new empowered life!

 

 

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What’s it like to be a 56 year young Venus Figure Competitor?

BEVEL-Rhonda-Competition-side-pose-1

Rhonda is 56 years young and won our VT contest back in the day when she was 5o. She’s still living the dream and the golden Venus lifestyle and going strong.  She has found the fountain of youth.

Rhonda did it! There she is on stage at age 56.

Rhonda did it! There she is on stage at age 56.

 

It was a fun day, she did her first competition at the same venue I did mine so I went down to support her.

 

I went down to meet Rhonda and watch the competition at the Sheriton in Sacramento.

I went down to meet Rhonda and watch the competition at the Sheraton in Sacramento.

 

Dang, it always makes me realize how small I am when I stand next to another person.  Rhonda is tall!

Another amazing picture of Rhonda on stage.

Another amazing picture of Rhonda on stage.

 

Here’s what Rhonda did to prepare:

 

Everyday was very consistent, only small tweaks were made along the way. I started each day with 3/4 c egg whites plus 1 whole egg scrambled and 1/3 c oatmeal, tea or black coffee.

After lifting workout and before cardio I would have a protein isolate shake (30 gr p)

The rest of the meals, which were to be about 2 1/2 hours apart, consisted of 4 ounces chicken, turkey, or fish and 4oz of sweet potato or rice, and a steamed veggie such as broccoli, asparagus, green beans, spinach, Brussels sprouts, or squash.

Generally, I ate this 3 times a day, so all in all, I ate 5-6 meals a day.

My workouts consisted of 4-5 weight training days. Splits such as back/biceps, legs/shoulders, chest/ triceps with the first one repeated for 4th workout of week. I also added in core and calves and more glute work on less intense days. Cardio was 30 minutes on stair-climber or incline treadmill, 5 days. About half way through, that increased to 45 minutes, 6 days a week.

This seemed to really work well for me and fortunately I didn’t have to give up much more in the way of food. I did eliminate the carb at the last meal of the day towards the end.

 

Rhonda at the Sheraton waiting to go on stage!

Rhonda at the Sheraton waiting to go on stage, looking pretty dang hot!

 

Rhonda was pretty proud of what she achieved. It was an honor to be there as her friend.

Rhonda was pretty proud of what she achieved. It was an honor to be there as her friend.

 

Rhonda built some friendships that day and had a great time.  Since then we’ve gotten together and had some fun.

I went down to visit Rhonda for a few days after the competition and we had a blast!

I went down to visit Rhonda for a few days after the competition and we had a blast!

 

And of course we had some amazing workouts, because that's just what we do!

And of course we had some amazing workouts, because that’s just what we do!

 

And we had fun, both of us 55 and 56 years old, living our dream:

 

I hope you enjoyed her pictures and story.

You can listen to her podcast now or download it for later:

How Keturah Overcame Fibromyalgia and Hypothyroidism to Lose over 100 Pounds

Keturah Before and After Side

Keturah has been using Venus systems for over 5 years!  Her transformation stretches out further than a 12 week period though, she has lost over ONE HUNDRED pounds!

 

Keturah Through Weight Loss to Maintenance

 

Keturah through the weight loss over the years

(Left) Keturah at her heaviest before finding Venus in 2011

(Middle) Keturah in the middle of her transformation at about 190 lbs in November of 2011

(Right) in the middle of her transformation at about 180 lbs in February of 2012

Here is what Keturah had to say in her own words:

 

Maintenance: Choosing life.
 
Maintenance is something you don’t hear much about. The fitness world is full of shiny before and after photos with big shiny smiles to match. What no one seems to talk about is the daily practice of life. 
 
There are some things that set apart maintenance from deficit. Let’s focus on what comprises this brave new world. 

Mindset.
I recently reread some of my old blog posts. It was such a wise voice, and it was speaking to me now. (The value of listening to ourselves is great!) First, let me level with you: I am no different than anyone else. Fear creeps in. Old thought patterns start repeating. Fear of rebound weight gain. Fear of not being able to do it. Fear of looking too thin. Fear of people being negative. Fear of not maintaining it for life. Fear of disordered eating. Fear of putting my value in my looks, and not in who I AM INSIDE.

I think the last argument “Fear of putting my value in my looks, and not in who I AM INSIDE” is especially real. It’s a fear that many women deal with in our current culture. I’ve come to realize that while weight, size, shape, and body shape are not my source of identity, being overweight and unhappy with my body can be a road block to feeling good about myself. My insecurity about my body, the shame and guilt I have felt in being overweight: it was real. Learning that I could change that was empowering. But also learning that my body doesn’t define me is a mindset that has taken longer to sink in and takes daily practice.
Value where you are at NOW. Comparison is the thief of joy. We all know that popular quote. Sometimes the comparison isn’t with other people, it’s with ourselves. We can lose a lot of joy comparing ourselves to the past or even to perhaps unrealistic goals and standards. Maybe right now it tough and you don’t particularly feel joy. That’s okay. I am learning to ask myself questions. Why am I feeling this way? I keep asking why. Doing this helps me get to the root of lingering insecurities or issues. I also find out that what scares me is usually not as huge as I’ve made it in my head.

 
We think this journey of self introspection disappears when we enter maintenance mode. It doesn’t. If anything, it began a new season of asking questions, dealing with some old triggers, and learning to trust ourselves in new ways during new seasons and situations. Which is why we also need to work on habits. 
Habits.

Fear can hold us hostage and make us freak out! But the truth is, it’s about choices, not fears. I choose to be healthy. I choose to eat supportive foods that will help my Hashimoto’s autoimmune disease and fibromyalgia. I choose to lift weights so I’m strong, lean, slender, and pain-free. I choose to walk to have head space, time to think, reflect, and enjoy the outdoors. I choose to stretch to be flexible, limber, and feel good. I choose to be at peace with my body and take steps that will enable me to continue being Venus for life.

Maintenance is not automatic. It is about daily choices, habits and goals. This isn’t glamorous. Habits are choices we make and continue making everyday. I can choose to say “no” to fear and listen to the truth. I can choose not to let my circumstances and past, worries about the future, and other things define me, but to take a step forward and embrace the present, choose joy, and keep stepping forward up the mountain.


I liken maintenance to keeping the house neat, or perhaps tending the garden after the plants have started growing. If you let the little things go–laundry and dishes pile up, floors need swept, garbage overflowing, weeds growing wild–pretty soon the place is a disaster needing a complete cleaning and overhaul. Some daily tidying and daily weeding would have kept those things from happening. Some days we let things go. It’s about attending to the dishes before the pile gets too big. Or put it this way: it’s paying of the credit card bill at the end of the month instead of letting it stack up for a couple of years until it becomes a mountain of debt!
 
The habits you begin and consistently choose and practice will be habits that keep you going, even if they change in form. My daily habits are movement (for me that’s resistance training, flexibility, and walking); including protein and either fruit or vegetables at most meals; good rest; hobbies I love (makeup, knitting, and reading are just a few!) and relaxing with my husband on the weekends. I am learning to balance my meals and intake. If we go out on a brewery tour I will enjoy a burger and beer. The next meal or day, I have my coffee  but enjoy water, fruit, salad, and some light protein for the rest of the meals. There is no punishment, no reproach. No starvation, no forcing of food. I just listen to myself. 
 
Seasons.
Maintenance is the season I have really learned to enjoy living life and how to be flexible. Shortly after reaching my Venus metrics a couple years ago, I was still in “get competition lean” mode. It took a couple months for me to realize I wasn’t really getting anywhere with all my hard work and was frustrated. Mostly, it was mental. I decided to do something crazy. I stopped trying so dang hard to reach smaller metrics, body goals, and all the other stuff I deemed necessary to joy. Instead, I let go. I began listening to my body, doing what felt both right and good, and relaxing about the rest. It was, and still is, the very best thing for me. I learned another lesson in trusting myself. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting competition lean. But it’s a season, and for many it isn’t a season that can be stretched out for indefinite periods of time. Sometimes we have to count the cost. The cost at the time wasn’t best for me. 
 
There is also adaptive components to maintenance. I am learning to change up my routine or my workout when I feel unmotivated about workouts. There are also life changes that require workouts changes. My husband and I recently relocated 2300 miles, from mountain life to ocean life. While I had spent the last couple years lifting heavy weights at the gym, I was suddenly faced with a new challenge. There was no gym and our new home didn’t have space for heavy weights. At first, I was frustrated. What was I going to do now? I quickly realized my new life change meant a change in my training. This wasn’t an easy change at first. The first few weeks of no gym I had a lot of anxiety! Heavy weightlifting had become a security blanket and it was time to put it away for a while. Without access to the barbell rack, I’ve had a chance to work on some old gymnastic training, flexibility, and explore other workouts–areas I neglected for years, and that I really missed doing. 
 
Final thoughts. 
Honestly, maintenance is about learning to live from out truest, healthiest selves. The main focus of fat loss phase is so you can make changes in your body and, most importantly and what gets left out by a lot of people, live life with new lifelong habits, and keeping Venus tools for when you do let the house go and need to whip it back into shape. You learn to listen to yourself, learn what works best for you, what is sustainable, what is joyful. You learn balance. 
 
Maintenance is choosing to be Venus for LIFE.

 

Keturah Before and After Front

Ketty’s Metrics Using Venus

(Note Keturah had lost about 100 lbs before even finding Venus in 2011 on her own! WOW!)

Weight Height Waist Shoulders Hips
June 2011 217 lb 71 in ~35.5 in ~46 in ~50 in
April 2016 175 lb 71 in 27.5 in 43 in 42 in
Deltas -42 lb 0 in -8 in -3 in -8 in

 

 

 

Keturah Happily Ever After Maintaining

Keturah Happily Ever After Maintaining at her Wedding in Summer 2015

 

Watch Keturah’s interview with Liss below:

Listen to Keturah’s interview with Liss below, or download it for later:

Maintenance with Venus Veteran Carly

Carly Venus Before and After

Carly has been using Venus systems for over 3 years.  She did a phenomenal job with her initial transformation and her continued results display the hard work she puts in. Her transformation stretches out further than a 12 week period though, she has lost FORTY pounds using Venus!

Carly Venus Before and After Side

Carly before starting Venus in 2013 and after VT14, unbelievable!

Here is what Carly had to say in her own words:

Before children, I never worked out. I never counted calories. I didn’t have to work hard to keep my figure. I was young then too and now I’m older. All my factors have changed so I need to change my habits in order to keep the figure I desire. I am thirty two years old. I have two children. My son is six years old and my daughter is three years old. I found Venus in June 2013, two months after I had my daughter. I had a lot of weight to lose. I was ready to hit the gym to lose my baby weight.  Liss Graham was teaching Venus at my local gym so I decided to join her class. By April 2014, I hit my weight loss goal. I had dropped FORTY-FIVE pounds! I was in my measurement goals with the nutrition calculator. But once I hit that goal, I already had another goal in mind. TONING!! I kept using Venus from April 2014 to May 2015 but I felt like I was just in the motion and not really learning or thinking about how to better myself. I felt like I was in limbo. For me, it has been hard to build muscle. I didn’t know what I was doing. I felt stronger every time I lifted and I was getting sore but I couldn’t grow. I wasn’t pushing myself to the level I could have gone. Even though, I was very successful with weight loss, I felt like I didn’t know how to maintain my weight and I didn’t know how to tone the muscles. For me it was like, “Well, I lost all this weight but now what?” I felt uneducated on how to maintain my weight and build muscle at the same time. To reach this goal and to get motivated again, I decided to join a contest. I felt like I truly started TONING when VT14 started. When I joined the VT14 my mission was to tone up every muscle from head to toe. I added more days of lifting. I went to the gym six days of the week instead of the recommended three. I watched my intake more. I researched more by listening to podcasts and reading fitness articles. I started following fitness guru’s on Instagram and facebook. I dedicated more time to reading and understanding the VENUS program. Sometimes I even worked out twice a day. I took advice from other Venus expertise. Liss Graham came for visits at my gym and I learned from her every time. She’s an AMAZING coach by the way! I took professional pictures every 6 weeks to help push me along. I had some vacations during the contest and I didn’t want it to derail me. I used myfitnesspal and held myself accountable for every meal. I was dedicated to making progress. Twelve weeks later, I felt like I had the body of my dreams. I know what to do now to keep my transformation. I can see my growth with photos. I know how to keep toning my body without being lost in the process. Venus has educated me on how to be healthy and fit for life. Venus has helped me reach my weight loss goal and my toning goal. Venus has given me the body that I craved. Before children, I weighted one hundred and seventeen pounds. I weigh less now and have way more muscle. I look way better after kids then I ever did before kids. I have been very successful with Venus and have hit many goals. I didn’t know anything about fitness before Venus. I think everyone should watch the how to videos and learn how to eat right and learn what a simple carb is versus a complex carb. I literally didn’t know anything! The biggest change for me is making trips to the grocery store. I know not to just look at the pretty labels on the boxes that are misleading to shoppers. I know how to read ingredients and what to look for in them. I read the nutrition label, which I used to ignore. Venus has changed my life and for the better. I eat clean now. I have the confidence and education it takes to make Venus a lifestyle and not a fad. I’ve done it for three years and I plan on doing it for the rest of my life. It is too good of a program to ever stop doing.

Carly Venus Before and After Back

Carly’s Metrics

Weight Height Waist Shoulders Hips
June 2013 150 lb 63 in 33.5 in 41.5 in 42.5 in
February 2016 113 lb 63 in 26.8 in 36.0 in 36 in
Deltas -37 lb 0 in -6.7 in -5.5 in -6.5 in

 

Carly and Venus Friends

Carly (right) with Venus veteran and friend Julie (left)

Carly is a beautiful Venus! Nothing can stop her now!

 

Carly Venus Class June 2015

Carly, Coach Liss, and Venus friends at the Moore County YMCA

Carly Venus Class July 2015

Listen to Carly’s interview with Liss below, or download it for later:

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