Local business owner loses 45 pounds

In 2014, Raven Hudson made a wise decision - she purchased a hair salon and turned it into a very popular business called the Village Salon Spa. But the long hours and hard work required to make it successful took a toll on her physically and caused her to gain a great deal of weight. Eventually her weight ballooned to a number she could no longer accept, so she signed up for my 12-week body transformation and began to focus on getting back into shape. 

“In January of 2014, I purchased an existing salon, gutted it, renovated it and hired a completely new staff. This required me to work seven days a week with a lot of 12- to 14-hour days,” said Raven. Because of this, she found herself eating out constantly because she didn’t want to miss time at her business, and that made it very difficult to work out or eat healthy. These personal sacrifices helped build her business stronger, but the results were predictable. “I gained 50 pounds during the first two years of owning my business, and then I got pregnant and gained another 35 pounds.” But before getting pregnant again, she was determined to get back in shape and learn how to stay there.

Raven started her first transformation last April at 177.5 pounds. Although she was losing weight at a steady rate, she didn’t immediately notice major changes in how she looked. She hung in there and finished strong, losing 25 pounds and 17 percent of her starting body fat in 12 weeks. She was just getting started, though, and she knew she wasn’t where she wanted to be, so she signed up for a second round and talked her husband Jamin into completing the program with her.

In mid-July, Raven started the transformation program again. This time, something amazing began to happen. People started to really notice and constantly made positive comments everywhere she went. “It seemed like every time I walked into the room people would say, ‘Is that Raven?’ or ‘Where did you go? You look great.’” In addition, her husband Jamin was experiencing excellent results as well. By the halfway point of the program, he had lost 25 percent of his body fat and gained a pound of lean muscle, putting him in a position to have an excellent transformation.

Due to a vacation, both Raven and Jamin ended the second transformation a week-and-a-half early, but their results were truly amazing. Raven lost another 20 pounds, making her total weight loss 44 pounds. She also lost a total of 43 percent of her starting body fat and even gained an additional pound-and-a-half of muscle. Even more impressive is how her body changed. “I am now 10 pounds lighter than when I started the salon. I’m the same weight I was when I was 26 years old. I went from a size 14 to a size 2, and I was wearing size extra-large tops and now they are extra small. People constantly don’t recognize me, and I feel great.” Raven’s husband Jamin crushed his transformation, losing 23 pounds of fat and 50 percent of his starting body fat. He also gained more than 5 pounds of lean muscle and completely changed his appearance. At 12 percent body fat, he is now in excellent shape.

Raven and Jamin are great examples of what can be accomplished when you incorporate weight training, proper cardiovascular training and a healthy diet with a structured program. Their transformations were exciting to watch, and they are an inspiration to others who want to make a change. “Diet is a good 85 percent of the battle. You have to make a conscious effort to prepare your food ahead of time if you want to get results,” Raven said.