Jes Reynolds…Your Fitness Coach

It’s hard to describe exactly how thrilling it is to have the words “Perfect Client” associated with your name on Jes’ blog. Of course, it’s probably only for as long as it takes her to get back from vacation. Oh well, into each life a little rain must fall.

But on to the real topic of this post: my nutrition, which in the past has been far from perfect but has now attained a pretty reasonable level. Here’s my story in a nutshell:

• Eleven years ago, I thought an improved diet meant getting a frosty with my Wendy’s triple cheese burger and biggie fries instead of a coke product. After all, a frosty had dairy, which had to be better for you than the pure chemicals found in coke products.
• Then I had to have emergency surgery for an infected gall bladder and literally took years getting through all the consequences.
• During that time, I started working out intensively with an aim to lose some of my 220 lbs. I made some progress.
• Feeling stalled in weight loss, I turned to the Atkins diet. It worked. Jes tends to eschew Atkins, but if you think Wendy’s frosty drinks are a step toward better nutrition, you have to count Atkins as a much better step in the right direction.
• Atkins worked. I lost a lot of weight and did well for two years.
• Eventually, I found myself at then Gold’s Gym, now Arbor Fit, training with Jes. When I announced my decision to get back on the Atkins’ bandwagon after having been off for a while, well you can imagine the reaction. She actually told me I would not be allowed to train with her. While I thought that was over blown, she seemed so ernest that I decided to pay her some mind.
• And, I’m glad I did! Jes turned me on to On Target Living, founded by her mentor, Chris Johnson. That was a revelation. I enjoined Chris in an extended email exchange the end result of which was him sending me the book he advertises on his site … for free! He probably just wanted to stop the constant email stream (I get a lot of things that way).
• The book is great, and I still use it. I actually eat vegetables and salads now and no longer view Wendy’s frosty drinks as a nutritional step forward.
• Recently Jes turned me on to Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong site, a great place to track nutrition. The nice thing about this site is that, instead of tedious food logs, you just start to type what you ate, and you usually find a good match, with seemingly accurate macronutrient information. Easy, which is critical.

My current approach is to follow on-target principles with Lance Armstrong tracking. It seems to be working. I’m maintaining a good weight.

In the last three years, Jes has been a great resource in all of this, offering all sorts of good ideas, so much so that I finally convinced my wife to take the plunge with her. I’m extremely satisfied. Yes, as you might guess, we butt heads, but Jes’ analyses and knowledge are spot on. She’s the best trainer I’ve known.

Attention people! I would really like to answer your fitness questions. If you have 1/2 a second, just click the subject you would like most to learn about…then whoever wins will get more articles based around that…THANK YOU!!!

Written by Heidi Heiss

1. If you have a habit of  looking down during an exercise, Jes will continually (and sarcastically) ask you what your looking at until you break the habit.

2. TIP: If Jes says she has a fun workout for you…be very afraid and make up an excuse to cancel if possible (hehe)

3.  TIP: Its best if you just listen to all her advise and do it, because to be honest she is right most of the time and will be truly proud of you

4.  Once she asked me to do an exercise on the bosu ball.  After she described the set, I looked at the floor, zoned out, and walked around the bosu twice in a circle.  As I was walking around it, Jes says to me…”walking around that bosu in a circle isn’t going to make it disapear”

5.  TIP: I wouldn’t look, glance, or even wonder about the time during a session, because if you do, Jes will catch you and say (in a loud commanding voice):  Did you just look at the clock?

6.  One day I wore sweats and a huge mens t-shirt to workout.. Jessica:  ”Are you trying to look like a boy?”

7.  Jessica: “Oh, now we are going to do this exercise your horrible at!”

8.  TIP: In the Jes language the word ‘good’ does not mean you are done with your set or have one rep left  (I’m pretty sure I have no idea what it means actually but she says it a lot)

9. TIP: you will always have 5 more of what ever you are doing left

10.  TIP: if she asks you if the weight is to easy or light, your best bet is to stay silent don’t say or do anything

ENJOY!