When I first met Angela I was a speed walker who had hit a weight-loss plateau that I couldn't seem to get beyond. Although I had previously lost 10 pounds over the year, the progress has stopped. I thought I was getting plenty of good exercise, the kind that should result in toning and weight loss, but it wasn't happening. I was overly stressed. Then I went out-of-town on business with one of my business associates and we went to the hotel gym together. MY GOODNESS! I couldn't believe what should looked like in her workout clothes. I knew for a fact that she didn't used to look like that, and when I asked her what she had been doing, she told me about "The Body Sculptress."

Before I go on, I should tell you that I have never, ever had any muscle or upper body strength to speak of, and never had a flat stomach. In fact, since I never had those things, it NEVER occurred to me that they were even options! If anyone had told me that I could have sculpted arms I wouldn't have believed them. When I called Angela, I had really small objectives, and although she told me what I could expect, I didn't really believe it.

One more thing you should know about is that I have a diabetic condition. I'm not on insulin, but I have higher than normal blood sugar and could head that way if I'm not careful, so diet and exercise are extremely important to me, not only for how I look, but for my life in general.

So I hired Angela in February and we started exercising 3 days a week. I began learning things I never knew existed and my 50-year-old body began to look and feel more like a 40-years-young one! And it wasn't terribly difficult. I look forward to her visits because I enjoy the exercise. She has just the right balance of knowing when to push and knowing when to stop me from pushing too hard. I get asked sometimes if it's like having a chirpy overly-ambitious and energetic person in my face, or like having a drill seargeant, and it's not. She does a great job at adapting to my energy level, mood, and abilities. Having her watch me is reassuring in that she watches and corrects my form to keep me safe, and she watches for fatigue and pushes me just to my limit and then tells me to stop. Her form corrections make the exercise feel totally different so that the exercise immediately begins hitting the area it's supposed to hit--I can feel it working! And the fact that she comes to my house means I'm going to do it. She keeps trying to get me to do things when she's not there, and although I intend to, it just doesn't seem to get done.

What has been difficult is managing my new-found fitness program with my new-found life and depression. I am going through a divorce and have a teenage son at home. Along with the demands of my wonderful career, my emotional load can get overwhelming sometimes and at one point I had to back down to having Angela come once a week because the exercise seemed to be adding to my level of stress instead of alleviating it. Once that happened, however, I realized it was doing more for me that I had thought and I worked toward getting her back for a regular schedule again just as soon as possible. What's happened is that I've realized that the intermittent valleys are not as deep or as long as they once were. The exercise has been really helpful, and my desire to maintain and build on my progress has given me a strong desire to work toward the next level--a size 4! I'm not obsessive about it though. Angela and I agree that balance is important, and that it's all about adopting a healthy lifestyle that I enjoy and can manage for the rest of my life.

Did I mention that I used to be a size 14? When Angela started helping me I was down to a size 12, and just a few months later, with her help, I'm buying size 6's! What's more is that I'm wearing dresses! My son, who is 15, doesn't remember me EVER wearing dresses and now I like my legs so much that I'm wearing them regularly. The next step is to get them above my knee, hopefully by the end of summer. I'm wearing all kinds of clothes that I never wore before! It's so exciting.

As a woman, it absolutely astounds me that I feel younger and way more vibrant and attractive than I did at the age of 40. I have a newfound self-confidence and vibrance and when new opportunities present themselves, I KNOW that I can accomplish them. In fact, I'm pretty sure I can accomplish anything!

Alice Murdock
Senior Vice President
The Title Company of North Carolina