TGFB – what an executive council for a major New York firm has to say...

Dear Bert, I am an extreme "Type A" personality and do everything in excess. Before I started your program, I was working past midnight on a regular basis, exercising 2 ½ to 3 hours a day, socially drinking 4-5 nights a week and starving myself all day so that I could eat my gourmet restaurant dinners at night. I was exhausted all the time but kept on pushing through the fatigue because I was driven to get everything done, even at the expense of my health. Then I started to have health problems and, at the beckoning of my family, I decided it was time to make some changes in my lifestyle. That's where you came in. When I first heard about your program, I didn't think it was for me - you were asking me to cut back my exercising to 3 hours a week from my usual 18 hours a week and you were telling me I had to eat more food and more often. This was contrary to everything I believed in. Unfortunately, I've been obsessing over food and weight for the past 25 years so I knew this would not be easy - but I decided to give your program a try and said I would commit to 12 weeks on your program.

Your program focuses on two major components - nutrition and training. I was a little skeptical about the training aspect since you are in Arizona and I am in New York. However, the phone training totally worked - since you were so attentive, talking to me almost every day in the beginning, walking me through each exercise, I learned how to train by myself. Then, after 3 weeks on the program, I came out to Arizona for a long weekend to train with you and in a few short days I was really able to understand your technique and use the information you shared with me to apply to my workouts in New York - after that visit my workouts in New York only got stronger and better.

As for the nutrition aspect, at first it was really difficult for me to eat all the food you were asking me to eat because, from an eating disorder perspective, this was contrary to what I had convinced myself was the proper way to keep the weight off. In the past, I tried so many ways to keep the weight off, all of which were a form of deprivation - a few years ago I even got to the point where I did a juice diet - I didn't eat anything but 3 small juice boxes for 10 days! Now I eat well-balanced meals and can even have my gourmet meals too without all the guilt and deprivation - on your plan I never feel deprived just balanced.

I must admit, this plan does take dedication and discipline but it is worth it for the dramatic results. After the first 2 weeks my heart rate went down from 63 beats per minute to 42 beats per minute and after 8 weeks I went from a size 6 to a size 4 - I had to do some serious shopping! I accomplished more in 12 weeks on your program than I've accomplished in the past 15 years on my own. As a result of your nutrition and exercise program, I have tons of energy that I never had before. I've built up my strength but leaned down my body and have overall balance in my life. I eat all day long and don't feel "fat" or too full. Also, you've taught me about the importance of recovery and giving the body a chance to repair and heal itself - I'd spent years tearing my body down without giving it a chance to repair and rejuvenate which probably contributed to my health issues. Today, my overall health is the best it's been in a long time! Results really ARE proof!

On a personal note, it amazes me how much of yourself you put into your clients. You give everyone 100% of your attention when you are working with them. It is evident that you really enjoy helping people help themselves and are so thoroughly dedicated to your clients well-being - you have incredible knowledge and are so enthusiastic about sharing it with others - you don't just focus on the muscles and the diet - you really care about the development and healing of the mind, body and spirit.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank you for giving me your time and guidance and introducing balance to my life.

As my husband says - TGFB - Thank God For Bert!

Maria Cozzolino