Why am I a Nutrition and Fitness Coach?

My story started in 2018.  I joined after a particularly uncomfortable night spent feeling awful because I ate too much pizza.  I wish I could say this didn’t happen often, but it totally did.  Over the course of a few years, I’d put on 50 extra pounds, and I blamed all the normal things, primarily stress and being busy.  It finally got to a point where I couldn’t do basic things like take a hike without feeling awful and wanting to cry.  I worried about whether or not I could physically do things with my family and I spent a lot of nights awake because I’d overeaten.  No joke, like overeaten…..a lot.  Did I mention that I hid food from my husband?  Well, I did.  I frequented drive thru joints because I was “too busy” to cook or because “I deserved it” after a long day.  

My best friend told me more than once about working with a nutrition coach and I just wasn’t convinced that I could do it; I put her off and told her I was committed to trying other things first.  I’d tried a LOT of diets and never managed to see them through.  I was really worried about starting something AGAIN only to fail.  I started Crossfitting before I was willing to change how I ate.  I can’t tell you the number of times I worked out and felt like I was going to die while I did it.  I just couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t losing weight working out so hard.  

I finally gave in and signed up with a coach in 2018.  Remember the part where I said I was afraid of failing?  I was so scared about it that I didn’t even tell my husband I joined.  He’s not stupid though, so he was suspicious that something was going on when a food scale suddenly showed up.  He is amazing, so he went with it and didn’t ask a lot of questions.  

Am I crying right now writing about this?  Dangit, I guess I am.  Those feelings from way back then just don’t seem to go away, so I get all the feels when I talk about where I started and just how lucky I am to have this guy with me while I do it all.    

During my time with my coach, I had to get real, like really real, with myself about WHY I overate.  I tried to be super engaged in the process and really pay attention to what was going on in my mind in those moments that I was compelled to eat.  I’ve spent a lot of time talking to myself over the last few years, sometimes out loud, about what I want and whether or not the food in front of me aligns with those goals.  That doesn’t mean I don’t indulge! The difference now is that I’ve learned how to do it in a controlled way and I’m forever grateful to Stronger U and Jodi for that lesson.  

There were holidays, summers, vacations, and I finished up a Master’s Degree all while, I lost weight.  It honestly blew my mind.  I learned more than I ever expected not just about weight loss, but about my entire relationship with food.  Food used to be a reward, a comfort, and everything in between.  I learned to live my life and enjoy food rather than feeling like the food controlled my life and my decisions.  Have I mentioned that I’m grateful for that?  I’ll say it over and over again.  I’m grateful for the whole dang thing.  

Now, I can hike with my husband and never give it a second thought.  The clothes in my closet just fit!  I can’t tell you how many hours I spent putting clothes on only to take them off over and over again over the years; it blows my mind that I can just order things in a consistent size now and they fit.  Craziness!  The biggest moment for me after the weight loss was the last big vacation we took pre-COVID.  My husband is a pilot and we fly in small planes because that is what he loves to do.  I used to dread the idea of squeezing into a plane.  Two years ago we flew to Utah to hike in Zion National Park.  I fit comfortably in the plane and took an ACTIVE vacation on purpose!  We went to a concert, and it might honestly have been the very first concert I ever attended without a drink.  I can’t even begin to explain how much more I enjoyed that music than any time before.  It was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken and now active vacations are just part of our lifestyle.  

If any of this story hits home with you, or you want to write your own ending like I did, I'd love to help you do that.  There is a LOT more within your control than you're giving yourself credit for right now.