“A goal without a plan is just a wish” would be a great quote to summarize Katie’s journey.
Katie has been with us at OPEX for over a year. As with all our clients, we spoke in great length with Katie about her goals, lifestyle, nutrition, etc… so that we could help her formulate a plan. Based on all the information gathered during conversations and the initial assessment, we provided Katie with a fitness plan and some tools she can use to overcome certain barriers in her life.
Over the course of the first year, Katie meandered her way through her workouts semi-consistently, but never really addressed anything outside the gym. She was slowly improving strength, feeling better overall and gaining confidence with her workouts. But, something was missing. She wanted to see and notice REAL change, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. She also shifted her mindset from having aesthetic goals to wanting more from herself. A better version of Katie now - and forever.
December 12, 2023 Katie and I met in my office. It was the “AH-HA” moment we had been waiting for. We went through a self-evaluation of our 6 Basic Lifestyle Guidelines and discussed each one in great detail. Through the conversation, we identified a few areas that really needed to be addressed: sleep/bedtime routine, managing stress and prioritizing/tracking protein in her diet.
We changed her bedtime routine from falling asleep late watching TV to getting in bed an hour earlier and reading a book. In helping manage stress we agreed she would do some daily breath-work and take a nature walk unplugged. Katie also began to track her food so that we could increase her protein in order to support her workouts.
Fast forward 6 weeks later, our next check-in showed that Katie had lost 12 pounds of FAT! An amazing result from making just a few changes, none of which from her workouts. The habits that she created over those 6 weeks all happened from lifestyle choices. I think that was a great eye-opening experience for Katie (and hopefully to everyone) to see that REAL change doesn’t happen in the gym, it happens in the things we do everyday in choices we make as part of our lifestyle.
Over the next several weeks, Katie lost an additional 8 pounds of fat while maintaining her new habits and adding in a few more. She started running one day per week in addition to her strength days at the gym. One big decision Katie made back in December was to cut out alcohol. She had only been drinking socially, but through some conversations, she decided it did not serve her in a positive way.
I’ve really enjoyed being on this journey with Katie. It’s been a great team effort. I’ve provided my insight, education and tools for her to use while mapping out a plan WITH her while she has done the work. The sooner clients can understand that this is how it works, the better. Take Katie’s results as a perfect example. Be patient, play the long-game, make your goals support your lifestyle, have purpose behind why your doing it and watch yourself soar!
