Rachel is a CrossFit Trainer at CrossFit Fairfax, and has lost nearly 24 lbs, shed 11.4% body fat, and dropped 17 inches, while gaining 14.4% muscle quality and growing her lean body mass! Here's her nutrition story...
"Sarah, you took my basic knowledge of nutrients and my love for food and helped me transform my relationship with food into something beautiful and sustainable and it's been AMAZING! #somoved
I think the biggest thing that I am taking away from this program is planning for success. Sometimes it's hard to think long term in a long process like this. Creating smaller weekly goals helped me think short term and it was something that was more tangible. An example of a smaller goal that I struggled with (because I like to stay up and watch TV and I get caught up in binge watching TV shoes) was shutting off the TV by 10 and sleeping by 10:30. This made a huge difference in my sleep, which affected my energy levels and had a bigger impact on my performance in the gym. Another one was planning my meals the night before so that I wasn't piecing it together the day of ,and finding myself with a lot of protein and no fat and carbs to eat it with at the end of the day.
I traveled a lot on this program, 27 days to be exact. That's basically 1/3 of the program. But I was still successful. I learned to create a plan for what my food looked like. I didn't always follow it, but I listened to how my body reacted to food when I didn't and that really resonated with me. I didn't like that feeling, and so I would plan to get back on track because feeling good, having energy, and not being bloated was more important to me then over-indulging in meals. Moderation was something I learned and am still learning. Just because I'm on a nutrition program, doesn't mean I can't enjoy life, but there are boundaries that I learned to create. It's a journey, I'm going to keep learning what this means to my body on many levels.
I have tried so many different diets and programs and they were all unsuccessful because they weren't sustainable. This isn't that for me. this is a lifestyle change and it's something that's easy to stick with. For that, I am forever grateful.
I had a very unhealthy relationship with food for years. It was a tool I used for stress, anxiety, boredom, and so on. I had seen a doctor for migraines and had been on lots of different dosages of medication to try and reduce them. I also had terrible issues with my bowels and was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I lived in discomfort and in fear of being in social settings where I would embarrassingly need to excuse myself. I would decline invitations to people’s homes for dinner or parties. Outside of migraines and IBS, I was ALWAYS sick. A stuffy nose, a sore throat, a cough, and always exhausted. It got to the point where my (now husband) couldn't sympathize with me because there was always something wrong.
When I started my journey with CrossFit, and eating cleaner in March 2016, a lot of that started to go away. This journey has been a struggle because I knew the key to me literally being healthier was working out and eating well because I saw the change there. But for some reason I was still having a hard time fully getting on board. The SoMoved program was that for me. It's almost as if before this I had one foot in the door and the other one out because I still had some really bad habits and I knew they were bad I just needed the tools to fix them. This program changed that for me. I have these new habits, these new goals, and I can FEEL it because now I have these sensitivities and intolerances that remind me - 'Hey, what you're doing is not good, so cut it out!' Before, my body was so used to feeling bad all the time that I didn't know what it felt like to REALLY feel good.
I have not been sick in a year and a half. I can't remember the last time I had a migraine. I have not had an emergency bathroom situation in over a year. I am at the smallest I have been in 7 years. I am fitter, stronger, and healthier and it really all boiled down to food and fitness.
Thank you for being part of my journey, for your support, your guidance, your motivation and your accountability. This program and YOU were my missing ingredient to tying this all down so that I can be successful for a lifetime.
Having all the feels right now and sending you a ton of love! :) "
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