One of the things we take pride in here at The Wall Center is that all of the beautiful models you see on our website, posts, and even our walls, are REAL PATIENTS, proudly showing off their good looks and fit bodies! We are so fortunate to have literally a backlog of happy patients wanting to sing our praises by becoming a ‘Model of The Wall Center’. One of the questions we receive frequently about our real patient models is, “how do they look so good?” While professional hair and makeup, good genes, and a little assistance from our doctors is definitely helpful, our real patients featured on our website spend their fair share of time in the gym and shopping for healthy food. Two of our top models, Megan T. and Heather shared with us how they were able to achieve and maintain their healthy physiques on our latest blog.
Megan T., a Louisiana transplant now living in Dallas, chuckles as she recounts her early training for fitness competitions. “I am a ‘psycho’ health nut! I eat and live clean about 85% of the time, but I still indulge on Mexican food and margaritas on the weekends or if there’s a weekday event.” She also shares what, or rather who, inspired her to get healthy. “Honestly, the first thing that inspired me was watching Bethenny Frankel [http://on.fb.me/1qAfGDz] on a late night TV show. She was talking about her new book, Naturally Thin, and I began researching more about clean eating.” In Naturally Thin, Frankel describes the importance of viewing food as just fuel, instead of seeing it as “good” or “bad”, which Megan says completely changed her view on how she sees food. Megan also incorporated weight lifting into her regimen, as before she was a self described “cardio bunny”. “Once I started training, I discovered how much lifting weights changes your physique,” she states.
Another one of our long-time models, Heather, is not only a fitness competitor, but also a certified personal trainer. She credits her physique to her husband’s encouragement to get into the gym and start lifting weights. Heather states, “Once I started eating healthier and seeing how my physique transformed through lifting weights and paired with eating nutrient dense foods, I was hooked.” As a personal trainer, she encourages her clients to avoid fad diets and to instead live a healthier life. “You don’t have to starve yourself (in fact you’ll put on weight by not eating!), and you certainly don’t have to eat chicken with broccoli every day to lose weight,” Heather says. When training her clients, Heather makes sure that her clients, especially her female ones, lift weights. “As women, we aren’t built like men nor do we have the testosterone they have, so we won’t get bulky and put on muscle like they do. So don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights!” Heather also stresses the importance of moderation and that it’s “okay to have the greasy burger and fries or bowl of ice cream. Just pick back up where you left off—back to eating healthier, and working out!”
Megan T. and Heather were kind enough to share with us their work-out program. Check out each girl’s work out tips below!
Megan T.’s Weekly Exercise:
Lift weights 4-5 times a week with cardio 3 times a week.
Sprint runs: (1 minute jogs, followed by 1 minute sprints) for 20 minutes total
Heather’s Weekly Exercise:
Split up your work-out routine by muscle groups: one day work arms, back, and abs. Another day chest and triceps, one day dedicated to legs, and another day to shoulders and abs. You can also do one muscle group each day instead.
Five days a week are dedicated to 20-25 minutes of cardio after weights. I walk on the treadmill with an incline of 10 to 11 at a speed of 2.5 or 3 or get on the treadmill and put the resistance on 7 and pedal backwards to target glutes and hamstrings.
If you want to head outside, go to a local track and do sprints and plyometrics, like side shuffles, back pedals, high knees, squat jumps, suicides, and lunges to finish up with.