Bri

Bri’s done ah.mi not once, but TWICE with her ride-or-die Nicole, and she’s here to dish all the deets about how she’s becoming the healthiest version of herself. Although ah.mi helped her lose weight, it helped her achieve her deeper goal: feeling healthy, strong, and able to keep up with her kids. Bri is an absolute champ. Read on to see how she went from never eating kale, to loving healthy salads and making small daily progress to running 3 miles straight.

Going into ah.mi, what’d you hope to get out of the experience?

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from ah.mi, but I was SO ready for a change in my life. About two weeks before Nicole told me about ah.mi, I decided I really needed to make some changes, but wasn’t quite sure what steps to take. I was unhappy about my weight (my pre-ah.mi weight is the heaviest I’ve ever been), but I wanted more than just a weight loss program. I wanted to be healthy and strong and physically able to keep up with my kids. And I wanted something I would be able to maintain. 

What’s your fave healthy dish you’ve been making lately?

Before ah.mi I’m not even sure I had eaten kale ha!  But then Robyn sent us a pic of one of her salads. I don’t think I had ever heard anyone refer to kale as a type of comfort food, and I had to see for myself because I couldn’t believe it! And now I’m hooked.  One of my-go to lunches is inspired by Robyn’s salad--kale, lentils, an egg, avo, and some Parmesan cheese. You can totally add more things depending on what you have and how you’re feeling, but I love this salad!

What advice would you give other women who are interested in joining ah.mi?

Grab a friend and do it!

You and Nicole are such a good team! How’d you help motivate each other to stay on track throughout the entire 12-week program?

All the credit goes to Nicole! She’s so consistently motivated to eat healthy and to exercise that I didn’t want her to lose a challenge because of me. I knew that everyday she would be going to Barre or going on a multi-mile run/beach walk, followed by an amazing salad--I was just trying to follow her lead and keep up!! 

You’re new to running! Why’d you start, and how’s it going?

I’ve never been into running - I did the couch to 5k program years ago, but never stayed with it. Much like I was inspired by Robyn to try kale, I was inspired by Rachel to give running another try. Rachel’s texts made running seem really accessible. She wasn’t sending pics after 10 mile runs - there were a lot of “just finished 20-minute interval run!” messages, and I found myself thinking, “that seems doable.” And so I decided to give running another try. I re-started couch to 5k, but then the ah.mi October goal-setting challenge really helped me to set some attainable goals with my running. Since then I’ve been running 2-3 times a week. I still haven’t quite reached being able to run 3 miles without walking, but I’m continuing to add time/distance to my runs, which feels great each time I run a little further or a little longer. The thing I’m most surprised by is that running has become such a part of my routine now that I find myself actually wanting to go for runs, which, pre-ah.mi, I would have never imagined feeling that way!

“The thing I’m most surprised by is that running has become such a part of my routine now that I find myself actually wanting to go for runs, which, pre-ah.mi, I would have never imagined feeling that way!”

How does your pre-ah.mi life compare to your post-ah.mi life?

It’s so funny - my life is so different, but it also doesn’t feel like I made drastic changes! I think the weekly challenges made big changes deceptively simple (and incremental). Pre-ah.mi, I thought I drank a lot of water, but it was maybe half the water I drink now.  I worked out maybe once every 1-2 weeks--if the perfect opportunity to go to the gym and do an hour-long class didn’t present itself, I didn’t exercise. I also was in complete denial about the amount of veggies I was eating!!

Through ah.mi I was able to focus on one habit per week and make seemingly small changes that overall have had a huge impact. It didn’t happen all at once, and it didn’t feel like I was making “huge” changes, but over the course of the 12 weeks, I have really reprogrammed myself and now find myself drinking 100 ounces of water every day, exercising 4-6 times a week; and adding greens to EVERYTHING.  One of the biggest shifts has been my thinking about exercise. I no longer wait for that perfect hour-long opportunity - if I can squeeze in a 14-minute arm workout or 20-minute core workout, I do that. Shifting my mindset about how long a workout “had to be” has been a huge change for me, and I find myself working out multiple times a week now, which feels great!