Nutrition Client Success: Katie R. Interview

Well, I just turned 30 this year which was a huge mental challenge to come to the realization that I was saying goodbye to my 20’s.  I feel like I have come through that pretty well and am coping.  Since I moved to Boston in 2004 I have been in involved with My Gym Childrens’ Fitness Center throughout the Boston area, which I co-own with my dad. I currently live in Brookline with my husband Eric.  After dating for 10 years, he followed me to Boston in 2005 and we actually just celebrated our first year anniversary. As much as we love the community here, we both hope to move back to Denver in the near future.

Why did you want to do want coaching?  (Aside from spending time with me of course).

I was very skeptical when I first was hearing about it and knew that Eric, as a chef, would not be keen on a gluten and dairy free diet and I wasn’t sure I was too excited about the idea either.  Also I was still of the belief that your weight and how you look is more related to the exercise that you do than what you eat. I felt like I had hit a plateau and was ready to change up my routine. This was also about the time I got the news that I needed to have knee surgery to help me get over the pain that I had for the past 3 years.  I had been feeling like I had hit a plateau with my body and my workouts and knew I needed a change.  The tipping point was knowing that I was going to be limited in my activity and meeting with you in person to review the program.  I was ready to commit and I got Eric on board as well!

What did you want to accomplish and what to did you want to change in your body and your life?

My main goal was to break through the weight barrier I had.  Also I knew that I needed to get my eating habits under control before going in for surgery otherwise I was going to be in trouble.  I wanted to lose weight, I had put on about 10 pounds in less than a year and was generally unhappy with how I looked.

And what did you want to change about your body?

I wanted to flatten my belly!  I have always been very focused on my mid section and very self conscious about wearing fitted clothes.  It has gotten much better but I still have some inches that I would like to loose!

Honestly, do you feel that these have improved for you?  If not, tell me anyways anyways, I just won’t print it on the blog, just kidding.

I feel like I have learned a lot through this process.  I found that I have more energy throughout the day, I feel less bloated (which used to be all the time) and feel better about the way I look.  Since I ended my 8 weeks I have found it challenging to “experiment”.  I think I do much better with a set routine where someone tells me what to do and what I can’t do.  Now that it is up to me to decide how and when to experiment I am finding it a bit of a challenge.  It is also a mental game, in my mind I know I am “done” with the program but I also know that it is a life long quest and if I want to maintain my results and see any further improvement I need to stay true to what I have learned.

When we first started, you were a little apprehensive about some of the dietary changes, can you tell us what was the most challenging aspect about the program?

I think the most challenging thing when we first started honestly was finding things that Eric and I would both like to eat.  Especially in the first week it was eating a lot of the same things over and over and that I think was the hardest thing for both of us.

One of the biggest concerns I hear from clients is how does this fit into my social life and how can I maintain this for good.  Since you’ve been through it, can you share some of your insight on this topic?

I had the same concerns, I think if I had a more robust social life it would have been A LOT more difficult.  Fortunately, I was able to control the food in the social situations that I did attend.  I think in the first 4 weeks I would not recommend deviating from the course you are on because it will only make it harder.  Once you become more confident in the knowledge of what you can eat and what you should avoid it becomes easier to make good choices for yourself in social settings.  I would like to reference the advice you gave me, the more prepared you are for the situation the better the chances are that you will get through it successfully.

How was getting through Thanksgiving?  What was that like?

HA!  Well, as you know Thanksgiving was a bit intimidating at first for me.  Thinking about all of those things that we were going to have and after 6 weeks of no gluten or dairy I was a bit nervous about reintroducing them all at once in full force!  However, with your help I became mentally prepared and was able to relax enjoy the “cheat” items I wanted to have and had alternatives for the things I didn’t feel I needed.  Because of the volume of food I was definitely over satiated by the time we were finished.  However, waking up the next day and feeling great helped me to realize how successful I was in dealing with Thanksgiving.

I often describe my coaching as a journey and find that going through this process can become almost a spiritual and growing experience for my clients.  Was there anything you learned about yourself, and your body during this process?

The biggest revelation that I have come away from this process is that your diet truly does effect 75% of how you look with 25% being due to exercise.  I know that if I go back to eating how I was I will go back to feeling how I did.  I have come too far to go back to that.  I love how I feel, I have gained confidence in how I look and that is so important to me as it has been something that I have struggled with my whole life.

What do you think was the most useful aspect of the program?  Was it the journalling, the meal plans, or my witty sense of humor?

All of the above!  Seriously, being held accountable with the journaling even though I wasn’t going to get in trouble but knowing that you were going to look it over made me stick with it.  Now I have it all to go back to and see my success!  The meal plans as I said before gave me the structure that I needed to succeed and of course your sense of humor was an added bonus.

How has your body changed physically, mentally and emotionally?

Physically slimmer and hopefully even more defined as I get back into the activities that I was doing pre-surgery!  Emotionally it is still a challenge.  Food will also be a bit of an emotional challenge for me, more so at different times of the month but everyone knows about that.

What areas of your body do you see the most change?

All over!  I have never really gained weight in one spot, I tend to gain it all over and I loose weight the same way.  Of course because I have always been really focused on my stomach seeing that flatten out has been the biggest reward for me.  I used to think I had a fairly flat stomach but now I know I do.

Now, you actually didn’t workout much during this since you had surgery.  That’s pretty impressive to have those changes without exercise.  Did that surprise you?

I was SHOCKED to lose 5 pounds in the first week which coincided with my surgery which meant I was on the couch all day every day!  Following the first week I continued to loose about a pound a week with a total of 12 pounds lost over the course of the 8 weeks with very little exercise!!

Final question.  Was it worth it?

It was definitely worth it.  I have gained a lot in self confidence and knowledge!  THANK YOU!

Ok, final final question, for real.  Unicorns or Fairies?

A fairy riding a unicorn.