Jennifer Dove, Entrepeneur, Writer, Dancer/Teacher

Clarity, confidence, energy and inch loss – THIS is the stuff of which fitness dreams are made.

Hallmarks of living your body ideal. When I asked Jennifer if I could share her letter with you, she quickly yet humbly replied “Yes!”

Hi Lani,

This morning my husband looked at me and said, “Something’s different. Whatcha been doing?”

I went ahead and measured everywhere this morning for the first time since starting with your coaching. Who knew this much could shift in only one month!

I’m in total shock right now.

My results from your May class? Well…I feel funny posting this. I’m kinda overwhelmed and surprised. Don’t know about weight loss because I don’t own a scale.

And, I measured three times to be sure I wasn’t seeing things.

Total inches lost = 9.5 inches

3/5 inch from each arm
1 inch from the waist
1.5 inch from lower abs
1 inch from hips
1.5 inch from lower hips – saddle bag area
1/2 from each thigh
3/4 from just above each knee
1/2 inch from left calf (Has always been bigger than right calf because of nerve damage from an old back injury. Now they are almost even.)

Where did it go?

My clothes do feel different. I wore a dress the other night to an event that had been pretty tight last summer and isn’t now.

The biggest shifts?

1. Following your calorie density dietary plan – foods with fiber, veggies and starches, seeds, whole grains, and fruit.
2. I didn’t cook with oil.
3. Not eating chicken or fish – which I did regularly before.
4. Very little stress/automatic eating of chocolate. Caught myself before it went too far. The whole food shift experience was a lot like coming home. My husband commented that we were eating the way we did when we were first married and couldn’t afford fish or chicken. LOL! He loved it and so did I. Incidentally, he got on a scale at his gym and has lost 5 pounds this month.
5. Activity every day. Pushing harder about 4 times a week. I really wasn’t doing more than yoga at the beginning of the month.
6. And, the commitment to do the above. I know for sure that I wouldn’t have sustained this kind of change if I’d tried to do it on my own. Having the forum and other women making similar changes made all the difference! Everyone’s input spurred me on.

 

It Gets Even Better

In the last two weeks I’ve noticed that:

• my energy level is more steady throughout the day
• I’m sleeping more soundly.
  
• I get up at 6 in the morning and really look forward to working out.
  
• I’m motivated to get to sleep at a decent hour each night so that I can get up and exercise in the morning. As a mom, my 20-year-old habit has been to wait until all the chores were finished and everyone else was in bed before I could relax enough to sleep myself. This is definitely shifting and should since my kids are much older now. And, like I shared the other night, my time of the month was a breeze which is significantly different. I usually get a migraine followed by a day or two of severe cramps and a downward spiraling mood cycle. But that didn’t happen this month. Big surprise to me. This change alone is my motivation for keeping the changes I’ve made going!

The Big Picture

 

I would say that this experience has given birth to a sense of hopefulness, a feeling that more is possible, that I can create the kind of changes I want to see in my life.

Earlier this year, when thinking about making a change in my work, or about returning to performing more often, I couldn’t get clear about what should come first – should I take more classes, get another degree, start advertising, join a gym, etc.

I couldn’t visualize myself in the new place I wanted to be.

Somehow I got the message that after moving to our new house would be a great time to start to implement some life changes. And it was clear that all my business ideas wouldn’t get off the ground if I wasn’t feeling stronger and more confident in my body and presence.

That’s why I signed up for your class.

Taking this class, really immersing myself in it, was a way to take myself, and my dreams/hopes more seriously, to put my goals out there and work toward them. Plus, I wasn’t doing this alone.

Being involved in a public way on the forum felt like practice for being more fully out in the world in a bigger way. I’m hoping this makes sense. Not only did my weight shift, my thoughts shifted about who I am and what I’m capable of.

The Profound Shifts

Before your class and joining your group, I spent a lot of time trying to convince myself that what I eat really doesn’t make a difference. After all, we’re being told it’s the calorie intake that counts the most. And maybe when I was a 20-something that was true.

However, nowadays, the food I eat has dramatic effect and I finally “get” it!

My husband, son, and I went on a 4 mile hike today. While walking I asked them if they’d noticed a difference in me this month. “Heck Yeah!” my son said, “Mom, you’ve been a LOT nicer this month.”

Ha! And my husband said, “Oh yes, it’s working! What you’re doing is definitely working!” What they noticed more than anything is that my moods weren’t swinging from one extreme to another as they had been. Evidently, according to them, I’ve been pretty difficult to live for a while now. That shift the guys are sensing is about the food I’m eating now, as well as the exercise, most definitely.

I am so grateful and plan to keep it going!

~ Jennifer Dove, Entrepeneur, Writer/Dancer/Teacher, Maryland

Notes from Lani: Jennifer’s experience humbles and thrills me at the same time. The most exciting thing about working with women in health and fitness is when the connection is made that being more fit creates more energy, clarity of direction, productivity, and the deepened opportunity to share your gifts and message. Entrepeneurs such as Jennifer absolutely and without question need energy, well-being, and the happiness of physical confidence to bring their gifts and message to the world in a profitable, authentic, and satisfying way. This is the stuff of which dreams are made!

Thank you, thank you Jennifer for having the courage to take these simple tools of fitness by the horns, apply them in a deepening way – even without a “perfection” score, look what you’ve achieved and where you are going!