I’m a Coach, but I Have Things to Work On.

I’m a certified pre and postnatal trainer…but I have not been pregnant. 

I’m a nutrition coach…but I need to lose body fat.

I’m a sleep, stress, and recovery coach…but I often have trouble sleeping and dealing with stress.

I’m a CrossFit Coach…but I can’t yet do pullups, toes to bar, or handstand pushups.

I’ve studied and trained in all of it, but I’m still quite a ways away from where I want to be physically and in my life overall. 

But if I told you where I used to be…you’d maybe start to understand how incredible it is that I am where I am now. 

I’ve overcome an eating disorder. 

I’ve escaped an abusive relationship…actually, I escaped 3 different abusive relationships.

I’ve overcome traumatic and unsafe experiences that involved not only fear for my own safety but a legitimate threat to the safety of someone I cared about. 

I’ve had multiple surgeries. 

I’ve overcome isolation and depression. 

I’ve paid off a large amount of credit card debt. 

I’ve overcome crippling anxiety and self-criticism.

I’ve gone on and successfully come off high-dose anxiety medication. 

I’ve pushed through crippling period pain and healed PMDD.

I’ve reconnected to my body after traumatic experiences that disconnected me from her. 

I’ve worked through grief and pain and anguish…through fear and anxiety and depression. 

Every single certification I have earned was for ME. I earned my certifications to help myself first. 

I started CrossFit and quickly realized I needed to learn more about the foundations of movement and how to move well and safely and efficiently. I was “naturally” able to move fairly well in the workouts, but I didn’t fully understand what I needed to change to make bigger improvements. 

I know I learn best by being able to coach others through the same movement. I am able to improve when I can see how to help others improve, and then I just use that information for myself. I earned my L1 before I had any prospects for coaching and I’ve been lucky enough to coach at multiple gyms since then. I’ve improved my own lifting and gymnastics techniques and I get better every single day I show up to train. 

I earned my Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coaching Certification before I had any intention of being a nutrition coach. I have had a challenging relationship with food since I was a young girl, and I continue to deal with disordered eating tendencies today. 

I went through the Nutrition Coaching program by Precision Nutrition so I could learn what my body needs to function the way it is meant to function. Armed with that knowledge and the coaching techniques I learned in order to be able to coach others in their nutrition, I was able to begin to address the mental and emotional components of my eating. 

Knowing the basics and that “ideal” of where I want to get to with my eating habits gave me a “goal” to reach for. Since then, I’ve successfully addressed issues of emotional eating, overeating, ignoring my body cues, undereating, and fear foods. While I’m not where I want to be with my body weight, my daily food intake, and my muscle mass, I’m miles past where I was a few years ago at the height of disordered eating. 

I continue to move through disordered “default” patterns in favor of healthy, sustainable eating habits because I know the kind of nutrition program I want to build in my everyday life. 

I then earned my Sleep, Stress, and Recovery Coaching Certification through Precision Nutrition because I was doing CrossFit 5 times per week but getting sick all the time and not recovering physically. I knew I wouldn’t be able to have sustained progress if I didn’t learn to sleep and recover better. 

I also needed to learn how stress affects my body and take steps to become more resilient to stress. Through the program, I learned how to improve my sleep and recovery practices. I’ve been able to implement many of these practices and I am sleeping better than ever before and recovering from workouts better than ever before. 

I haven’t been sick in months (knock on wood ;), and I am able to sustain my activity level at CrossFit while continuing to use progressive overload to improve my lifts and cardio endurance. I just hit 290# on deadlift! 

My most recent certification was the Pre and Postnatal trainer Certification through Girls Gone Strong. And why did I get it? Because I hope to be pregnant some day soon and I was terrified I would have no idea how to care for myself and my baby physically with exercise. I did the degree so I could confidently exercise when pregnant and postpartum, and now I can help pregnant and postpartum moms do the same thing. 

I’m still recovering from the past hurts, unsustainable past patterns and habits, and limiting mindsets that plagued my past. I’m continually becoming a better version of myself armed with the knowledge from all of my certifications. 

Now, I’m practicing listening to my body while giving her what I have learned she needs nutritionally, in terms of my sleep and recovery activities, and for my mental and emotional (or energetic) health. 

I have a lot of work left to do: 

I have about 50 pounds of body fat to lose. 

I need to reverse the starting signs of insulin sensitivity in my body.

I need to improve my daily activity level.

I need to work on my mobility and grip strength.

I need to work on not overeating even when I’m in a heightened emotional state and am having trouble listening to my body. 

I need to continue to heal from past traumas and reconnect with my body even more.

I need to continue to improve my sense of safety and security in my environment and in my body. 

I’m not where I want to be with my physical health yet, but I’m damn proud of my body for all it’s overcome and where it has taken me so far. 

And while not everyone will agree with me, I know that all the things I went through, and all the certifications I earned in effort to address all of the difficulties I’ve overcome, have made me an amazing coach. And I’ll keep getting better and better. 

If you’re ready to start shifting your own mindset about food, if you’re ready to start moving your body in a way that shows you see how strong you really are, or if you’re ready to step into motherhood with a program that helps you heal and build strength beyond your expectations…

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