Feed Your Soul Fitness — Local services in Mountain View

I have waited awhile to write my review to get some perspective and really try to put my experience into words. I will start with the positive:

PROs: Small class sizes, having to sign up for the classes creates great accountability and helps with follow through, very supportive trainers, good variety in classes/times to fit most schedules. As far as the 6 week challenge pros: easy to follow meal plans, some great recipes, Like the private group on Facebook as it helps with motivation. These things would receive 5 stars.

CONs: When I first went in to sign up for the challenge, Brandy, the owner said that due to where I already was (not wanting to lose 20+ pounds) that my goal should be based on reducing my body fat%. I expressed concern with that because I have absolutely no experience with measuring that ever in my life. She didn't budge and I felt pressured to go with what she suggested (that is my own fault for not pushing back and sticking with what I know). At the end of week 2 I had lost almost 9 lbs and my body fat % had gone up. I expressed my concern to her then and she said to wait until at least week 3 as it takes awhile for the body to adjust and I really needed to pay attention to time of day, water intake etc. I spoke with her again about it week 4 when it still had not moved and I had started to do more research about body fat % and found it is one of, if not the most, unreliable things to measure. When I met with Brandy and tried to talk about it I felt like I was talking to a wall. There was no validation for the unreliability of the measurement and actually she said that it was probably because I was so stressed and "holding on to too much" and that was why. So although I was working hard and seeing results in my body, apparently the lack of change in measurement was MY fault. I had a similar conversation with her at the end of the challenge, because although I lost 12.5 lbs, my body fat DID NOT CHANGE AT ALL... which seems impossible but that is what the scale said. I am a goal oriented person and so although I was seeing changes, the fact that I was making NO Progress towards my goal was extremely difficult for me and my continued motivation. My experience with Brandy always left me feeling shamed and disrespected. Like I said earlier, the trainers were great, but for me and Brandy is was not positive. I would just urge anyone doing the challenge to do some research about measuring body fat vs. pounds before you start your goal. I always reach my goals and I did not reach this one, or even make any progress, and as a result I feel that I was set up for failure and scammed out of $500. Again, this is just my experience and I know many others have different experiences, but...

I started the 6 week challenge through the advice of a dear friend who was also under the impression that this was a wonderful place who cared about the people they were training. I only spoke with Brandi on the phone when she was signing me up. She did come out of her office the very first time I came in for a class; after that, if she came out, she would only talk to one or two people and then go back into her office.i was never "allowed" to talk to her because she was "too busy" . Most of the trainers were okay. There are a couple that didn't try to help or didn't care if you were having issues. The one that I liked the most was Anthony. He took the time to talk to people. he understood where people were coming from and he genuinely cared. They set you up with a supposid accountability coach, which was a total joke.. the person they set me up with never answer my questions and it's only through text so I never met her in person. There were a couple of times that I asked a question and got a response from Brandi that were very rude and very degrading. Her responses made me feel like a total failure and ashamed of what I was doing wrong by not following her exact orders. Then I was supposed to do a 4-week evaluation with Brandi, but she wouldn't do it so she had somebody else do it. I tried communicating with this person to let her know I was running late, but supposedly she didn't get any of the text messages because she didn't have access (as a trainer and an accountability coach) to that text messaging system that they had set up for the accountability coaches. Brandi tried to blame it totally on me, saying that I did not communicate. when I told her that I had every single message saved and I could prove it to her that I did try, she had no answer except to tell me that I shouldn't have set a time that I knew I wasn't able to make. Then she told me to cut out the last week of the 6-week challenge because I ran out of classes (she had her money for the full 6 weeks.. You have to pay in full) By that point I was so frustrated that I told her that I weighed myself at home to use that weight and call it good.. I truly believe that Brandi is all about money and Control, so if you do not do everything the way she wants, a d if she decides she doesn't like you, she will totally set you up for failure like she did me. I have spoken with others who have done this challenge who have felt the same way, so in my opinion.. I'm sure it works for a hand full of people, but only if you're willing to be bullied and degraded by...

Update: 10/11/20 (AKA: day elbenty-onethird of Plaguemas) Not only am I still a member but during corona lockdown the online Zoom classes were a fantastic option. But i've recently signed up for personal training with Kevin and it is FIRE!! I specifically wanted to work with Kevin b/c he Does. Not. Play. I've found the training sessions incredibly challenging and therapeutic. FYS has been wonderful and completely flexible allowing me to completely customize my training program. My cardio is the best its been in forever and I'm pretty sure I can bust thru brick walls after Kevin's sessions. If you are serious about taking your fitness to a higher level, do yourself a favor and check out Feed Your Soul.

If you do your part, you will get results! I signed up for the 6-week challenge and lost 6 lbs. May not sound like a lot but a pound a week is healthy weight loss for me AND I was on vacation for 2 of those weeks! I've been exercising and stayed pretty active most of my life. But shedding lbs. have been a struggle because I love food. And I didn't have particularly good eating habits. FYS takes a holistic approach of not just butt kicking workouts, but they got me to change my eating out habit to making better choices, cooking more, and actually enjoying it! I LOVE the variety and structure of classes. And if you're like me, you might initially think "30 minute classes? Pffft! Piece of cake!" But these classes are no joke. Working in small groups is like having your own personal trainer but the energy of my classmates really get me pumped and they challenge me to push myself WAY harder than I ever would on my own. The classes are EFFICIENT. They start right on time and it are non stop for 30 minutes. It makes me realize just how much I screw around and rest between reps working out on my own. I have a very irregular schedule so I love that a 30 minute commitment makes it easy to squeeze a class in just about any time. And if I"m feeling I want more, I can do back to back classes. And the culture FYS is amazing! Brandy has really built a supportive community of trainers and clients. There's camaraderie and I've made friends at FYS. Usually at a gym, people (myself included) would put in the earbuds and work out in isolation. Not here. There's so much love and laughter - no wonder it's called...