After having received this unsolicited client check-in (copied below, unedited) earlier this week,  feeling pretty grateful that I *get to* do this.

 

Potential new clients come to me thinking that they want workouts & meal plans. That’s it. That there’s nothing more to it than that and, that with these tools, all of their “problems” will magically disappear.

And then, they realize that there’s more to it than just diet & exercise. That how we *think* about the process has huge implications for our success. In terms of our fitness, nutrition, physique and, more broadly, life.

This [introspection] is where all the magic happens. Once we’ve got our mind right, the implementation of these “tools” is easy, no prob at all. The shift from the outcome-oriented mindset (that used to paralyze us from actually taking the action to get to those outcomes) to one of ACTION leads to outcomes that happen almost effortlessly and with much less stress, at that. #TeamNoStress

“ALSO—

Huge news for me. Yesterday I had my period for the first time all-naturale.

 

History…

October 2012: bad breakup with almost fiancé, really hard time moving forward + job I hated, lost 10ish lbs probably from sleeping like 10+ hours a night (true bliss!) to escape the life I hated (but also shows how sleep can help with weight loss???) and walking my dog a ton to pass time and starting to work out more with free time and cope

 

Spring 2013: really, really got into fitness. Like, woah. I liked the attention I got when I dropped weight and I liked how I looked. So I got a little obsessed. Noticed that I hadn’t really had a period in a few months.

 

June 2013: had a period, yay! Started working out 2x/day and really getting into macros and such. It all went downhill from here…

 

October 2013: Realized no periods again! Talked to my doc about it at my birthday check up. She gave me some hormones to take. I think this is also when I started binge/purge cycle.

 

Winter 2013: Had one period at some point because of the hormones I took. Doc said estrogen, progesterone and testosterone were all low. Diagnosed me with PCOS (which I thought and still think is BS).

 

Spring 2014: No more periods. Still battling binge/purge cycles. Stressed at work. Started working at a cycling studio ON TOP OF my full time job, so I had 4am mornings and was weight lifting + cycling EVERY DAY. Lots of negativity in my personal life also as I pushed people away. Lots of bad gas and stomach issues. Took a blood test and found out my food intolerances (gluten).

 

September 2014: Doctor again. Meds again. Had a period again at some point this Fall. OBGYN did some tests and didn’t think it was PCOS but said that as long as I could have a period with meds, I was fine. I wasn’t satisfied with that answer. I wanted to be healthy, not just functioning with medication. Started to want to pursue a healthy life with balance. Wanting to get past my disordered mindset.

 

Fall/Winter 2014: Started seeing a counselor. Got sponsored by Picnik (butter coffee shop in Austin). Tried to start giving up eating Quest bars every dang day, having 6 small meals a day, counting macros, etc. Quit cycling job. Started telling people what was going on.

 

Spring 2015: Uphill battle. Kept fluctuating in weight (only like 5 to 10 lbs) but it would change so quickly. I was trying so hard to get it right but couldn’t stop exercising for hours and thinking about food. I knew where I was headed (in a good way) but it was going to take a lot of letting go to get there.

 

Spring/Summer 2015: Found you online. Got a new job. Moved. This helped me let go of so many old habits. No more personal trainer who does shows telling me to eat 6 meals a day, cut fat or carbs, count macros, do fasted cardio. No more job that I was miserable at. No more of my favorite places to buy a cake and eat the entire thing. No more of all the different commitments I had made that I didn’t know how to get out of or say no to. New workouts that were so much shorter. New job that was exciting and less stressful. New chance to choose how to spend my time.

 

September 1, 2015: Started my period. No hormones in the form of a pill needed.”