FITNESS & NUTRITION COACH LYDIA VANDY BOGURT HELPS OTHERS MAKE LASTING CHANGES TO THEIR HEALTH

@lydia_vb

About: I was born in Hackettstown, New Jersey, but I grew up in the Poconos. Currently I live in Michigan with my husband and son. I genuinely like to help people be the best version of themselves.

Helping People Feel Empowered and Awesome

Exercise came into my life when I was in high school. I played sports, but was never good at it. One summer I decided that I was tired of being the worst on the team and started training to get better. I came back in the fall and made the varsity team, and was the captain of the team, and the fastest one. I fell in love with the process of how you can make yourself better by working hard.

After graduating college, and living in Michigan for a few years, I decided to launch my dream - The YOU Method, which provides customized fitness and nutrition coaching programs. It was something I’d dreamed about for many years. I knew there was a big gap, where everyone was trying to force themselves into things that weren’t built for them.

The thing I most enjoy doing is hyping people up to realize what they’re capable of and what they have inside of them. With the YOU Method, we build programs around what’s going to work for a specific person. The reward is that they can feel empowered and awesome about what they’re doing.

"The thing I most enjoy doing is hyping people up to realize what they're capable of and what they have inside of them."

Protecting your Body Inside and Out

When it comes to fitness and nutrition, everything seems so polarizing, but I always try to take a moderate, middle-of-the-road approach.

You have to protect your body against the negative effects of what comes from not caring for it, and not trying to feed it nutritious foods, but you also need to protect your body and your mental state from the effects that come from over-obsessing with those things. I’ve been to that point where I thought I need to only eat healthy things or else I’m going to die or gain weight - that’s a really bad place to be in.

"You have to protect your body against the negative effects of what comes from not caring for it, and not trying to feed it nutritious foods, but you also need to protect your body and your mental state from the effects that come from over-obsessing with those things."

It’s important to protect yourself from going extreme on either end of the spectrum, and using nutrition and fitness as a tool to achieve a balanced lifestyle, and one that’s sustainable in the long term. That’s one of the most damaging and detrimental things you can do for your health - falling into that all or nothing cycle.

Making her Own Set of Rules

Even when I was already in the nutrition and fitness field for a long time, I struggled with thinking that perfection was the goal and that you had to eat super clean and workout all the time, and I held myself to these standards that were unattainable. At one point, I got sick of trying all these diets and beating myself up all the time, and I remember thinking that there has to be a better way to do this. That’s when I decided to stop following everyone else’s rules and build my own method from scratch.

More recently, I had a baby. When you get pregnant and see your body go through all these changes, and nothing’s in your control anymore, that’s a whole process. And then you have a baby and you’re so tired, and you're living in a body that you don’t recognize.

Having the foundation of balanced nutrition, balanced fitness, balanced habits that I was able to fall back on, because I spent years healing that all-or-nothing relationship I had with my health - that made that difficult time more manageable because it was already part of who I was.

This is what I teach clients as well - that you can shift your identity and your internal motivator. You get to decide who you are, what stays and what goes, and what’s your reality - this is what really drives change.

Fitness & Health Tip: Go Tiny, Go Small

Go simple, even more simple than you think. Whatever changes that you’re trying to make, make them tinier and smaller than you think you need to make them. A lot of times when we think we need to change, we try and change everything all at once, and then we can’t keep up with it and feel like a failure. If you just go tiny, then you can do it until it becomes second nature, and then you can build on it.

Women’s Empowerment

I think women need a little help believing in their innate ability to decide what they’re capable of. At the end of the day you’re the only one who lives in your body and calls the shots. Women naturally give so much to others, but at the same time you’re the one in charge of you, and it’s not anyone else’s priority, it’s yours.

"I think women need a little help believing in their innate ability to decide what they’re capable of. At the end of the day you’re the only one who lives in your body and calls the shots. Women naturally give so much to others, but at the same time you’re the one in charge of you, and it’s not anyone else’s priority, it’s yours."

Daily Skincare Routine

My skin is very balanced. It used to be a bit more oily, for example, in the T-zone. After my pregnancy, I had a lot of breakouts around my mouth and nose. I stayed consistent with my skincare routine and eventually it went away.

In the morning, I workout first thing. Then I use PURIFY ME, followed by REFRESH ME. After that I mix together REVIVE ME and a few drops of Argan Oil and apply that.

GLOW ME is my all-time favorite. I use it every day, whether I plan to wear makeup or not, and it gives the perfect amount of coverage.

In the evening, I wash my face with CLEANSE ME, then spritz on I AM JOY. After that I apply BRIGHTEN ME around my eyes, and again my special REVIVE ME-Argan Oil blend. I finish the routine with RECOVER ME.

Twice a week, I use the DETOX ME mask, or sometimes I’ll dab just a little bit on a breakout spot.

"GLOW ME is my all-time favorite. I use it every day, whether I plan to wear makeup or not, and it gives the perfect amount of coverage."

Secret Ways to Use FRÉ:

I use I AM LOVE as a scalp treatment during the winter. I also use Argan Oil on my baby’s cradle cap, and rub it all over him to keep his skin moisturized

Rapid Fire

• Favorite exercise? Kettlebell goblet squats
• What does sweat mean to you? Hard work
• What comes to mind when you think of FRÉ? How good it smells
• What are you most excited about in life right now? My son. He’s at the most fun age right now, everyday is something new.
• What’s something you’d still love to learn? How to dance
• If you were a hashtag, what would you be? #smile
• What is your mantra? Something’s always better than nothing
• What’s the best advice that you’ve ever received in your life? From my mom - she said that you can be happy and sad at the same time
• What does women’s empowerment mean in 2021? For me, it means being who you know you’re meant to be and not apologizing for it
• What are your dreams for the FRÉ community? That it becomes something that everyone’s heard of. I hope that everyone who sweats has at least one FRÉ product in their bathroom drawer.