Tag: exercise

Curious if it works? Don’t take it from me! Here are some of my success stories 🙂

Nicole L

I started working with Madeline in February 2021.  Before the pandemic, I had been doing a decent amount of cardio (3/4x per week) but had really let things go since March 2020 and had started feeling the effects of it on my body.  I reached out to Madeline and she put together a workout plan for me, as well as helped me plan out my macros and calories to put me in the best place to reach my goals.  The food plan and workouts were very reasonable and fit in my schedule easily.  I never felt like the tasks I had to do to reach my goals were not attainable. 

Part of my day to day prior to this journey was going out to eat a decent amount of the times, both for social and personal enjoyment reasons. Madeline helped me learn how to continue to do so while also reaching my goals. I was also able to incorporate my favorite foods like pasta and other carbs into my diet as well while going out so I never felt like I was fully restricting myself. She also helped me plan some meals in advance when I knew I would be going out a lot in one week to ensure I had room for all my meals, and helped estimate macros of foods when I went out as well so I could properly track my intake.

I was also traveling a lot when I reached out to Madeline, so I needed a flexible workout routine that I could do whenever and bring along with me.  The tools Madeline recommended were transportable so that if I needed to travel with them, it was no problem. Madeline was also available to hop on video chats with me to work on form or any other questions I had about the workouts.

5 months later and I am seeing the best results I have ever seen from working out.  As someone who played competitive sports growing up and tried all the workout classes imaginable, this has easily been the best body transformation I have ever gone through.

I went from weighing 141 lbs and feeling very weak, to weighing 117 lbs and feeling stronger than ever! Not only do I look very different, but I feel so much better. The best part about working with Madeline is she gives you the tools to do the work on your own, so that you can make this a lifestyle change that is easy to implement. I highly recommend her services!

Jenna A

I had the opportunity to start working with Madeline in November of 2020. Off the bat I was shocked by her ability to incorporate me and my goals into her lifestyle, making them her goals as well. I immediately felt like I wasn’t alone on this journey, and my biggest supporter also just so happened to be my trainer. We began by speaking very casually about my previous workout history (or lack thereof), and any injuries I previously had as well. Through this she spoke to me about how she was planning to incorporate my goals and experience into a workout plan, while also making sure to be mindful of my injuries. I wasn’t an easy client for her to take on as I had previous shoulder, hip, and knee injuries from playing sports throughout my childhood. She immediately began me on a regimen that pushed my boundaries but was tailored by her to remain within my area of comfort. This allowed me to begin my journey without being extraordinarily intimidated, which was vital to my success. Initially, I was terrified that I was going to give up, and not be able to follow her workouts. She provided me endless support and motivation, making sure I had the knowledge and confidence to move through her program successfully. 

I began with Madeline during the heat of COVID, which is something that I was afraid was going to hinder my progress. I feared this would make me a difficult client for her to manage, given that we would never be able to work in person. She quickly proved me wrong and made me feel comfortable and supported by offering video, facetime, text, and phone support at a moment’s notice. She provided me with personalized turf workouts, home workouts, HIIT workouts, ab workouts, and cardio workouts all on top of weightlifting workouts. Any way I needed her; she was there. 

Our day-to-day plan usually looked like this; Madeline would set up my workouts weekly by entering them on an excel sheet we shared. This would include the muscle group we would target, the exercise, the reps, the rounds, the weight, and a detailed description of what the actual movement would look like. She would make sure to include cues, form, and safety precautions in her workouts to make sure I did them correctly and was avoiding further injury. Included in my daily schedule was stretching and warm up exercises she had me do to avoid injury and increase my cardiovascular abilities. She would have me review my workouts quickly, and I would follow each day’s schedule when I went to the gym. This was LIFECHANGING to me, because for the first time in my life, I stepped into the gym feeling an extraordinary amount of confidence. Every single day I knew what I was doing, how I was doing it, and what it should look like. This took so much anxiety out of going to the gym for me and gave me the confidence to go through workouts I would’ve never considered doing on my own. Madeline’s attention to detail and knowledge of exercise science was evident from the outset of our relationship. 

Being that I had started the journey with injuries, there were adjustments that needed to be made. I had trouble with certain exercises over time because of these injuries and explained this to Madeline. Immediately she began altering my entire workout plan to only include pain-free movements, while not sacrificing progress. Her ability to modify programming and meet her client’s needs continues to amaze me. Because of the skills she possesses, she changed my plan so that I never needed to stop working out, and was able to improve regardless of my injuries. My strength, endurance, and speed skyrocketed over the course of our time training together. I was pushing my body to limits I didn’t even know existed and was moving weight I never thought I could. 

Through my experience working with Madeline, I gained a confidence unknown to me ever before, a power I didn’t know I could possess, and a love for fitness I never thought would happen. She changed my life for the better and provided me with skills and knowledge I will be forever grateful for. It was an absolute joy working with Madeline, and I am forever grateful for our journey together. 

April D

My experience with weight loss has been a difficult journey until recently. My lifestyle requires me to eat out a lot. My job requires sitting in front of a computer and reading and typing all day. I work from home so I do not walk to a train or walk from a parking lot. When I am done working, I am usually cooking or doing laundry.   Needless to say, I don’t get a lot of exercise.  I am also in my late 50’s.  It’s not surprising that I would have a problem managing my weight.  I was at least 40 lbs overweight. You may be thinking that 40 pounds is not much, but I am only 5’1” tall. On a small frame, 40 pounds is a lot of extra weight. I have tried dieting and failed. I joined a well known weight loss organization and managed to lose weight. The meals were expensive considering how small the portions were. I had to supplement the meals with salad or vegetables. I had to go to weekly weigh-ins. When I stopped going, and tried to make my own meals, the weight creeped back on. This was when I knew I needed more than a packaged food regimen that didn’t work well with my lifestyle of eating out. I needed to understand why I was gaining weight so I can be in control. I decided it was time for a weight loss coach.

When I signed on with Madeline, I committed to being honest about my eating habits. I kept a daily log of everything I ate so she could analyze and form a plan for me. I quickly learned how to calculate the calorie content in food and also how to maximize meals for satisfaction. Yes, all of this can be learned on one’s own. What takes years to learn is how to calculate calories in foods prepared in diners and restaurants. I wasn’t about to bring my scale to a restaurant so I can weigh my food. I certainly wasn’t going to ask the chef to measure how much oil, butter or whatever goes into cooking a meal so I can calculate the calories. This was where my hands were tied. Aside from ordering shrimp cocktail and salad (with the dressing on the side) every time I went to a restaurant, there really was no way I could know how many calories were in my meal. This is where having an experienced weight loss coach really comes in handy.

The attention I received from Madeline was the reason I was able to lose the unwanted weight without the stress and disappointment of trial and error failures. When I went to a restaurant, I simply took a picture of my food and would send it to Madeline. She would tell me how many calories were in it. This helped immensely. I was able to decide how much I should eat to stay within the calorie amount I had set for that meal. I would also take a picture of the leftovers that I did not eat. Madeline would let me know how many calories I had actually consumed. If I knew ahead of time which restaurant I would be going to, Madeline would find the menu and give me suggestions as to which items were a good choice. We would discuss why and how to calculate the calorie content. I learned an enormous amount of information in a very short time. This took the stress out of eating out and led to my success in keeping the weight off.   I went from a size 8 to a size 2.  I get countless compliments on how I look and my husband tells me I look like I did when we first met.  I feel satisfied.  I eat anything I want.  I adjust the portion sizes to fit the calorie content.  I never feel deprived. I am now working on an exercise program and Madeline is helping me with that as well.  I enjoy making my own meals too. 

I highly recommend having an experienced and knowledgeable weight loss coach to help you lose weight. Our conversations were laid back and I never felt as though I was being judged in any way. This was truly the best investment I could make for my health and my self esteem.

Andrea R

I was 197lbs (~30-40 lbs over my normal weight) with postpartum anxiety and depression while managing a 4 month old baby. We had our baby during the peak of the pandemic which meant there was no going to the gym especially with a baby. I felt hopeless and knew something needed to change when I couldn’t even get up off the floor as I held my newborn son. Also, I had a C-section which further weakened my core strength. That’s when I decided to reach out to Maddie to get help! On September 2020, Maddie started me on a plan for both nutrition and exercise to get me back on track. By July 2021, I was back to my normal weight of 165lbs with muscle and flexibility!

Maddie built me a meal plan based on what I like to eat so that I could maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. For 3 days I took pictures of what I ate and sent them to Maddie. She then formulated a meal plan that would work with my lifestyle and preferences to lose 1-2lbs of weight a week. The meal plan was easy to understand with the flexibility to choose my carbs, veggies and protein depending on the meal and day. For example, she put lean or non-lean meat with how many grams I could eat for certain meals so that I could still have my steak on certain days! I was also able to eat a little bit of dessert everyday as well! Throughout my journey I would ask Maddie if I could swap certain things and she would always re-organize my plan to fit my needs for that week. She was also my accountability buddy – I would let her know how I did against the plan daily. This helped me to stay on track with my meal plan as I have a huge sweets addiction. As time went along, I learned how to swap certain items in my meal plan and eventually was able to hold myself accountable which was a huge win. 

Maddie built me an exercise plan that fit my schedule as a mom of a newborn. I started with basic warm ups and exercises 3x a week while my newborn napped and/or my husband had the baby. I really struggled with all the exercises in the beginning, but I got better at them as I kept my persistence. I even was able to touch my toes by the end of it, which is huge mobility progress for me! Maddie was so supportive and gave me the confidence to keep going despite my challenges. I also sent her videos of my form to see if it needed correction or if I felt like I was having trouble performing the exercise. If I really was not able to handle an exercise, she was able to provide me with modified versions or other exercises to target the same muscles. I felt great and the best part was that I became able to pick up and hold my son anywhere with no issues! I say this now as I sit here crying because that was one of the biggest rewards I could have received! Later on as Covid transmission decreased, I felt confident enough to go back to the gym to work on my strength even further.

Like any change, there were ups and downs and I gave into my cravings on occasion, but Maddie was with me every step of the way to ensure that I stayed on track to hit my goals. I was able to fit back into my jeans and chase my baby who grew to be a happy toddler. I’m happy to say that now we are expecting baby #2 and I know what to do now after birth to get myself back on track if needed. Maddie’s program really gave me the peace of mind I needed without feeling like I was deprived of what I wanted. I feel at peace that I have control over my habits and can look back at her meal plans if I ever get led astray. I really can’t thank her enough and would recommend her to anyone!

Stephanie B

I’ve known Madeline Danza for many years but it wasn’t until 2017 that I asked her for help in the gym.  I grew up doing ballet so for a large part of my life I was in very good shape, however, as I got older my schedule was no longer conducive to spending hours at the ballet studio every day.  I had a gym membership but I was incredibly intimidated by the weight machines and wouldn’t even think about touching the free weights so I mainly stuck to the cardio machines.  But, no matter how much time I spent on the elliptical or treadmill, I was just not seeing the results I wanted – I knew I needed to build muscle if I wanted to look leaner but I really had no idea how to put together any sort of strength training plan or how to do anything properly.  Madeline heard my concerns and was enthusiastic about working with me to help me achieve the results I wanted.  Madeline’s plan for me can be broken down into three components: 1) weight training, 2) dietary plan, and 3) support.

Madeline knows her way around the gym and is extremely knowledgeable about all things health & fitness – it is evident that this is her passion and she loves helping others reach their goals.  What I loved most about working with her is during our first few meetings together she was meticulous about taking the time to teach me proper form.  This really appealed to me because given my dance background I knew how important proper form was to prevent injury and since I was already nervous about using free weights I wanted to be certain that I was doing things the right way.  I worked with other trainers in the past and they didn’t explain proper form, so I never stuck with it because I never gained the confidence to attempt lifting weights on my own.  That was definitely not the case after working with Madeline.  My confidence working with free weights has increased tenfold and I even feel comfortable testing out new things on my own now because she gave me the foundation of knowledge that I was desperately lacking before.

The physical training plan that Madeline created personally for me was broken into three phases, with each phase consisting of three weeks.  I enjoyed the separate phases because it kept things familiar enough that I felt comfortable, but also provided good variety.  She trained me how to do each and every move in the plan and made sure to explain which muscles each exercise should be targeting.  This really helped me visualize muscle engagement throughout training.  Madeline created a shared document that both her and I could access detailing my workout plan for each day of each week.  She included descriptions and notes that we discussed during our in-person sessions so I could easily refer back to them.  The document helped me keep track of the weight level I was using each day so I could track my progress over time.  I will never forget our first session together, we were using a 20lb barbell so I could learn to deadlift and I was sore the next day even though we weren’t even doing full sets!  By the end of phase 3 I could deadlift 60lbs, which was a huge increase for me, and a few more weeks after that I was up to 80lbs.  Lifting not only increased my strength but also increased my motivation to go to the gym.  I used to dread the gym because I found cardio so tedious, but now that I lift weights I like competing with myself and trying to lift heavier than I did the week before.

For my dietary plan Madeline set me up to be in a mild caloric deficit.  I didn’t want to lose a ton of weight but wanted to shed about 10lbs while also building muscle.  She had me track my macros and we did high protein, moderate carbs, and low fat.  Prior to working with Madeline I had tried to track macros on my own but I didn’t know how to properly set my daily targets and quickly abandoned the plan.  Just like with the weight training Madeline explained to me why the targets were set the way they were and she emphasized that I should really listen to my body.  What I liked about Madeline’s approach is that she really believes in balance.  I’m Italian and love food (especially food involving carbs) so she always stressed that if I felt like I was burning out on my meal plan to have a cheat day or even eat intuitively for a week to take a break from tracking.  This really worked for me because if I feel like I’m depriving myself too much it always backfires and then I end up overeating.  Even though I was in a caloric deficit I was never ever hungry, in fact, some days I even came in under my targets because I was so full from eating enough protein.  I successfully lost the 10lbs but even more satisfying I gained muscle definition.  With both the physical training plan and dietary plan Madeline set me up to be largely self-sufficient which I really loved.  This also made my results very sustainable because now if I fall off the wagon for a few weeks I know not all of my progress will be lost and I know how to get myself back on track.  In the past if I skipped a few days at the gym or caved on my diet I would abandon all my progress because I felt like I had failed.  Madeline empowered me to break this self-destructive cycle.  I feel like other trainers want you to be dependent on them but that was just not conducive to my lifestyle.  While I was working with Madeline I was also working full-time and going to law school at night, so it would have been impossible for me to rely solely on another person to workout with because I was often in the gym really early or late at night.  That being said Madeline was always checking in with me to see how I was feeling.  She was always immediately responsive to any questions that I had.  There were times, especially in the beginning, that I forgot how to do a certain exercise and she would walk me through it over the phone/via text.  She shared all her favorite macro-friendly recipes with me and we took a trip to a health food store together where she showed me some good options for protein supplements and BCAA’s.   Madeline is a very supportive person in general which made working with her very easy and enjoyable!  I was never scared to ask her a question and she was always incredibly patient.  Thank you for everything Madeline – I’m so happy with my results and I look forward to continuing to get stronger!