In the Gym | Jill’s Success

“You are a wave in the ocean. You are the individual wave but you are also the entire ocean.

Everything you do affects everyone & everything.”

That quote showed up in my facebook feed today, just a few hours after I witnessed it play out in real life. I don’t question for a moment why I chose this profession of ‘strength coach’/‘trainer’/‘kinesiologist’/any of the other names my job has been called over the years (rather, it chose me)…but there are definitely days, like in any profession, that are tiring, taxing, and stressful. And every one of those ‘little bit tougher’ days are paid-off in full when a moment like this one happens.

Had things not gone the way they did, I may never have met Jill. Period. I was not on a track to cross paths with her – who knows, maybe the Universe would have lined us up anyways, maybe not? But the Universe, she did, and one hot summer day, I called Jill about a house she was renting. I was in the market to rent. I’d been looking for a rental for a little while focusing solely on attracting the house that was had already been intended for me and being patient for it to show up in my life.

And show up it did. I emailed Jill, she replied. She noticed my signature that includes my job title and gym name. When I went to see the house, she told me how the very morning I’d emailed her, she’d been thinking about how it was time, she really needed to get back into shape. As she puts it, “I was literally going to get online that day and google workouts & gyms…and then you emailed me about the rental & I saw your job title!”

Remember…I was thinking that it was ME who was in need when I contacted her…turns out Jill was in need too…like waves in the ocean, we all bump into each other.

When I went to see the rental, we talked a little about the gym and working out, but while I love talking fitness, unless the other person brings it up, I generally don’t talk fitness…I never want a person to feel like they should be all fitness-minded when interacting with me. (unless I’m with other fitness pros, and then seriously, it can’t NOT be at part of the convo). So after she brought her goals up to me, I mentioned I’d be happy to do a consultation with her to help her see what direction she could start in to achieve those goals.

At the consultation, I found out that Jill has lots of kids, a job, a home to tend to, and all the other things busy adults have in their life, and that she needed guidance, accountability & motivation. She became a member in my Transform class (a strength & conditioning class we offer at ProKine) & along with attending class, she adopted the whole-food/primal-type diet that we have seen work so well for so many of our members.

As the weeks’ went by, Jill started telling me about how she was enjoying cooking again, how she was feeling her increased fitness play out in her daily life, & she even came in one day so excited about a home-delivery service she found online for getting local farmers goods straight to her door. At that moment, I thought two things: 1) give me the name of that delivery service! & 2) she gets it.

You see, when we talk with our members about nutrition – so much of our focus is on “buy the best possible food that you can afford, and eat it as close to the way nature intended it.” Sure, there’s macronutrient variables we can alter, and meal-timing things we can do, but just improving food-quality would help so many folks not only lose weight, but also cut disease risks, and improve the overall quality of their body.

This was a woman who before she & I met, was “always thinking about food to make myself happy, now I don’t even think about food!” Jill does think about food, but not the way she used to. She’s thinking about how she can source great nutrients for her family,  & how she can fuel herself with yummy whole-food meals, not about what food will make her emotional state change. And that’s huge.

When Jill first stepped on the scale, she didn’t even look at the number. She didn’t want to know where she was starting from. Fast-forward 10 weeks. In those 10 weeks, Jill attended Transform class weekly except for a 1 week vacation. She worked hard right alongside folks who’ve been in class for a year or more; she did what she was capable of, with a consistent focus on increasing the total amount of work she could do.

That, combined with her nutrition changes, helped her lose 15.2 lbs, & a total of 8.5 inches lost in her chest, abdomen, and hips! In 10 weeks! Without doing some kind of restrictive diet or insane amounts of exercise! That’s frickin’ awesome!!

Since Jill didn’t know her initial weight, other than the fact that absolutely none of her pants fit her anymore, she didn’t know just how much she’d changed. As I read off her results, she said something to the effect of ‘this is a game-changer for me Kate, you were a blessing that walked into my life that day you emailed me about the rental!’

And to be honest, I feel the exact same way but I’m the one who feels blessed. Jill’s rental house was meant for me. It’s so perfect for who I am, and it showed up at the exact right time. She helped ME out by showing up in my life when she did! And the fact that I get to do a job where the knowledge & passion for fitness that I have, can help someone improve their life…it’s just awesome.

You have no idea how the wave you’re riding is about to bump into someone else’s wave. And if you’re in what feels like a trough in-between waves, you simply must take into account that the trough is required to get back up onto the next wave. No one ever goes from the top of one wave to the top of another; but the person who looks at each trough, not as a “down” moment, but rather, an in-between, or a “setup for the next thing” moment…they will be the successful one.

“…you are a wave but you are also the entire ocean…everything you do affects everyone & everything…” Ain’t that the truth. Congrats Jill! I’m looking forward to more of your successes in the months ahead!

Is it time for you to achieve your ultimate fitness goals? Wondering if I can help you with that? Head over to the Coaching page and drop me a note so we can connect about how I can help you do just that!