Up to age 24 or so I had always been able to eat pretty much what I wanted without any effect on my weight.  After then getting married I then noticed the weight was fairly easy to put on!  However I became most perplexed (and concerned for my overall wellbeing) when after Christmas 2011 (then aged 37) I had managed to put on quite a belly and my 11 year old son asked me if I had a cushion under my jumper ! – I just assumed I was “eating too much” and “not exercising enough”.  This was only partially true and this low level knowledge did not help me to take any form of action.

In April 2012 I read a book which completely transformed my thinking: “Why we get fat and what to do about it” by Gary Taubes.  It was claiming that it wasn’t about “eating too much” or “not exercising”, but that it was the type of foods we eat: cut out refined carbohydrates which the body quickly converts to sugar and stores as fat basically.  Yes exercise is important but not in excess.

I started a low carbohydrate diet in May 2012 and a few weeks after saw an advertisement from MAX Workouts which seemed to line up with all that I had read:  a low carbohydrate diet is key, combined with short intense exercise.  I bought the 90 day course and was hooked straight away !  (My diet throughout mainly consisted of a nice cooked breakfast each day with lots of protein, olive oil, spinach and carrot, a chicken salad for lunch and a normal meal in the evening with rice or potato substituted with spring greens – yum !)

The 90 days program was really, really tough at first.  I ached all over and found the whole-body exercises a real “nightmare” for the first few weeks.  My thighs and glutes just didn’t know what was happening to them !  The muscle roll became one of my best friends and helped a lot!  However, the course provided such a source of motivation and I always felt amazing after I had completed each session.  I loved it !

I love the MAX Workouts 90 days as the exercises are achievable and they added a whole lot to my feeling of life achievement and self esteem.

I started off struggling on 11 lb dumbbells and at the end of the 12 weeks had reached 33 lb dumbbells through each session, with upper and lower strength substantially increased.

I have also historically struggled with a bad back and in each year 2008 to 2011 I had suffered a back spasm which caused me to stay in bed for a week at a time to recover.  I thought I would have this problem for life.  However, since following Shin’s advice about exercising to strengthen the back (eg. hip flexor muscle stretches, deadlifts etc.) and being careful of the lower back when exercising, I have not had any more back problems and my back muscles have strengthened– 2012 was the first year for a good few that I suffered no back problems!  Thank you !!

Because of my back problem I had also suffered a very painful left knee as I had relied on it to lift myself back up after crouching so many times to avoid bending my back in any way.  I thought that this was going to prove to be a problem during the exercises and during my first few weeks I did notice it.  However once I had done numerous squats and squat presses and the dreaded one-legged squats, my knee became a lot stronger and I haven’t had any knee pain since!

I couldn’t complete the first interval cardio session – it exhausted me half way through.  But after a few weeks I had built up a substantial amount of stamina and built a 4 mile route that I was regularly  able to complete within 35 min (including the 10 min warm up).  It gave me a passion for interval running, so much so that I started going along to a local athletics club !  (Before I started MAX Workouts, I thought I hated running!)

The advice that Shin has given, through the 90 day program, his emails and the many journals he has written, has been invaluable to me, has built up a storehouse of knowledge about my health, diet and exercise and has provided so much encouragement and motivation, even when family and friends have not been so keen!

In summary MAX Workouts has helped to resolve so many issues in my life – health, fitness, confidence and self esteem and I have enjoyed it thoroughly.  I am now waiting for Spring to start my second 90 days !

Before                      After

May 23, 2012            Aug 15, 2012

Weight: 193.75 lbs     182.75 lbs

Hip:    102cm             87cm

Chest:  97cm             92cm

Waist:  97cm             82cm

Thigh:  59cm             57.5cm

Arm:    34cm             35cm