For the last two weeks I’ve shared with you why I decided to hire fellow colleague and trainer, Katie Petersen of Active Evolution to help me take the guess work out of my food choices. What she gave to me was much more valuable than any nutrition plan, (read initial post here, and  part 2 here). And now my clients want to know how I’ve been faring…

MEASUREMENTS

I started Katie’s nutrition plan on April 28. My ‘perceived set’ body weight was 133 pounds and the percentage of body fat as recorded on my home scale hovered at 27%. Within four weeks of following Katie’s nutrition plan my weight dropped to 128 pounds! A solid five pound weight loss by changing what I ate, when I ate, and how much I ate. Weighing in under 130 is a HUGE deal for me; it usually took a weekly running volume of 15-25 miles to achieve and maintain this weight. I always thought I needed to run to maintain a lower number on the scale! I now know different. This is unchartered territory for me!

*Note, the only change in my workout is that I added a consistent third weight training session each week. The main variable that was altered in this eight week period was my nutrition and more consistent water intake.

Aside from the weight loss, what was more powerful to me were the caliper and circumference measurements Katie recorded. In the first four weeks I lost 1.0” from my waist AND hips. My right thigh which has always been oddly larger, reduced in circumference by 1.25”! I also feel a difference in the texture of my skin, it’s more supple. Personally I think I look a couple of years younger! This skin texture difference may very well be from the fish oil and Kyani supplements I have been taking daily since May 1.

I was a little surprised to see the measurements continue to change as much as they did for the last four weeks. With any journey, I had my ups and downs with staying on track. We had guests in town, we ate out more than usual, and let’s be honest, I was completely altering the way I ate. Initially it was a real challenge. I did the best I could with my nutrition choices when we were out, trying to stay the path, and course correcting as soon as possible—and it all paid off. There was less weight loss in June, but my body mass continued to change. The body fat percentage on my home scale June 19 was 23.0%, down 4% since when I started!

I lost 7 pounds of body fat and gained 1 pound of lean muscle mass in eight weeks following Katie’s nutrition plan.

If you asked me 15 years ago–even 5 years ago, what was the least favorite part of my body—my answer would have been a swift and resounding answer…THIGHS. I have never liked my legs, for as long as I could remember. I actually have contemplated liposuction because I thought that I was doing everything possible to reshape them; everything but re-haul my nutrition. I LIKE my legs now. My thighs don’t rub together anymore when I walk. There is actually a small gap between my thighs when I stand. I’m so impressed!

I have enjoyed every step in this process. I have a new found identity. I have changed my eating habits and frankly, I did not anticipate the physical and emotional changes to happen so quickly. It was a lot of work at the beginning, and I’m grateful to have the full support from my husband who helps with meal preparation and shopping—it makes a world of difference. To think I was ‘just’ looking to reduce my body fat and hone in more control. What Katie gave me is far more valuable than any nutrition plan. I now know that if (when) I find myself slipping away from my new eating habits, I KNOW I have the tools to be re-routed. I have my own GPS—and I know it works.

HOW AM I DOING NOW?

Do I still follow Katie’s nutrition plan?  Yes and no. I know the macronutrients (protein:fat:carbs) and the portions that I need to eat for each meal and I follow that closely during the week with liberties when we eat out, or are out of town. I don’t always weigh my food, I know how to eye-ball portions pretty well now. I definitely continue to eat timely—every 2-3 hours to keep my metabolism fed—and drink plenty of water.

Do I eat desserts, pizza and ice cream?  Yep. I’ve had an ice cream cone once a week for the last few weeks. I do love my chocolate too. I’ve had a couple of over-consumption moments lately and I’m tackling those emotions when they come up. The difference now is that I have the tools to re-route; to not feel guilty when I overeat, and accept that I had a moment and move on.

Is it a lot of work to meal prep for me and rest of family. Yes. My husband usually cooks a few days worth of protein at the beginning of the week for him and I. I tend to return to the grocery store once or twice a week to stock up on greens or buy more prepared protein when time is limited to cook. In the beginning it was a lot more work because it was a new routine, but we’ve got a groove going now and it’s just the new norm. I’d like to say my boys eat what we eat at dinner time, but we’re not that family. At least one boy gets a different meal because he dislikes any sort of animal protein.

Are you still seeing changes in your body? Yes. I’ve lost two more pounds since June (125 pounds today!) and I’m not really ‘trying’ to lose more weight, I just have new eating habits. I’m a little in disbelief. I re-weigh myself in the mornings because I think the scale is broken. I cannot remember a time in the last decade when I weighed 125. To be honest it doesn’t feel like effort right now. I’m eating smarter, working out smarter and continue to get stronger.

Do I drink wine and beer?  Yes, but it has always been in moderation. I’m not a big wine drinker, one glass makes me tipsy. I do enjoy my beer though. I tend to drink 2-3 beers over the weekend in the summer.

Do I ever overindulge and eat too much?  It’s happened a few times. I’m more aware of my actions and try to figure out why I’m really overeating. I eat out of emotion—we all do. If I can label the emotion, I’m more apt to do a re-route. (And the re-route may not happen at the moment I’m overeating, but rather a day or week later. It’s a process.)

Do I feel like I’m denying myself? Nope, not one bit. If I’m really craving something I’ll eat it.

Do I think Katie is amazing? Yes—so much so that we’re collaborating together to bring AMC moms a BRAND NEW fitness and nutrition program, “60-Days of YOU”  in the fall. We want everyone to share in this transformational journey. It’s that powerful!  More details coming soon!

~ . ~ . ~ . ~. ~

See Other Related Posts on Active Moms Club Blog:

Part 1– I Followed A Nutrition Plan for 60-Days. Here’s What Happened

Part 2– I Followed A Nutrition Plan for 60-Days. Here’s What Happened

5 Reasons Why Women (Especially Moms) Should Lift Weights

 

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Last week I shared with you why I decided to hire fellow colleague and trainer, Katie Petersen of Active Evolution to help me take the guess work out of my food choices. What she gave to me was much more valuable than any nutrition plan, (read initial post here). This week I continue to share my journey…

In addition to my nutrition plan, Katie took into account my workout regimen and tweaked it to better fit my goal of reducing overall body fat. At the time I had been doing 2-3 weekly strength training sessions, 2-3 days of cardio. She noted that it was critical to boost resistance training to help boost growth hormone—which is helpful with fat-burning. (Which is why I preach to AMC moms that strength training is so important for weight loss). I made sure to get three, 60-minutes sessions of kettlebell training in weekly and attempted to add in one deadlift and bench press session each week. (For various reasons, these additional resistance sessions only happened 3-4 times total over the 8-week period.)

WEEKLY WORKOUT SCHEDULE

Mondays: Kettlebell class (60 minutes)
Tuesdays: Cardio (run/walk or stairclimber, 20-50 minutes); bench press session in afternoon (20-25 minutes)
Wednesdays: Kettlebell class (60 minutes)
Thursdays: Cardio (run/walk or stairclimber, 20-50 minutes)
Fridays: Kettlebell class (60 minutes)
Saturdays: Day off
Sundays: Bike ride (60-150 minutes)

*As many days of the week as possible I incorporate 5-20 minutes of mobility work—active stretching, foam rolling, light weight functional exercises. I usually do this first thing in the morning. And to be totally honest, this was an ‘intended’ workout schedule. I was adamant to get in three days of kettlebell training each week, but cardio on Tue/Thu was harder to squeeze in 20-30 minutes, if at all. 

EATING, EMOTIONS, OBSERVATIONS & AWARENESS

Part of Katie’s nutrition plan—and the most powerful piece of the whole process, was recording my feelings and observations after I finished every meal for the initial two weeks. What I discovered is that journaling quickly made me aware of my emotions AND how they tie into the foods I ate or wanted to eat (which typically were foods NOT on my meal plan…sweets, comfort foods, alcohol, etc.). When I shared my feelings and observations back to Katie, she helped me sort through my emotions. It has been a very powerful collaboration. She has helped me connect my mind to my body.

Breakthrough Moment

One of the most poignant moments in this journey was when I realized and acknowledged that I am no longer an endurance athlete. My relationship with food and exercise (pre-Katie) had been molded and formed in my glorious triathlon days when I ate often and what I wanted because as an endurance athlete you could do that. There was always a long run or a long bike ride on the week’s schedule…so in my mind I’d just burn it off. THIS. This relationship with food; this awareness was an ‘a-ha’ moment in my journey.

Now I’m working smarter! I realized that when I have control of my food choices—like I do now, I don’t feel obligated to work my butt off the next day. (To be clear, I have never thought of exercise as punishment. I love to move and challenge my body; it fills me with energy and empowers me). But at this moment I understood I subconsciously ate as if  I were working out 10-15 hours a week. This recognition/awareness has brought me so much peace. I have let go of my identity as an endurance athlete, and as a result, let go of the mindset that I have to go run and bike long and hard because I overate the day before. I’m at peace with myself; it’s a liberating feeling. Nowadays I am smarter about my workouts and my food choices—and I don’t force my body to run if it’s not feeling it. To my amazement, it’s honestly less effort to maintain my new ‘comfort zone’ weight (126-127) than my old ‘comfort zone’ weight (131-132). That is priceless! Like any old habit though, I have found it slips back into play from time to time. Now I’m much more aware of my actions and can adapt more quickly to get nutrition back on track.

As Katie shared, “The art is in the recognition. Allowing more sweets may feel like a trip-up, but it is not. It just IS. And now you are hearing the conversation—knowing and naming the feeling, acknowledging the behavior, and course correcting. To me, it’s like taking a minor detour and welcoming the reroute—whereas without conscious awareness, we plow forward through each day without a GPS at all. It is a dance between the body and mind, and the mind is intensely convincing. I guess my point is that it is less about reaching a state of perfection—never eating more than the body needs/always eating exactly what it requires—and more about being aware. Almost every single person we know has probably eaten into the “too full” zone at least once this week! So again, gentleness, gratitude for seeing clearly, even if it’s a few moments or even days later.”

This sums up the whole process for me. Be aware. Allow yourself what your body asks for. Have gratitude. Live in the moment. Be at peace with yourself. Enjoy the ride.

Final installment next Monday! I’ll share more before & after pictures/measurements and how I have  adapted to my new healthy habits that allow me to become a more authentic version of myself!

I’m thrilled to share with you that Active Moms’ Club is collaborating with Coach Katie to bring AMC moms a BRAND NEW fitness and nutrition program, “60-Days of YOU”  in the fall. We want everyone to share in this transformational journey. It’s that powerful!  More details coming soon!

~ . ~ . ~ . ~. ~

See Other Related Posts on Active Moms Club Blog:

Part 1– I Followed A Nutrition Plan for 60-Days. Here’s What Happened

5 Reasons Why Women (Especially Moms) Should Lift Weights

25 Random Facts About Me

 

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Over the winter and spring, I found myself struggling emotionally and felt out of control of sorts, especially when it came to my nutrition. The long Chicago winters are not my favorite and my personal training business, the Active Moms’ Club was thrown a big curve ball in needing to find a new training location for my clients and me. During this uneasy period, I decided to reach out to fellow trainer and nutrition coach, Katie Petersen owner of Active Evolution to help me hone my nutrition and find focus when many things around me felt like they were spiraling out of control.

As a personal trainer and fitness enthusiast, I’ve averaged the same body weight for the last 10 years (with the exception of the years going through IVF and a twin pregnancy) and have always felt that this was my body’s ‘set weight’ and comfort zone. However, in the last few years even with a consistent weight, my body fat percentage—as measured by my home scale— has slowly been creeping up. In my days of Ironman training, and when I was 10 years younger, my body fat was around 23%. These days it’s closer to 27%, and ironically I am the strongest, and have the most muscle mass than I have ever had in my life. (Check out 25 More Random Facts About Me here).

To be perfectly honest, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into with Coach Katie’s nutrition plan. I impulsively decided to make an 8-week commitment with the main goal of reducing my body fat. What I received was a life altering experience that has changed my relationship with food, and the types and quantity of food that I eat.

In eight short weeks I lost 6.4 pounds, dropped my body fat from 27% to 23%, and lost over an inch circumference in my thighs, waist, hips and chest!

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED—

I thought I ate well balanced meals before Katie rocked my world.

I was not even close to consuming what I thought my body needed.

Pre-Katie, I’d have a tendency to skip meals, or eat a small snack for breakfast before a workout. I snacked A LOT. I’d grabbed nuts, cheese/crackers, a bowl full of cherries/grapes, Lara Bars, raisins (healthy, right!?)…whatever happen to be in the kitchen, ended up in my mouth. A snack went into my mouth after I got home from clients; before I picked up the boys from school; while I sat on the couch to read a magazine. I ate when I was happy, sad, anxious, overwhelmed, tired, procrastinating, or stressed. Sound familiar?

Many of us have jumped from one diet fad to another to rebellion-mode and back again. Katie likes to cut through the static and instill healthy eating practices right out of the gate. She provides an initial structure as a sort of internal reset button—shifting appetite cues, cravings, and energy. Rather than counting calories, the program is based around achieving the best macronutrient ratio (carbs:proteins:fats) specific to your body’s needs. Katie practices Biosignature assessment, which uses caliper readings as a window into a person’s hormonal environment. The sites where fat stores can indicate imbalances between estrogen and testosterone, high cortisol (stress) levels, quality of sleep, etc. The readings, along with several other evaluations, help Katie direct the angle to take with food, supplements, and training/cardio protocols for a particular person.

STRUCTURE OF MEAL PLAN

The meal plan seemed simple enough, it just required thoughtful meal planning and prep. She promised me that I would enjoy having an exact meal plan as it would take the guess work out of thinking about what to eat. It took a little to get used to, but she was right.

Basic of Nutrition plan:

• Eat the first meal within a hour of waking (important to feed the body protein to continue to replenish macronutrients after body’s repair process overnight)
• Continue to eat every 2.5-3.0 hours—trying never to go more than 3 hours without calories to keep metabolism churning
• Ideally drink a gallon of water a day (with my overactive bladder, we negotiated water volume down to 60-70 ounces, and thats working well for me)
• Eat protein at each meal— there are 6 meals every day (below is an example of meal #2 on a weight training day, it fills me up)

• Measure food in grams to know exact ratio of macronutrients (protein:fat:carbs) and how the ratios work for my body so adjustments could be made. I bought a food scale to measure all my food in grams (I can eyeball quantities pretty well now)
• Eat with attention and awareness
• Practice intentional connection with my body—listening when its hungry, satisfied, or full
• Eat slowly in a relaxed state to be aware and be ready to hear my body’s cues (this can present some challenges with 6-year old boys and the struggles that may ensue at dinner time, but it’s mostly successful)
• Assess circumference and body measurements with calipers at the beginning, mid, and end of the 8-week period

The initial week was a “flushing” phase. With Katie’s extensive knowledge and the Biosignature hormone assessment, her goal was to detox estrogen and get my body responding with a macro-reversal (eating LESS carbs!). She reported I’m a good carb metabolizer because I carry most of my weight through my hips and thighs—I’m a endomorph body type. Making the flip to eating less carbs helped me jumpstart my metabolism for many reasons. It takes the body more energy to digest and breakdown protein than carbs/fats, making the thermogenic effect much greater than a typical eating day.

I recalibrate the plan as many times as necessary according to re-measurements, personal feedback, and body fluctuations. Beyond meal adjustments, the utmost importance is placed on expanding conscious responsibility to one’s own self-care. Following a structure helps take the inner doubt off the table so you can pay closer attention to the feelings/emotions/thoughts that are pulling up around food and body-esteem. With each process, I offer support and guidance into a greater state of awareness and trust of the body’s inherent wisdom. The truly lasting benefit is the rediscovery of your own eating-intuition. I hold a genuine care over the inner exploration, as that is the key to sustained change.”

Katie’s meal plan really does take the guess work out of the process, and the process was working! I know what I have to buy at the store each week, and I know what I need to eat all day, every day. It’s quite simple to plan, it’s the prep work that takes extra time. Initially I was so focused on meal prep and adjusting to the reduced caloric intake (yes, honestly I was hungry, very hungry the first two weeks), that I didn’t recognize what I was NOT eating. As my body adjusted, ultimately her meal plan kept me satiated and I discovered I have more energy (critical to any parent!). And the scale was moving, so I felt extra motivated to continue to see what could happen.

Stay tuned, next Monday I’ll share my biggest breakthrough “a-ha” moment, and my workout regimen to help me shed six pounds in 60 days!

AMC’s 60-Day Fall Fitness Challenge kicks-off mid September and excited to share that there will be a new element to fall’s Fitness Challenge…can you guess what it may be?  More details coming!

~ . ~ . ~ . ~. ~

See Other Related Posts on Active Moms Club Blog:

5 Reasons Why Women (Especially Moms) Should Lift Weights

25 Random Facts About Me

 

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