Testimonials

Note: These stories are long, because we want to depict the change that happens inside. At The Ark, we coach the whole person, and understand that the external is a product of the internal. If you just want the gist, read the bold print.

I reached out to Leah for some feedback on the our journey together. What I got in return was a story that brought me to tears of joy. None of this was new to me. I've been working with Leah for over a year. Still, it was impactful to see it all laid out. This is an excerpt of what she wrote:

"I have tried just about every possible food strategy to get where I want to be, from vegetarian to Adkins, from a diabetic diet to calorie-counting, and even once in a fit of overwhelm as a young mother of 2 in diapers one day I decided I would only eat processed freezer foods and would never have to cook one-handed while carrying a baby on my hip again! (The negative health impact of that last one was swift.). "I quit my lifelong passion of dance because it was just too hard emotionally to fail to make it to class and rehearsal on time because my baby was clinging to me and screaming his head off because I was leaving...if I ever made it at all. It was so disappointing and frustrating that, emotionally, it was better to not even try. I didn't go back for over 10 years. I had adopted a "willow tree" approach to life that meant I intentionally dropped all of my expectations of things that I wanted to happen and just let motherhood take me. While I considered this a survival strategy (I was never disappointed when I didn't have expectations), in retrospect it was not emotionally healthy because it took my drive and ambition.

Then nine years after my 2nd child was born, I had another baby at 39 years old. After my youngest (and 3rd living child) was born almost 7 years ago, my core was so weak and destroyed that I couldn't sit up in bed. I had to roll over and push up with my arms from the side. That is when I met Michael Espinosa at The Ark School of Fitness.

"Then in August of last year, I joined Michael's online Precision Nutrition coaching class. I had finally (!) gone back to dance with the inspirational Barakissa Coulibaly and to barre at Auxo Fitness (thank you Eliana Bardi!) at about the same time. I was frustrated that I could not do some of the moves in dance. I wondered if I was just too old to get that physical conditioning back. I was dancing with people much younger than I in years. I was regularly in food comas after eating and felt out of control of my food outcomes.

I have spent over a year with Michael serving as a nutrition and fitness coach with contact day in and day out. Little by little my mentality started to shift and it was the mental that was most influential in my progress. There are all kinds of weight and measurement metrics that I improved, but the thing I am most proud of is that at the beginning I dreamt of being capable enough to join a dance performance group again and find that community around dance.

Now I am honored to be a member of Mosso-Kan West African Dance and Drum Ensemble. Now I can do the drop move. Now I can do the jump turn. Last month my beloved dance teacher posted a photo of us dancing together in class with the statement "When one dances at the same level as their teacher......Leah I have so much faith in you!!!" Going dancing has become a regular part of my life again and I am grateful to have found a dance soul sister in Alexis Jennings! When I look back and remember where I was before this journey, it is difficult to believe.

"In Michael's coaching there's a lot of effort spent on getting to know yourself and your own priorities and your own weaknesses and strengths. A big part of that is having a coach who is non-judgmental and allows you the freedom to be honest about all of it and who is supportive every step of the way. He is not telling me what to do, but rather suggesting how I might ask myself what to do, encouraging me to explore MYSELF and let the rest go. Ultimately, it places the responsibility for my outcomes on me, which is empowering. Empowerment is what was missing from every other strategy I tried before.”

-Leah Cohen

“When I started my coaching journey with Michael, I stopped weighing myself every day—something I had done thousands of days in a row…. I stopped taking my body measurements because those numbers didn’t matter to me…. I began to trust myself. I had this newborn confidence that was not a mirrored likeness to the one I knew in my past—seemingly invincible, foolhardy, and reckless. No, this enveloping confidence was active, conscious. I knew I was in control of the person I wanted to be. And that I could always change. It was as simple as that. I didn’t stop to think that I couldn’t do something. I started saying thank you when I was complimented instead of feeling like I had to self-deprecate…. I am grateful for my strength. I am grateful for my beautiful confidence.”

Janna overcame the stigmas associated with weight gain, all-or-nothing thinking, and the idea that her body fat percentage defined who she was. She found constancy and solace in her fitness regimen and nutrition while going through emotionally draining personal challenges (legal issues, major loss of income and transitioning jobs). Janna learned how to balance motherhood with her personal and professional goals, and how to celebrate small victories.

Over time, Janna’s fears gave way to wisdom. In sharing with me what she learned, she said, “Microscopic shifts in perspective amount to macroscopic changes. I always have a choice. I’m not what I was, I’m what I choose to be everyday. If your focus is entirely on body weight or size, the joy of developing a lasting relationship to fitness and food is compromised.”

-Janna

Janna added an estimated 5 pounds of MUSCLE over the year. She also added huge numbers to the barbell and acquired her first muscle-up. The super cool thing about all of this is that Janna's transformation won us both money. It was a nice little bonus—a cherry on top of a wonderful transformation.

This year, there is more than a quarter of a million dollars up for grabs, and some HUGE prizes for REALISTIC transformations... All you have to do is show up...

"The curriculum of the program, coupled with Michael's client-centered approach, has helped me apply the new information and insights gained in a way that has improved my overall quality of life, including, but in no way limited to health and fitness.

"I always feel that I have a strong ally in Coach Michael. His coaching has helped me realize that my relationship with my body can be a "win-win" relationship. With the help of his coaching, I am able to reconcile my various desires (for delicious food, strong body, flexibility in my schedule, etc) in a way that I don't do on my own. I rise above the cyclical and self-defeating patterns of excess, guilt, and punishing over-exertion to find clarity, peace, and even enthusiastic excitement with my nutrition and fitness adventure."

-Tyler Nesbit