At 30, Catherine was navigating a lot of life events: finishing her degree, working, and planning a wedding. Catherine considered herself a relatively active person using the word “gung-ho” to describe how she felt about taking on new health challenges. However, her enthusiasm tended to taper off, leaving her feeling frustrated. Her busy life made it hard for her efforts to become habits.
When she first heard about Take Control, she didn’t really know what the program would entail, and felt a bit intimidated not knowing what she was getting herself into. Once she got started on her coaching journey with Coaches Richel and Linda, Catherine learned new tools to ensure her health practices would become habits, no matter what life was throwing her way.
Health with Purpose
Catherine joined Take Control to lose weight after learning of her elevated BMI. Her greater purpose was to head into her thirties as healthy as she could. Catherine’s father died of a heart attack at 46, and this served as a catalyst for her to begin focusing on her own heart health. Coach Linda reviewed Catherine’s lab results with her, helping her understand in what ways she could improve her heart health through nutrition and lifestyle changes. Catherine says, “I had no idea how to read the report, or what certain numbers meant… Coach Linda broke it down and made it easier to understand.”
Work / Life Balance
With multiple life events going on, Catherine wanted to approach health and fitness in a realistic way. Continuing to use the habits she was learning when life got busy was going to be key. Once she got started, Catherine realized that her actions towards health did not have to be all or nothing. Coach Richel helped break Catherine’s goal setting into manageable pieces so that even when she got busy, Catherine wouldn’t fall off track. She learned the value of setting smaller, reasonable goals during stressful times. For example, when hitting the gym three times a week might have become too overwhelming, Catherine learned to modify her goal to instead hit a daily step goal. These modifications helped her to stay active and not put her personal goals on the back burner.
Never Too Late to Try Something New
Catherine admits sticking to the new habits was tough, but the accountability from her coaches was a huge turning point. The support Coach Richel provided for her even pushed her to try new things she had never considered. One of the first things learned was how to use a hunger and fullness scale. Prior to this, she had not paid much attention to how she felt before, during after a meal. The food scale helped her to balance proportions of carbs, fats, and proteins she ate, helping her see food as fuel and only eat until she was full. Thinking of out the box crept into her fitness routine too when Coach Richel suggested Catherine try group fitness classes. Catherine says she never would have considered group fitness, but gave it a try with an Orange Theory class, and fell in love! As the program went on, she really looked forward to her coaching calls each month. Catherine says, “The coaches weren’t looking for a detailed report of where I fell short, they were there to celebrate my little victories and ask me where I struggled, and how we could reformat my goals…they were super encouraging!”
Little Things are the Big Things
Her biggest takeaway from the program was to “keep it simple.” The tools and resources she learned from her coaches were “life changing” because they allowed for her to give herself grace when life got hectic, and to do what worked best for her schedule. Catherine found herself snacking too much in the evening because she was not able to have dinner until almost 8pm. Coach Richel helped Catherine evaluate her daily schedule and shift her eating times throughout the day so she was both well-nourished and snacking less. Catherine realized it was small changes, over time that were helping her create the healthy person she always envisioned. Catherine was surprised how small, simple changes made a big difference. “It wasn’t this dramatic, quick fix…this is a coaching journey that helps you formulate good habits over time,” she says.
Catherine lost 12 pounds during the program and decreased her BMI from overweight to the normal range. She celebrates that she is much more active person than she used to be and her clothes have begun to fit her differently. “I would encourage people not to be intimidated to join Take Control,” she says, “because I was just amazed at the resources Richel shared with me.”
Results:
• Lost 12 lbs.
• Reduced BMI from overweight to normal range
• Learned new habits to eat balanced meals to fuel herself properly
• Gained the confidence to try new exercise programs and grow to love daily exercise
