Health Coach | Speaker | Writer | Welcome to my digital diary! I'm here to help you blend life & fitness to find your health & happy! Thank you for being part of my family & allowing me to add value to your journey!
I’ve talked about this before…I am the first to admit I prefer extremes & love the high of a red line heart rate.
Thought this was appropriate to talk about with CrossFit open right around the corner.
These particular videos — this workout was basically like 15 minutes in the pain cave🤢
I prefer to overtrain & over work. I prefer that ‘sittin in the dirt’ feel of a fat loss cut over a surplus.
I’m also one to admit I’ve learned a lot through these chapters of extremes & they’re not ones you want to chronically stay in.
Most of you I talk to & SEE in the gyms…you’re doing enough. Maybe we should try to do less 🤷🏼♀️ We have seasons for a reason. Mother Nature doesn’t hustle & grind all year.
If a little is good then MORE is better right? That’s the mentality we adopt.
Some examples:
Drinking a couple socially vs gettin black out drunk & wakin up in a bush.
Being content with what you have vs always wanting the next best thing to keep up with neighbors.
Losing 10lbs vs starving yourself & beating the shxt out of your body 7 days a week.
Sometimes you may need to push yourself more, but let’s be realistic. If you have a good routine down, you work out 3 days a week, you eat well 90% of the time — you don’t need to work out 7 days to be worthy.
Ask yourself:
— Are you working out efficiently & putting in the work when you actually train?
— Are you using positive self talk & affirmations?
— Are you eating appropriately for your goals?
— Are you eating low carb because instafamous Karen does? Are you trying to be a vegan because Yoga Bob down the road does yet you don’t feel well eating vegetables?
— Are you doing stupid workouts with inappropriate weights just because Crossfit beast Sarah lifts 300lbs & you think you should do?
5 AM on a Sunday. No make up, no hair extensions, just takin an easy walk before work because it makes me feel good.
I’ve taken two rest days this weekend, much needed. This was also my weekend to work, perfect timing.
I’d be lying to say that I actually like to take rest days. I don’t. I thoroughly enjoy getting in a challenging work out.
Like I preach before sometimes you gotta do the things that you don’t wanna do because that’s what you really need not what you want.
Just wanted to share with you guys some changes & goals I’ve set for this new year. They’re commitments I’m keeping to myself.
For example, in the past, if I couldn’t go to the gym & get in a hard work out, I’d be pissed & just wouldn’t work out at all. Basically I’d pout.
I know walking makes me happy so now I commit to do just that — walk. Today I walked a mile, nice & easy, & watched Sex & the City reruns. It’s one of those shows I never get sick of — like Grey’s Anatomy & One Tree Hill.
Anyone else love those shows?
2021 Commitments to Myself:
— Live a life of minimalism. Purge all old & unnecessary things. I feel free the less material items I have. Keep only what I love. Anything that conjures up a negative memory or old energy I get rid of.
— If I buy something new, I get rid of something. Every single day I get rid of at least 1 item & put it in this huge basket that sits in my hallway. I call it the Giving Basket. (I named him Greg btw. I name all my favorite items & plants. I believe everything has energy, spirit, & presence.) I donate these items to others in need.
— I will not buy things on the clearance rack because I feel I’m not worthy of a more valuable item. This is me honoring my worth. If I really want something I will INVEST & believe it will bring positive energy & abundance into my life. Money is just energy. You have to learn to love it & have a beautiful relationship with it just like any other. It deserves respect, money is freedom. That means saving wisely as well.
— Unsubscribe from emails & unnecessary expenses that don’t bring value to my life. This means unsubscribing from toxicity in life too — Friends, habits, social media, etc. It’s just clutter.
— Save at least $100 every 2 weeks for an emergency fund. This go straight into my savings. Pay off all unnecessary debt ✅. Not utilize credit cards unless I can pay them off in full.
— Build my wealth, not just in a monetary context, but all the riches of life & love, & give freely. Make someone smile every single day. Give compliments. Tip well. Gratitude every morning & anytime I feel worry or a negative thought, replace & state something I’m grateful for.
— BE SOMEBODY WHO MAKES EVERYONE FEEL LIKE SOMEBODY
8 years ago I had never touched a barbell or back squatted in my life.
At 8 yrs old, my food & body issues began.
It’s been 7 years since my first CrossFit competition which I entered only 3 months after my 1st foundations class.
I was scared & intimidated af at each stage.
Even as a CrossFit coach, I was still struggling with body image, digestive issues & had no idea how to properly nourish myself. Mentally, emotionally, and physically I may add.
Hot. Mess. Express.
I finally reached a point years later & knew it was time to quit trying to compete & eat a certain way & be something I simply was not.
No one equips you for the flood of emotions that come with changing the way you’ve lived for years & the body changes that come with it.
Doesn’t matter if you’re an athlete, a mom, have chronic illness, or disordered eating — we never look at food, exercise or our bodies the same ever again.
No one equips you with the knowledge that before, during that season, your body’s purpose was to be an athlete, or a dancer, or a mom & wife, or a nurse, or a fur mom & single girl just doin the best she can.
No one reassures you your body is supposed to change & your life & relationships & seasons are all going to change — & all those changes are totally OK.
We’re taught young that our worth & purpose are attached to live up to societies beauty standards.
I’ve gained weight, lost weight, gained muscle, lost muscle, been every shape & size & tried every diet always coveting the smaller, leaner version of myself.
Always jealous of the girls that could eat anything they wanted & live like a ‘normal person’ and not have to worry about bloating or constipation or diarrhea or nausea & vomiting just because she ate a salad or had pizza with friends or ate food too late.
With frustration, I started to hate what I saw in the mirror getting in the shower. I didn’t even want to take my clothes off half of the time. Seriously affected my sex life & honestly any kind of abundance I wanted to bring into my life.
Its taken took 30 years of struggling with IBS, Crohns, disordered eating & just being freakin human to realize that I don’t need to be a double 0, an athlete, an ‘Influencer,’ or whatever label you choose to have purpose & worth.
I found love in relationships, & food, & entrepreneurship, & exercise, & LIFE again.
That 8 year old little girl you see on the left didn’t know it then, but she is a mf Queen, an authority, & was meant to help others thru her challenges.
She was meant for greatness.
So are you.
I’m here to help you. Link here if you’re struggling like I did too.
Message me anytime on IG or Facebook. I know most of you follow me on the gram and I’m grateful to have such a wonderful fam like yall!
If there’s one thing I want you guys to focus on before starting this new week it’s cultivating a better relationship with yourself. Body image issues can stunt & affect any kind of progress or growth in every facet of your life. I can tell you after losing almost 50lbs over my 38 yrs on this earth, the weight loss doesn’t magically make you love yourself more or fix any problems. 10 Ways To Improve Body Image Issues Source: Myself & The National Eating Disorder Awareness 1️⃣ Stop comparing yourself to others. Love & appreciate your body for what it is & what it is becoming as you live a healthier life. 2️⃣ Remember that beauty is not just about appearance. 3️⃣ Question the media & things you consume. Especially social media. Most of what you see is photo shopped & the highlight reels. 4️⃣ Dress in clothes that make you feel your best! Wear literally whatever the hell you want. You wear your clothes they don’t wear you. 5️⃣ When you see yourself in a mirror or in your mind, choose not to focus on specific body parts. You are a beautiful sum of all your imperfections. 6️⃣ LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. What do you NEED? A walk? Yoga? A bath?! Listening help so much! 7️⃣ Use the time and energy you might have spent worrying about food, calories, and your weight to do something to help others. Sometimes helping out other people can help you feel better about yourself and can make a positive change in our world. 8️⃣ Shut down those voices in your head that tell you your body is not “right” or that you are a “bad” person. 9️⃣ “I am” affirmations! Say them, write them, believe them! 🔟 Don’t rely on others for confidence boosts! Your worth comes from within. Also, seek help. Therapy does wonders❤️
Had someone tell me yesterday, “I want to look like you. How do you eat & train?”
I replied with, “You can’t look like me & I can’t look like you.”
This mornin before work, I had about 40min. So this is me, a shameless gym selfie, committing to me.
Some important things I’ve learned the hard way I want to pass along when it comes to training.
Listen, I’m not the expert, but I have been one to make all the wrong moves first.
I’ll lead off with hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. You know the saying. I’m not just talking about this in the aesthetic sense, same thing goes to your healing protocols & taking time off too.
Here goes…
1️⃣Genetics play a big part & if you hate what you’re doing you won’t stick with it. Consistency & adherence get you results with nutrition & training.
We’re not genetically made to all look the same. Thru trial & error, you will find the aligned nutrition & training program that work for you. INVEST in coaches & trainers to guide you. Quit your diet & program ADD.
2️⃣Be intentional about your training. Just because you go to the gym doesn’t mean you’ll see results if you’re not really doing the work. Just like hiring a nutrition coach, you still have to do the work. Stop trying to out supplement shitty nutrition, over training, & putting more work into posing in the squat rack or being more concerned if your hair & makeup look on point in your IG video.
→ Follow your program.
→ Nutrition & recovery build your foundation.
→Supplements aren’t really that important. The basics are. SLEEP.
→Prioritize HEALTH first. Eat food. Get your gut & hormones in check.
3️⃣MOST important, manage your mindset. You can wish all you want but if you don’t commit to yourself, don’t believe you can achieve, & still tell yourself you fxck up all the time — you’re gonna fxck up all the time.
We all have cups we fill: self care, career, relationships, body goals, financial goals. Choose which cup to drink from & which one to refill. Your seasons will change & that’s ok. But commit fully to that season so you can truly reach your potential.
Can I just wrap up in a warm blanket & eat Texas Roadhouse rolls all day???
Quarantine hit. My workout routine was ripped from my life. Anxiety hit. The thoughts of past self sabotaging behavior started to creep up.
Should I restrict?
How many more steps do I need?
Fugggg I can’t sweat.😩 I’m gonna pack on 20lbs, better cut food.
What if my “safe” foods are taken away?
When I began specializing in gut issues & primarly women’s relationship with food & body image, I saw a pattern. I LIVED the pattern — basically an obsession about control over food & exercise.
We deny we have an eating or behavioral disorder — we DO, sister. But you don’t have to stay there.❤️
Signs include:
Feeling panicked when sick, injured, or vacation jacks up our workout routine
Feeling like walking “isn’t enough”
Restricting or allowing food based on exercise that day.
Feeling we have to “earn” food.
Fear about gaining weight
Feeling worthless if any weight gain occurs, obsession with the scale & letting it dictate our attitude for the day
One client said, “I feel like I MUST control & workout everyday. If I don’t, I feel worthless & obsess about it until I do workout.”
We talked about how that disordered need for control is taking over our ability to intuitively listen to our body’s cues to rest. It also affects our energy, hunger, sleep, digestion, hormones, & bluntly— our ability to give a shit.
This relationship with food & exercise tends to make us miserable. Paralyzing us from enjoying the important things in life.
Here’s how I help clients (& myself) establish a better relationship with our food & exercise:
Disconnect the connection of “perfection” with food & exercise to our worth & obsession with having to earn food.
I used to count every calorie I consumed, down to the gum I excessively chewed. I only ate the calories I burned that day. I only ate diet food, hoping to save calories & carbs. I was chained to numbers. My macros were shackles. My mindset & perception of my methods & myself were the enemy. It wasn’t the food or exercise.
When we were young, we knew when we were hungry & we stopped when we were full. Because of environmental & emotional factors, getting stuck in cycles, many of us lose touch with our true hunger cues.
This is where I find intermittent fasting & or setting a meal schedule or eating window is helpful, teaching us when we’re actually hungry & preventing mindless/emotional eating.
Also viewing food as fuel for our day & workouts instead of a reward is a helpful way to rewire our brains from earning to nourishing.
2. Focus on simply moving your body.
Workouts should be enjoyed. Walking IS ENOUGH. Shoot for 10k steps per day or simply increasing your steps by 1k each week till you reach your goal. If you have a good relationship with food, there is no need to kill yourself in the gym 7 days per week. Spend adequate time eating at your true maintenance calories. You should not be dieting more than 1-2 times per year.
Before quarantine, I would walk, CrossFit &/or bodybuilding 5 times per week with one rest day and one active recovery day. I love the community & push of a group Wod.
Intra quarantine, I don’t have access to the equipment or facilities for specific workouts. I’ve worked out at home 3 days per week with minimal equipment and walked.
Haven’t gained, inflammation is actually down, & I’ve become more in tune with my body, hunger cues, & how to adjust my food & eating schedule based upon what my body is craving.
3. Surrender to the seasons. We aren’t meant to look the same.
Binges, disordered eating & body image, cravings, & anxiety for control flare up when we’re living in a chronic deficit &/or chasing a size we’re not meant to naturally be.
Your hunger &/or lack of are signs your body is simply trying to survive. Lack of resources trigger our bodies to down regulate systems, cycles, & hormones. Wonder why you lost your period or you’re cold all the time, you plateau on 1200 calories & gain when you eat anything above 1600? BINGO. Don’t be afraid to Reverse Diet. Invest in a coach!
We’re really chasing a feeling, not a number. We want to feel worthy, loved, significant, safe, heard, seen, & happy.
These are all a state of being my loves.
It didn’t matter if I was 100lbs or 160lbs, happy was a state I FELT about my life at whatever season. If you don’t do the inner work & address the root cause, it’s like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.
You’re afraid to surrender because you don’t want to give up control. Especially for my fellow Type A’s.
Guess what?
You never had control, you became you’re own prisoner.
Educate yourself. Self love is a skill we sharpen. Surround yourself with people & environment full of positivity. Everything you consume, down to social media makes an impact on your perspective.
Cut the toxicity & self sabotage.
Food & body freedom are just one decision away.
The decision to choose YOU. ❤️
Whether you’re struggling with gut issues, trying to learn macros, fuel for your workouts, or fighting for your food & body freedom, I’m here for you.
I went into this low carb, insulin reset diet as another learning experience. What I found was a wake up call.
A lot of knowledge and life bombs here 💣
With the dramatic life changes for us all over the course of the past 2 weeks, cliché as it sounds, everything happens for a reason at precisely the right time.
Why the reset? I had been overly stressed, trying to cut, eating a high amt of carbs (via jasmine rice/rice Chex/occasional alcohol) while intermittent fasting & focusing on 2 (occasionally 3) larger meals a day.
👉🏻I have Crohn’s, struggled with a missed diagnosis of IBS basically my entire early life & was overweight.
👉🏻Don’t digest fruits or vegetables or fiber or seeds or skins well
👉🏻Thrive off animal meals & animal-based nutrition
👉🏻Struggled with disordered eating & bingeing
👉🏻 Spent 4-5 years healing my gut & getting myself out of metabolic adaptation because I ate poverty macros for fuggin forever
👉🏻Tried to competitively CrossFit on Paleo, Quito, low carb & did all the dumb shit for years
👉🏻I eat lowfodmap, gluten-free, dairy free, bullshit free 😆, and basic af, not cute meals are my jam. Why? Because that’s how I like to eat, Karen.
Save this for later 😉
My cut started out well, but as we progressed I noticed my energy was all over the place I was starting to feel more out of control eating larger meals (I was fuller throughout the day). My fasting blood sugar was consistently higher (for me) around the 95 to 100 range, staying elevated even 2 hours after eating.
Mine typically sits around 80 to 85 in a controlled environment, fasting.
My digestion was decent, but I still felt inflamed, puffy, & like I was carrying a lot of “fluff” around my middle which I did not have in my 20s. (I was more low carb as far as my diet approach in my 20s, & my workouts were lower intensity). I didn’t CrossFit until my 30s.
My lifestyle now is very different from even December 2019. My stress is higher & I’m traveling more.
My last cut was amazing (I had not dieted in 2 years & was coming off of a surplus) My schedule & stress were more controlled.
Last 12 week cut for a photo shoot.
💭🤔 HELLO!!!! Katie, you’ll be 38 in July, you don’t have the same body you had in your 20s. Dude, you’re almost a legit Cougar 😻😂
💁🏼♀️It’s time to get real, refocus, & realign.
To those of you in your 30s, let me tell you, things change quickly. You don’t recover as quickly, nights of bad decisions haunt you for weeks, and you’d rather go to bed by 9:30 than stay up & go clubbing. PS you still don’t have your shit together in your 30s. 👍🏼🤘🏻
I’ve learned this is the time to accept, adjust, & think about longevity more so than a ripped set of abs.
I love being lean & feeling light & strong, but just because you look the part doesn’t mean you’re healthy on the inside. Abs, striations, & single digit body fat — don’t help you live to a ripe old age.
These require different levels of commitment and flexibility with your diet and training. Be realistic.
MY CHANGES:
👉🏻Focus on a low carb approach, primarily animal-based nutrition. Why? Because I thrive off animal meats & already don’t digest fibers and plants well. I will harp at you till I’m blue in the face, go your own way! Don’t send me fucking hate messages because I eat animals. I’m not telling anyone to eat this way, I’m simply sharing my experiences and reasoning why.
👉🏻I also am not “CrossFitting” because all the gyms are closed, therefore, my activity is more lower intensity. This would warrant lower carbohydrates for my needs are not as high.
👉🏻I am also sleeping more, reducing caffeine intake, & fasting at least 14-16hrs overnight to recover, give my digestion a break & allow my body to balance itself out.
👉🏻I need an approach that is going to keep me fuller, longer, with less energy crashes to sustain long days working at the clinics & hospitals. I don’t like worrying about food & a bunch of meal preps, just my personality. I prefer two large meals a day. Naturally, protein and fats will do this. they take longer to digest and are harder to digest by the body — keeping blood sugar more stable, energy levels more stable with you feeling fuller, longer like a cherry on top. Which is why I’m taking a higher protein, higher fat approach.
👉🏻Macro wise, I am loosely tracking just to make sure my calories are in check. Keeping my carbs 50 g & under. Not really paying attention to where my protein & fats fall, obviously I’m getting plenty of both with animal-based nutrition with the inclusion of nut butters.
👉🏻I Am tracking weight, progress photos, & blood sugar with a simple glucometer (am fasting, 2 hrs post meal, bedtime) just to see how my body tolerates specific ratios, salt intake, stress, & food choices. Not because I’m focusing on the weight on the scale. Obviously when reducing carbohydrates, you’ll naturally lose water, so a lot of this is water weight loss, initially.
Me this morning 3/24/20 113.7lbs
THINGS IM LEARNING:
✅CrossFit is not in aesthetic sport. Stop choosing CrossFit to look like a bodybuilder. Align your training, lifestyle, & align your food. Manage you mofo stress!
✅I personally feel much better on a carnivore-ish diet which aligns better with my lifestyle right now.
🌀My digestion is exceptional, my bloating is gone, bowel movements routine & normal, my puffiness is gone, I feel lighter.
🌀After nine days I’m noticing aesthetic changes finally. Stomach is starting to lose that patchy fat in my stubborn areas above and below my belly button.
🌀Yes with the training differences I’m getting smaller, and softer but I’m fitting more naturally back into my happy setpoint. My weight is staying around 113 pounds.
🌀I don’t hurt as much (minus my broken toe I have right now).
🌀No energy crashes, I have absolutely no cravings for sugar and I’m offen satisfied with one large meal during the day after my fasted walk.
🌀I love walking, it is my savior mind and body. I don’t need to work out six days a week and I need to sleep more. Duh.
✅The more data we have the more we can make educated informed decisions about our lifestyle & food choices. Do we need to worry about tracking & measuring all of the time — NO! But there’s a time & a place for it so you can learn & make educated decisions about how to live your life for YOU.
Quit whining, complaining, yo-yo dieting, yo-yo training, yo-yo living your life aimlessly because you’re not educating yourself. Get tested, invest in mentors, coaches, doctors to help you. There are free podcasts, wonderful people & resources on social media, books you can purchase & things out there at minimal cost.
✅Your goals should be centered around 4 different areas: healing, performance, aesthetics, & longevity. Your seasons will change, adjust accordingly.
✅People just think glucose is just a measure of carbs, it’s not, it’s a measurement of your lifestyle. Stress, food choices, sleep, your workouts, air pollution, under eating, over eating, toxins, artificial shit you put in your body or on your body — it all matters. It all affects your physiology, hormones, gut health, & processes that go on internally.
✅You have to ask yourself what level of stress you are OK with in your life. Adjust accordingly. If you choose this stress level, don’t bitch when you don’t get what you want.
✅The biggest thing people ignore are their mindset & their thoughts. So why are people having such a hard time right now being at home with their thoughts?
BINGO.
I hope this helps you wherever you are in your journey. Remember only you know your body best. I am not endorsing anyone to follow any particular diet I want you to learn, I want you to follow your heart, and I want you to ALWAYS listen to your gut. ❤️
