Month: May 2021

Wishbone

Wishbone

Wishbone The chicken Salted and peppered and floured then oil Fried crispy The smell Delicious and deep The salivating immediate Fried to perfection Served hot and skin crispy Fighting for it It’s the best But I want it all We share And then it appears 

About that mom thing…

About that mom thing…

All I ever wanted was to be a mom. I remember playing house as a kid. I always knew I wanted to have kids. I think people know. I did. It was just something I knew would happen.  It happened to me four times. I 

Client Case Study – One Year Progress

Client Case Study – One Year Progress

 

This is a post about a very successful friend of mine. She just finished up her one year check-ins with me. She changed so much physically, but she is one who has done the work mentally as well. She will have all the habits and behaviors she learned along with the way and I have no doubt that she did the work in order to keep the weight off. She is an amazing human as well. This is my friend – Michele

Case Study – Michele Johnson – North Dakota

Michele came to me at 40 years of age at the end of April, 2020. Her official start date was May 5, 2020. She was tired all the time. She weighed 235 pounds and wanted to have the energy she had before her thyroid problems. She was frustrated and sick of feeling like crap. She had been limiting her carbs to no more than 40 grams per day and had been also doing Intermittent Fasting. She felt stuck. She felt like she was just spinning her wheels and couldn’t get any results. She was beyond frustrated and ready to make some changes in order to get her health back. 

From the information I received from her, I calculated her macro information and provided her those numbers. We started tracking all macros and she realized how inconsistent her eating had been. It was tough for her at first because she had not eaten this much food for many, many years. It was new and it was a little bit scary. The mindset work was huge for her. Knowing that because she was going to be eating more food and not gaining weight was a big lightbulb moment. She was already getting plenty of steps in on the daily with her busy job. She was itching to get in some kind of strength training. This was a huge dial mover for her as she felt she had lost a lot of muscle after her thyroid was removed. By implementing the macros and the strength training she realized how much the strength training and the consumption of protein helped to change the shape of her body. She did the work everyday. She planned her days and she planned her meals. She wanted to be as accurate as she possibly could. 

The scale was a mind challenge for her, as it is with most of us. I encouraged her to look at the bigger picture. We started focusing on other things, such as strength and performance goals. The -being in it for the long haul- is something that can be very scary, because of the diet mentality. That usually means a 30 day program and done. This is not that. This is eliminating the yo-yo dieting. This is being able to eat what you want so you don’t feel that deprivation. Every week during her checkins there was always something new she noticed. There was always something she was holding herself accountable for. Many times it was the shock of being able to enjoy foods that she previously considered off limits.

During the process she had major surgery and even though she was afraid of not being able to get in any activity, I encouraged her to keep sticking to her macros as closely as she could, one because her body would need the calories in order to heal and two because I wanted her to see that she could still eat, not be able to workout, and let her body heal. There was no strict deficit here. She needed to heal.  She put her trust in herself and in me. 

When she felt stuck, we went through strategies she could adopt in order to get things moving again. Sometimes that was hanging out for a while without a deficit, sometimes it was doing protein and calories and not all the macros. Sometimes it was employing patience and knowing it was okay not to have a loss sometimes. 

This client has been with me one year. This process has been nothing short of amazing. At 12 weeks she was down 22 pounds and was getting stronger and stronger. Whenever she felt like she was slipping back into her old self she would tell herself that it was harder being unhealthy, overweight and feeling like crap everyday. At week 22 she was feeling all the non-scale victories. She realized how much weight training has changed her body. She loved that it was okay to ask questions and she loved that she got a part in how we went forward with her plan. She has been enjoying foods with zero guilt. These are foods that she previously considered off limits. Week 40 was a huge milestone for her. CANCER FREE. Direct quote, “I am just loving life right now, even in the cold.” She has been building habits that will stay with her for the long haul. She has been watching her family eating better too. At week 42 she hit a running record. At week 44, she hit another running record and said how much she really likes prepping her food because it takes the thought out of everything. At week 50 she has lost 58 pounds and almost 10 inches off her waist. As you can see though, she has grown way beyond what the scale says. She has done all the mindset work. She has done the behavior change. She has built the resilience needed to succeed. She has consistently made the choices that make her proud. 

At week 52 – one year of coaching this client made her goal. She had a few days this week where she was at 175 on the scale. Unbelievable. She lost 60 pounds in one year. She lost over 10 inches off her waist. She did the work. She put in the time and she changed her life. She decided she was worth it and she went and grabbed the possibility of what her life could look like 60 pounds later. It’s not even the weight. It’s the changes made inside that I am most proud of with her. She has been running virtual races and doing strength workouts and is improving day after day after day. I am so proud of her. 

The following is a quote from Michele – 

“I wanted to become healthier, stronger and lose weight, did I think it was possible, hell no but you changed all that. I astonished my thyroid Dr at my yearly check up with my health and am now on a normal dose of meds.  I am stronger as in I can go up 5 flights of stairs without blinking or needing an oxygen mask and jog a solid 2.75 miles without needing to stop. And the kicker is that I did lose weight. I have proved everyone wrong that says they can’t lose weight because of thyroid problems, hormonal problems, or having too much stress. I listened and trusted in you Peggie and you helped me to prove all of them wrong. You are a kick ass coach! I will never forget you and how you helped me. Thank you again!!!!”