Melissa Alcantara - Fit Gurl: The Total-Body Turnaround Program

Contents

For Victor and Bella

Contents

A few years ago, I was up in the middle of the night and I was thinking, I just need to get it together. I need to figure out whats going on with my body. I need to find someone who cares, who is willing to get up at any hour, someone who will push me harder than Ive ever been pushed before. As I was scrolling through Instagram I randomly came across Melissas page and immediately thought, I have to work out with her. It was like our universes aligned. She was moving to LA that weekand has been my trainer ever since.

I assumed I probably couldnt follow her lifestyle to a Tlook at her bodybut I could tell she is the kind of person I wanted to have around to push me. I wanted her voice in my head, I wanted her to show me how to do a certain exercise or move a certain way, and I wanted her there to inspire me to keep going. I knew she would be really hard on me. I needed her to share with me the same healthy lifestyle that she was living and has worked for her.

Once I started to work out with her I realized, This is way harder than I thought it would be. Melissa pushed me.

We work out at 6:00 a.m. every day before the kids wake up. I feel so much better and more energized going into my day after Ive completed my workout. Sometimes Im sleepy in the mornings, and its difficult for me to get going, but Melissa never complains. We share my goals, and she is always there to help me accomplish them.

Melissa taught me a completely different way in the gym. We still do some cardio but she showed me how you can really transform your body using weights and not be afraid of them.

In this book, Melissa will teach you how to care for your body, your health and fitness. Even if you only have a little bit of time to work out and even with limited or no access to a gym, Melissa will help you find a way.

KIM

So, since this is an introduction, I thought Id be super literal about it and introduce myself to you, like a proper person. My name is Melissa Alcantara (pronounced Al-Can-Tar-A) and Im a personal trainer, mom, and fucking superhero. I grew up in the Bronx, New York, but I spend most of my time now in and around Los Angeles, California. On most days, you can find me in the gym, getting my own workouts in, then at the gym training my clients, then spending time with my daughter or friends. On most days, you can also find me in disbelief that Im living the life Im living.

Why? Because I grew up without present parents (like, they were physically never around). I never had any thoughts about what I was going to be or had any real sense of direction. I didnt have a support system or someone to tell me good job or help me with homework or put me in a sport. I definitely never felt like I was good enough to be anybody or become someone.

But then something happened to me that changed my life. I mean literally changed the trajectory of my entire life. Youre going to think Im crazy when I say it, but its 100% the truth. You see, what happened was... I started working out.

I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, and it seems like a super convenient way to introduce my book about health and fitness. But my life honestly changed the day I made my first real commitment to do the work to create the body I wanted. That day was seven years ago. I was in my kitchen, and the workout I did made me scream and cry and wince in pain. I thought I might die.

I didnt die. Instead, as it turns out, I actually cracked open the door to my future that dayjust the slightest, tiniest hair of a crack, but it was open. Of course, I had no idea. I was just trying to stay alive as Shaun T shouted at me from the TV while I did his Insanity program. I thought for sure I had accidentally stumbled on the workouts designed for professional athletes. No way this was a beginner program. (It was.)

I didnt know then that this first workout would lead to dozens more kitchen workouts, which led to me losing 40 pounds, which led to me gaining my confidence and empowerment. And this was all happening as Instagram was becoming more popular, and I remember thinking that I wanted to start sharing more of my story. (This was way before actual stories on IG.) Just because my body had changed, and so much of my self had changedI had confidence for the first time ever, I was more in control of my life, I could do anything, I felt I was capable of literally anythingI felt this desire to put it out there in the world. I posted pictures because I wanted to show people that if you put your mind to something, it can be done.

I shared and bared it all: shots of my first attempts at eating healthy, my busted basement gym (at least it was a step up from the kitchen), sweaty post-workout pics, shots of me trying jujitsu or riding around on my bike (its crazy how gifting yourself with fitness opens up your world to so much!), my before pics, my before bootyhello, flat butt, no-muscle legsthen my after pics, which were all just in-progress pics. You know, I put it all up on the Gram because in addition to the body and the self-growth and the loving myself for the first time, the real gift was sharing my journey and helping people who wanted the same change.

And thats when the craziest thing of all happened. Straight-out-of-a-movie crazy. I got a message from someone saying they worked for Kim Kardashian West and she wanted to know if I might be willing to train her.

Im sorry... WHAAAAAT?! WHOOO? WHAAAAAAAT??!!!

I thought it was complete bullshit at first. Turns out it was the real deal. This chick really worked for Kim Kardashian West and Kim really wanted to meet me. Seriously. Can you imagine that happening out of the blue? Im pretty sure the odds of me getting hit by lightning in my lifetime were greater than for this to happen.

So, I stepped up my own training a few (thousand) notches, and I started training one of the best known personalities in the world. And it all started with that crazy hard workout, in my crazy tiny kitchen in Brooklyn.

I know what youre thinking: What does this have to do with me? Well, Im glad you asked. This entire book is for you and about you. I just felt like you had to see at least a snapshot of my experience, so that when I said with The Turnaround anything is possible, you would believe me at least the tiniest bit. Did you get it, that tiniest little bit of belief? Good, because that belief is for you, not me. Its for you and the door were about to open to your futurethe one thats out there undiscovered and full of wild and unpredictable possibility.

START HERE

I was 28 when I decided I was really ready and willing to make a change in my life. At that point I was a mom who still had a postpartum body over a year after giving birth to my daughter, Bella. (Nothing wrong with a postpartum body... but my pre-partum was more partying and puffing on cigarettes than any kind of exercising and eating well. So, it wasnt pretty before, and it was even less pretty after.) This was me around that time.

In case you cant tell, this is what a never-been-fit newbie looks like. This was my starting point. Im sharing this in case youre reading through this introduction and youre on the fence about this program or your abilities, or you are feeling a rising sense of self-doubtjust stop. You now have visual proof that everyone is a beginner at some point.

A lot of the people I meet or who reach out to me on IG say they have all kinds of obstacles to getting fit, as though its some kind of acceptable reason to not get started. They say it with shame or embarrassment, as though theres something wrong with being at the start of something. I didnt come out of my mothers body with abs! You know what I say to these things? SO WHAT!