Joey and Susie West - Personal Training
Inner Icon Testimonial
EDIT: UPDATE ON JOEY AND SUSIE
Susie's continued progress is here: Susie and Gluten
Joey's before and after pictures are here: Joey - 50 lbs!
Several months ago, my husband Joey and I set a goal to lose a few pounds. We were somewhat recently married and wanted to lose our “newlywed weight.” We had a conversation about this with our friend David as we knew he was a fitness-guru and he challenged us to do more than just work out – to change the way we thought about fitness. He offered to train us and after talking to him for a short time, we realized we had nothing to lose. We had worked out at traditional gyms, I had tried weightwatchers and Joey had tried his share of fad diets as well; none of them gave us the lasting results we were looking for.
David challenged us not only to lose weight, but more importantly to a lifestyle change. He began training us using CrossFit methods, and Joey and I both started to use our bodies in ways we had never before and regularly “discovered” new muscles. The best part was that we started feeling more energetic, motivated and passionate about life.
As an instructor, we found David to be patient as we learned, but also encouraging and motivating when we felt we couldn’t finish the last round of a workout. He made workouts challenging, but feasible, setting attainable goals for each individual. We were both impressed by the time David took in explaining new methods, making sure we understood the technique and what parts of our body were being challenged by the workout.
After a few weeks of training, we started the Zone-Paleo diet per David’s suggestion. He took time out of a few of our workout sessions to explain the diet and how to be successful. Once we started, he would check in regularly to both keep us accountable and make sure we were feeling healthy. Joey and I still employ the Zone-Paleo diet and it has completely changed our relationship with food. We still enjoy food, but it a different, more healthy way. We do not feel deprived or miss much that we use to eat. Now, we have stopped referring to Zone-Paleo as a diet, because it is a way of eating that we will continue to practice long after we have lost our unwanted weight. For us, it’s more of a lifestyle change.
What I think will be most valuable about Inner Icon is that David is constantly educating himself. He is extremely passionate about fitness and will work with people to help them understand their body’s potential. When we first started working out with David, I had an issue with my back that prohibited me from running. We talked about the issue, and David researched what he thought may be the potential problem. I was pretty pessimistic and felt he could not help – I had tried employing chiropractors, massage and physical therapists and none had worked. After reading up on the issue, David urged me to try trigger-point therapy on the muscles surrounding my sciatic nerve. He explained the methods and in less than three weeks, five years of pain was alleviated.
Joey and I will be forever grateful for the change David has helped make in our outlook on fitness. We now find that more rewarding than the combined 40 pounds we have lost! Thank you, David; we will be lifelong clients!
Recipes
Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
1 can tuna (or fresh crab or shredded chicken, etc...)
2-3 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup walnuts
dashes of cayenne pepper
squeezes of lemon
bunch of basil
fresh ground black pepper
half of avocado
stalk of celery
Combine in food processor! Stuff hollowed out tomato. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
Health Tips
Buy Organic
Foods that were once thought to be very good for your health, are still good for your health. BUT, many of them also have added problems and dangers associated with them that they never had before.
There are some more commonly known problems such as the use of pesticides, toxins and other dangerous chemicals that now exist in non-organic foods. These can lead to various health problems and conditions. Just do a search for "side effects of pesticides" and see what you come up with.
But aside from these issues, there is a very big problem even worse than pesticides; Genetically Modified Foods. The US does NOT require labeling of GMO foods. Fruits and vegetables are some of the most commonly modified foods. They are created in labs and then patented as something the said company owns. There are no laws about the safety of these foods being put into distribution. They are only required to have a patent. Some foods that are VERY likely genetically modified are soy, corn and it's products (canola oil, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) and wheat.
So just by eating the way our pre-agricultural ancestors ate, we can avoid some of our present day dangers all together. We already know that grainfed animals are the "protein equivilant of cardboard." We also now know that there are some potentially dangerous effects of the other foods we are eating as well. So if we are trying to live as healthy and disease-free as possible, let's think more carefully about what we put in our bodies. Buying organic, grassfed, local products is good for the local community, good for your health, and good for future generations.
"A plant, fruit, or animal grown without the administration of artificial pesticides, herbicides, or insecticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics or growth hormones (in the case of animal products), most closely replicates wild or untampered-with growing conditions" - Mark Sisson
“The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” ~ Thomas Edison
