30 Pounds Down with 4E Fitness in Morris Plains!

I’m officially three quarters of the way to my 40 pound goal and I’m celebrating with a big blog post! If you’ve been following along on Instagram, I’ve been pretty vocal about my fitness/weight loss journey that I started back in January. I knew I had to make a serious change, so I did some research and found Enrico Fioranelli of 4E Fitness right here in Morris Plains, New Jersey and my amazing husband gifted me three months of training, three times a week for Christmas to “get my swag back” – and spoiler alert – it worked! Read on to hear about what it’s been like working with a trainer, incorporating my toddler, juggling it with kids, the diet, and basically everything that’s gone into this lifestyle change… because it turns out you CAN feel better post-baby with little kiddos at home!

I began training right after New Year’s on January 2nd. I was too afraid and anxious to weigh myself, because I knew that deep down it was the biggest I had ever gotten. I was feeling slow… easily winded… my joints hurt… I would wake up in the mornings and feel like I had barely rested. My body was NOT happy with me. I put off looking at that scale for fear of what it would say, mostly because I knew I had a yearly physical coming up later in the month on January 25th. At that physical was the reality check that I knew I had coming. I was, indeed, the biggest I had ever gotten… and that was already 3 weeks into working with a trainer. When I left that day, with borderline high cholesterol and orders to drop this extra weight ASAP and my doctor’s blessing to begin weaning off of my SSRI (which I do believe contributed to some of the weight), I instantly shifted everything into high gear. My first three weeks with Enrico were fun – it was a “getting to know you” grace period. I got acquainted with his training style, got used to the new routine, etc. But now – it was go time. We were officially on a mission.

Let me back track for a minute and give Enrico the intro he deserves. He is an NASM-certified strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer with nearly 20 years of experience in the fitness industry and a background in self defense & mixed martial arts. He truly understands how certain types of exercise affects the body, and knows exactly when to pivot in order to gain the right amount of momentum in training.

His studio space is private – meaning you’re not working out in a high traffic gym, but you’re also not at home. It’s the best of both worlds. Most importantly, his sessions are tailored specifically to the individual’s needs and goals. In addition to private personal training, he also offers group rates – and most recently a “mommy bootcamp” with a monthly rate that you can literally drop into. Did I mention he is a father of two young kiddos? So yes… he “gets it” – and yes… you can bring your kid(s) if you want to. In a sea of corporate-owned flashy group fitness clubs in the greater Morristown area… I think I just uncovered a diamond in the rough.

So, back to that mission we were on. In addition to weaning off my SSRI, I also began taking a drug called Qsymia. This drug was prescribed to me (in the lowest possible dose) by my doctor because my BMI was over 30, and because I had high cholesterol, which was considered a risk factor for heart disease. Qsymia is a stimulant, and it’s used to curb appetite and increase energy. I have taken it daily since then to aid in this process, and it’s important that I be transparent about that. Always speak to your provider if you think you could be a good fit for something like Qsymia…. but I’m here to say that this would have happened with or without the drug – it’s just a matter of when.

After the January 25th weigh-in, we decided to do daily weigh-ins moving forward. Enrico explained to me that it’s best practice to either do it daily or MONTHLY – which I found to be cuckoo for cocoa puffs! So I opted for the daily check. He explained to me that the “weekly weigh in” is tricky for women especially because we might not really get to see the proper fluctuation that goes along with our menstrual cycle and it might simply frustrate us if we only checked in once a week. Now that I’ve been doing it this way, and I can see the pattern (holding onto weight for an entire week when I ovulate and then again the entire week before my period) I can understand how that might seem really, really discouraging if I had only checked in 4x a month!

As far as diet was concerned, I immediately eliminated a vast majority of carbohydrates and “extra” sugar. My diet has become (almost) ketogenic, in that I eat A LOT of protein… mostly meat with some eggs and cheese… the occasional vegetable thrown in. I’ll have croutons in my salad, I won’t be that stingy, but for the most part I try to stay away from the carbs unless I’m having a “cheat meal”. Even then, I have been living by an ‘everything in moderation‘ rule and only having small portions of the carbs & sugars. Eliminating these two things from my diet has honestly made me feel so much better. I have more energy, better workouts, less brain fog, generally better moods, EXPONENTIALLY less bloating… and when I DO eat bread I become instantly uncomfortable, so there’s that. Do I miss it? Yeah. Absolutely. Will I be able to sustain this forever and ever? Probably not. But for the time being, I’m definitely coasting and enjoying where I’m at. I’m not desperate to get off the carb-free train just yet. I look forward to the times when I go out for cocktails and a fun meal, and I’m OK with really hunkering down 95% of the time at home. If the price I pay for eating all of the suuuuuuper yummy things is feeling absolutely miserable in the hours and days afterwards, then is it really worth it?

During me 3x weekly sessions, we have been focusing on circuit training using free weights as well as my own body weight. I use a 10 pound weight in each hand (for most exercises) and instead of increasing that, Enrico has added extra exercises onto each circuit in order to increase caloric burn in a shorter duration of time, which also results in a higher heart rate. Basically – more work, same weight rather than same work with more weight. During each session we probably get through about 4 circuits, which we do 3 times each, and we finish each session with a five minute stretch. This is such a nice touch, because I’ve spent many mornings feeling sore after workouts and I think it’s probably the stretching (and having my form corrected!) that has been keeping me feeling great throughout this entire process. A bonus: with his background in self defense, Enrico has me put on the boxing gloves every once in a while to shake things up, especially when I come in in a crappy mood! It’s a game changer for relieving stress. I’ve thrown punches at him, as well as his resident dummy, “Mr. Fish” – and let me tell you – it’s quite the workout.

During the sessions, I often bring Stevie along. I give her a snack and her iPad… and she sometimes dabbles with Enrico’s toy box… but honestly – most times she’s really trying to get in on the action! She has fallen IN LOVE with Enrico. I constantly joke that Enrico’s wife better watch out because a two year old is really coming for her man! But in all seriousness, he has welcomed her into his studio with open arms, and has incorporated her into exercises, made sure that she has remained safe, and happy, and has honestly been the nicest to her. And as a mother, I could not think of anything that makes me happier. Actually, before the holidays when I was doing all of my research, I had initially looked into joining a gym and trying to do this all on my own. (Never would have happened!) I was touring the childcare facilities, and each one disappointed me more and more. The kids were practically left alone to their own devices, everything seemed like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages, and the caretakers were either super young or super disinterested in being there. I’m not usually a stickler for things like this, and it’s only an hour a day, but I was just getting bad vibes all around about leaving Stevie at any of these places while I worked out… and to think that I managed to get the total opposite experience has just been such an incredible blessing for me these last few months. It has made this really challenging and rewarding process THAT much better.

So as I had mentioned, I have been weighing myself daily since January 25th. By February 14th I lost my first 10 pounds. By March 7th it was twenty, and by April 20th it was 30. I’m hoping these last ten come off fairly easily, as I know the less you have to lose, the longer it typically takes… but I am happy to say that when my gifted sessions ran out at the end of March, I signed on with Enrico for another three months so that I could stick with his program at least through all of June because it is truly worth every penny. He is an amazing personal trainer. He’s confident and he knows his shit. He’s reassuring, not an alarmist, not a drill sergeant, but he will work your ass off if you tell him you cheated! Over these last three months he has become a friend, and I am so happy to have him in my corner as I continue on this journey to getting my swag back, feeling like myself again as a mom and as a woman. If you’re local to the Morristown, NJ area – please check out all that 4E Fitness has to offer as a unique and effective option for achieving some major wellness goals. And if you’re not local… I hope this post has at least inspired you to find someone in your area who will welcome your child into the gym, and who is willing to incorporate your littles into the exercise routine – because the reality is that we’re not always going to be able to ditch our kids to squeeze in a workout…. and when we CAN ditch our kids…. it’s often not working out that we feel like doing! Let. The. Kids. In. To. Your. Workouts. I promise you – you won’t regret it, you’ll start to see results, you’ll feel better, and you can thank me (and Enrico!) later. Keep up with me on Instagram to see the rest of my progress! 40 pounds here I come! *Photography by Stacy Canzonieri of @StacyMaeAndCo*