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Keri Schaeffer lost 30 inches and transformed her body

January 26, 2013

January is a time of year when many people gain weight, but for Keri Schaeffer it was the end of a journey that led to the best shape of her life and the beginning of a new and healthy lifestyle. Three months ago, Keri contacted me looking for a change of pace and a way to achieve her fitness goals. “I have worked out for years, but have never really been happy with the results, so I decided to try something different,” she said. So in late October she signed up for my body transformation, and the rest is history.

Keri’s program started with an education on how to make her body work for her to efficiently burn fat and build lean muscle. We completely reprogrammed her regimen using the three most important components of fitness; weight training, cardiovascular training and a proper diet. She learned the correct way to lift weights starting with basic movement and progressing to more difficult exercises. We cut out long, drawn-out cardio sessions and replaced them with shorter, more intense workouts that forced her to leave her comfort zone and shocked her system into achieving results. We also taught her healthy eating habits to speed her metabolism with more frequent meals, and less alcohol and sugary foods.

Like many people, Keri has a busy schedule. She owns and operates Old Towne Physical Therapy with locations in Milford, Long Neck and Lewes. She also has children, a husband and many other responsibilities, but she always found time to get the workouts done, and she quickly saw results that made it worth the effort.

“I knew I’d lose weight, but I had no idea how far I could take this. As I began seeing results, it motivated me to work harder,” she said. In just 12 weeks, Keri lost 20 pounds and 18 percent of her overall body weight, which is an incredible accomplishment since she stands only 5 feet tall and started at a body weight of 122. She dropped more than 5 1/2 inches of body fat off her waistline, 4 1/2 inches off her hips and 30 total inches from her arms, chest, waist, neck, calves and hips. She went from a size 4 dress to double zeros and now has to shop for some of her clothes in the kids’ section a problem that she doesn’t mind having even though it can sometimes be difficult finding clothes that fit her.

What makes Keri’s transformation special is that she wasn’t obese or terribly out of shape, but she was an average person who wasn’t comfortable with how she looked. She wanted to go to the next level, and that’s exactly what she did. It was amazing to see the changes over the 12-week period. Every time I met with her, there were noticeable changes, and in the end she had a totally different body.

When asked what surprised her the most about the program, she said, “Everyone always thinks if you eat more you’re going to gain weight, but actually it’s the opposite because I had to eat more food to wake up my sluggish metabolism and burn fat to get in great shape.”

Keri is an excellent example for those people out there looking to commit to a fitness program in the new year to change their lives. Many people think it’s impossible for them to achieve the body of their dreams, but all it really takes is the will to work hard and the right knowledge to guide them through and show them how their body best responds to exercise. Congratulations, Keri Schaeffer, you have completely transformed your body!

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