EVA WEISS

I have been a yo-yo dieter my whole life. I lose 10-15 kg’s and then I put on 10-15kg’s. My past attempts to lose weight were never sustainable. After much research, I learned that adding muscle to my body (getting toned) was a way to increase my metabolism which would enable me to eat more! I was prepared to work but I wasn’t prepared to starve. I interviewed 3 personal trainers and they all offered me generic programs, which I rejected. Then, finally I stumbled across an advert for Recomp HQ.

I lost fat and gained muscle in the very first week, and nearly every week thereafter. My measurements kept getting smaller, my fat was depleting and I was getting stronger and leaner, in such a short amount of time. I was excited about my progress and was genuinely enjoying the process. Change is a very powerful motivator.

I only ever trained 3 days (1 to 1 ½ hours per training session)! I had never spent time in the ‘weights room’ of a gym before. I didn’t really understand what ‘deadlifting’ was: ‘Isn’t that what Olympians did?’ But learning this new skill was such a wonderful surprise. The program is set up to always challenge you. Each time I walked into that weights room, I was always striving. A better weight, one more rep, one more kiIo, I never got bored, I was always too busy competing with myself. The monotony of running and the cross trainer, killed my enthusiasm in the past .…so I’d always eventually stop.

The nutrition was a huge surprise. I’d always associate losing weight with restriction and depravation, so when Amy put me on a high carb diet (which goes against every magazine diet article ever written) and told me to eat over 2000 calories…I thought she had been sniffing the car fumes outside! But, I was wrong. The diet plan was flexible, I was able to choose what I liked and change it whenever I liked (after first discussing it with Amy of course). It was planned and easy to follow and most importantly I wasn’t hungry.

I am a mother of three children, so I spend much time in the kitchen baking and cooking. I have many parties and social engagements throughout the year. So, during those functions, I participated and ate what everyone else did. I didn’t want to be anti-social or feel like I was depriving myself. Early on in the program, when I ate ‘off’ the plan, I would try counteract my overeating by eating too few calories the following day. This actually made things worse; my body would retain water and bloat. I’ve since learned that if I eat properly 99% of the time, but occasionally have a ‘cheat meal’ and always put in 100% at my 3 training days, which made absolutely no difference to my progress. I’m not sure if this would work for everyone though!

Training is only 3 times a week, so it was not too difficult to find the time. I learned that when I did train, you needed to really give 100%. And preparing my food in bulk made it much easier.

Once I accomplished my goal, I have since been training on my own… Maintaining my weight has been relatively easy, now I have the right tools. Because I have added muscle to my body (toned up), my metabolism has increased, which means it makes it more difficult to put on weight! Wonderful news. But, nothing comes from nothing. It is unrealistic to think that you can have a toned, lean body without any effort. Considering all the things I have tried in the past, this program has caused the least amount of disruption to my life. And an added bonus is my new-found appreciation of weight training. I initially went there just to lose weight and get toned; I didn’t know I was going to walk away with a whole new skill set! Now, I navigate my way through that ‘weights room’ with confidence. With my weight belt on and wrist straps dangling, I glance around to the row of cross trainers. There is the constant stream of woman who pound them endlessly, their thighs jiggling and cellulite screaming. I secretly breathe a huge sigh of relief to myself. Relief, that I am now on this side of the gym, lean, toned and much happier…. not a bad spot to be in.

Eva achieved such outstanding results that together we organised a photoshoot, with a professional makeup artist and photographer! Location – Recomp HQ. MUA – Translucere. Photographer – Charlie Suriano.