Red hot red head: Abercrombie Client Testimonial

NOWELL hear this…I have some sizzling scoop about red heads!

Are you aware that red heads have a much HIGHER pain tolerance than blondes or brunettes?

This is apparently a real thing and from my experience as a personal FITness trainer it’s not far fetched.

Meet Stephanie Nowell.

Stephanie is a bomb shell red head with a mission.

Operation Stephanie!

She found me on the internet while searching for a local personal trainer. She trusted her instincts and my Facebook reviews. Stephanie hired me last August and together we have done some damage!

Stephanie came to Abercrombie and FITness fired up. Her mission was specific…lose weight!

Stephanie is former nurse and active wife and mom. Her day job in the health administration field was a drastic change from nursing on her feet all day. Now seated at a desk behind a computer screen she found herself in a pickle. This fire cracker took action.

Stephanie’s corporate office job had recently changed. No longer would she have to commute to an office. She had been granted a work from home option. Taking full advantage of her casual work from home set up, she realized she could incorporate a mid day workout into her week. She found time to FIT in a work out during her lunch hour.

And so we began. Stephanie agreed to two private one hour sessions a week. I throttled her sessions into drive with light weights and quick cardio bursts to kick. start her metabolism. As a FITness professional, it’s my job to pay close attention to signs of flushing, fainting or fatigue. I watch for heavy breathing and or dizzy light headedness. With Stephanie it was impossible. This go getter was proving me wrong. She almost never displayed any of the tell tale signs which is super rare for a beginner. On occasion, I questioned and asked if she needed a break. Her answer was usually a calm, “No, I’m fine.”

Redheads need 20 percent more anesthesia than their dark-headed counterparts. Because the MC1R gene belongs to the same family of genes that play a role in pain, the mutation causes redheads to be more sensitive to it. … If they’re not given enough Novocaine, they’re in more pain (wikipedia)

Insert trainer hard eye roll, I’m guessing this painfree anaomile had something to do with the red head gene. I was perplexed and impressed at the same time. I just figured she was uber competitive and chalked her unwillingness to rest up to her eagerness.

I continued to push her. The more I pushed the better she performed.

My staple question became so…”were you cussing my name over the weekend?”

“No, why do you ask” she would reply.

“Because I beat you up last Thursday and you should have been so sore you couldn’t sit down or stand up.”

NOTHING! Crickets…. Was this girl super human or just lying through her teeth????

Whatever it was…I continued to ~~contourt~~, challenge her body via weight training.

In the first 6 weeks Stephanie lost pounds 10 plus pounds and 7.5 inches. This FITmentum as I like to call it, had this spit fire on a roll.

By February, Stephanie felt like she had hit a plateau with the weight loss which is not abnormal. What would have been normal was complaining, whining… But this girl never felt sore!!!! WHAT the WHAT???? The diet, easy to tweak, her cardio…upped it too.

On board with it all was Stephanie! A word from the bold beautiful girl.

What I love about Abercrombie and Fitness

Last August, I came back from vacation tired of being tired. My weight had been creeping up as lovely menopause reared her ugly head. I had been watching Facebook posts from Abercrombie and Fitness for almost a year. I sat on my bed and opened “Messenger”, started typing a message reaching out to Angi. “Holy crap, what am I doing…. a ‘personal trainer’? I don’t have money for that and I never stick with anything” said my inner voice. And yet, I still pushed “send”. I received a message back within 30 minutes. An hour later, I had set up a training session. “Omg…. I’m really doing this!” Expecting my husband to say, “are you kidding me”, I was pleasantly surprised when he said, “good for you”.

I left work early that day for my first day of torture training. Nervously, I opened the door to the gym and met the woman who would change my life. I came to Angi, feeling like a heifer. As an RN, I had been on my feet for over 20 years and never had an issue with weight. I had entered corporate healthcare 3 years prior and had no idea how much becoming a desk jockey would impact my body. To my chagrin, I couldn’t even do a sit up. “What the hell??? I’d always prided myself on my core strength. Now, I had none. Shocking how easily that happened.

I left the gym that day committing to 2 days a week of HIIT work outs and was exhausted but feeling accomplished! The next day, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to walk, lol. A couple of ibuprofen and I was good to go. Most importantly, I kept going back.

Has it been easy?? Ummm, NO! There are many days of feeling like “ugh… I am just not feeling it today”. But, I show up and put in the work. No matter how I felt walking in the door, I always feel better when I leave. Is my nutrition always on point? Depends on the day. Sorry Angi…. I still love me some queso! My body is changing for the better. I’m seeing muscle definition that I took for granted when I was younger come back. I guarantee that under my queso “fluff” I have abs of steel. They may be hidden still, but damn it, I know they are there. More importantly, my attitude and sense of happiness has changed. I FEEL stronger and my outlook has changed. It’s not just a body transformation, your mind changes as well.

Abercrombie and Fitness is not just a gym. It’s now a dear friendship we’ve formed. Together we push, we sweat, and most of the time laugh and tell stories throughout the workout. If it was just me by myself, when the “I don’t wanna’s” hit it would so easy to talk myself into just watching a movie or justifying why it’s okay to miss a workout. By having my partner in crime, I know that there is someone waiting on my butt to show up. I have someone who makes me accountable. At the end of the day, that’s what counts…. Someone who makes me feel like a better person. Love you girl!

This red head shifted gears and full throttled her home office space. She DIY’ed the dog out of her home office. This spicy girl did something that others only talk about it. Stephanie purchased a stationary BIKE/CYCLE She traded sitting for cycling…I love it!

With her back yard in shambles and Summer looming, Stephanie’s goal was all up in her face. She and her hubby were in the thrawls of a backyard reconstruction. A swimming pool was in the works and we all know what that means? A swimming pool screams nakedness and bathing suits. Swim wear has a way of getting a girl off her ass and into action.

Stephanie’s pool was completed about three weeks ago. Just in time for her to show off the results. What’s more is the pool has become Stephanie’s favorite fun form of cool cardio. This super star is swimming laps and treading water several times a week in her very own back yard. Swimming is an excellent low impact cardiovascular workout in itself.