When you came to Soma Fitness what was your fitness goal?
I had definitely plateaued in both performance and weight loss and was really unhappy with my body. I have struggled for a long time with disordered eating, restricting and exercise bulimia and I didn’t want to fall back into old patterns in order to lose weight. I saw my friend Izumi’s incredible transformation as she competed in her first NPC Bikini competition as coached by Summer and figured ‘why not ask for help from Soma?
What is your profession? How did you manage daily life with the program?
I am a touring DJ, producer and vocalist. I live in Paris, France.
What was your athletic/fitness background before Soma?
I am in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, and when I got sober, exercise became my drug of choice. I have competed in many half marathons and an ultra marathon, I am a certified spinning instructor, I work out as meditation and medication. However, my body had adjusted to my way of training and I wanted to look and feel different. Soma was really helpful with this. Summer gave me a whole new set of tools and ever evolving body of knowledge to keep things fun and challenging.
What was most surprising about working with Soma? Or if you worked with another trainer in the past how was working with Summer different?
I had never worked remotely, so that was definitely different, but surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be. Summer’s instructions were easy to follow and meal plans were clear and specific. The hardest thing for me was actually sticking to rest days in order to perform better. It feels counter-intuitive but really pays off. 
What was the most challenging part of working with Soma?
We are dealing with a 9 hour time difference, so logistically, that can be tricky, but we always manage to get in touch eventually. On a personal level, I had a hard time setting aside old belief systems in order to be open minded enough to take direction. I also have a hard time being flexible – once I find a routine I am prone to sticking to it, so it was difficult for me to let go of this rigidity in order to keep things fresh for my brain and body in terms of both work-out and diet. However, I have to say, the flexibility pays off. I feel awesome and I just PR’d in a half marathon last week, so who am I to argue with that? I recently realized that this is the first time in my life I’ve changed my body for the better without starving myself, and I’m doing it on an intense touring schedule. No way I could have done that on my own.
If your way isn’t working, why not give it a shot? Especially if you’re already fit, trying to overcome a plateau or just bored and burnt out and looking to make a change, this is a great and challenging experience, and the sisters of Soma are incredibly supportive, knowledgeable and a real pleasure to work with.