Mother of Three Tells All

By Denise Barnett
Physique Transformation Specialist

Dear Dieter,

Hi, my name is Denise Barnett. 
 
I am a 38-year-old mother of three.  Let me start off by saying that I have been a fitness professional most of my adult life, having worked for several different gyms.
 
About five months after the birth of my third child, I still had not lost all the weight I gained during my pregnancy.  By contrast, after my first two children, my body seemed to snap back relatively quickly.  The reason I say, “seemed” is because although I was never really overweight, I had never been in the kind of shape I had always wanted...you know, like the girl on the cover of the fitness magazines; strong, healthy, and most importantly no “cottage cheese” legs.  After the first two babies, I came pretty close with the exception of a few extra pounds and the leg/cottage cheese thing.
 
However after my third child, my body stopped rebounding as quickly.  So, I just kept up my same old routine...starve, workout, starve, workout!
 
After forcing myself through this routine for a few months I managed to get down to 117 pounds, my lowest weight since before my first child.  However, over the course of the next year my weight continued to yo-yo up and down!  The scale would move lower but my jeans didn’t fit any better, and I didn’t look any better in them. 
 
Then I was introduced to a company called Precision Fitness*.  Now keep in mind, I had been working in the health club business for over twelve years by then.  You’d think after all that time I‘d have learned something about physique transformation.   The sad truth is I really didn’t have a clue.  Should I eat more or less?  Should I do cardio?  How much and how often?  I just didn’t know. 
 
Then I met Lynne Hanks (Bart Hanks’ wife), a physique transformation specialist with Precision Fitness.  She taught me that 80% of how you look is a direct result of what you eat!  Here I was spending 80% of my time at the gym!  Working out is important, but Lynne explained to me that in order to achieve that fitness magazine ‘cover girl’ look, I had to change my eating habits and understand how my body worked. 
 
So I began.  My husband decided to do the program with me!  And even with the responsibilities of raising three kids and working full time, we were able to incorporate it into my lifestyle.  It’s been an AWESOME experience! 
 
Thanks to Lynne and the program she teaches, I now understand how to listen to my body when it’s talking to me.  I know what ratios of protein, carbs and fat I should eat.  I learned about preparing my metabolism by conditioning it with good clean food before attempting a fat loss cycle.
 
I also learned that excuses like “I’m older, my metabolism has just slowed down” or “I have three little kids, of course I’m going to weigh more” or “the pear shape is hereditary, there is nothing I can do about it” are just that?excuses. 
 
I also realized that I had four big reasons to give it my best.  Their names are Samantha, Meagan, Callie and most importantly Craig, my husband. 
 
I am proud of my results with the program, but nothing is more satisfying than the knowledge that I can now control my body, and my body no longer controls me!  Once you master your own body, you feel fantastic, and it reflects in other areas like your kids, your job, and your home life! 
 
If you look at my before picture, you can see by my hair that my transformation lasted more than 12 weeks.  I wasted more than a year trying to figure it out on my own before I got smart and found Lynne, Precision Fitness and the Personal Food Analyst.

Denise Barnett

 
*Precision Fitness is our Colorado Springs based physique transformation consulting business.  Find them on the web at http://www. precisionfitness.biz