The Sentinel-Record - HER - Hot Springs
The ‘FAST TRACK’ to health
Getting to the root of most weight loss struggles, Hot Springs Health and Fitness is teaching people how they can take their lives back by taking their kitchens back.
“Unless people get their kitchen under control and the food they intake, then all the working out is not going to be that helpful as far as weight loss. It is good to work out regardless, but if they are really trying to get the weight off we have to get the kitchen under control first,” said Susan Bean, owner of Hot Springs Health and Fitness.
Through clean eating, 20/30 Fast Track helps clients lose 20 pounds in 30 days. The nationwide program has been in existence for a few years and Bean said it has been approved by local physicians.
“We have been approached by a variety of people trying to push other weight loss programs prior to this. We wanted to wait for one that was sound, had real food and was not a product-driven business,” Bean said.
With so many product- driven weight loss programs, Bean says 20/30 Fast Track does not require clients to purchase any products and focuses on clean eating.
“We’ll give you everything you need for the first 30 days. After that, if you don’t want to buy one product, you don’t have to. That is a plus for a lot of people because they’re tired of product-driven businesses,” Bean said.
During the first 30 days, clients are focused on removing processed foods from their diet and intake food that has the highest nutrition with the lowest calories: proteins, fruit and vegetables.
“Some of the other diet programs
revolve around prepackaged foods which, again, is processed food. It’s not real food. Once they get off of that, they don’t know how to go out, shop and cook for themselves,” HSHF Health & Wellness coach Kelly Dryden said.
The 20/30 Fast Track program allows clients to eat at restaurants, and recipes in the cookbook help clients make meals for their families. After detoxing for the first 30 days, clients who choose to continue the program slowly reintroduce new foods, learning what foods work for their bodies and which ones don’t.
“You can’t listen to your body if you are eating a bunch of junk food. The ones that make it through the 30 days, which is most of them, 85 percent, go on to the next part,” Dryden said.
HSHF offers free seminars on Mondays about the program and clients also have a check-in and support group each week. Dryden works with clients on their meal plan using a scientific formula to find out what foods are best for their bodies and helps figure out their eating triggers and habits. She also contacts them daily to check on them and support them throughout the process.
“It is more important to pay attention to how you feel when you eat something versus paying attention to the scale. If you are eating right for your body then the weight will come off. The whole point is to get off of the medication, feeling better and turning it into a lifestyle and not a diet. That is one of the things that we say at the beginning, ‘If you are trying to buy into a 30-day diet, we don’t want you,’” Dryden said.
For those fearful of the gym, the program does not require hours of strenuous exercise. Rather, it promotes gentle movement such as walking. After shedding the pounds, HSHF offers clients the opportunity to take part in classes, personal training and indoor and outdoor activities.
“One aspect that we have seen is that it has restored people’s joy in working out because many times people come to workout almost as a form of punishment,” Bean said.
“People who were terrified before to come into the gym are now our gym rats,” Dryden said.
The 20/30 Fast Track program is launching a nationwide program for businesses to help their employees reduce stress and balance hormones. For more information about 20/30 Fast Track, call 501-5258446 or visit Hot Springs Health and Fitness, 281 Lake Hamilton Drive.
“It is trustworthy, credible. It’s a plan you can trust. Local physicians have given it the stamp of approval. When they see our clients getting off of blood pressure medicine, reducing medications in other areas, losing the weight, blood sugar for diabetics stabilizing. … They are all for it,” Bean said.