In this episode, I’ll share a client’s story who has been with me for THREE YEARS! This is the fourth installment of my mini series where I share REAL results from REAL Fit is Freedom members.

Is three years too long to go from flabby and unmotivated to having your Pilates instructor stop in front of you and say: "You have killer arms"? Yes, three years feels like such a long time, but time flies when your life is rocking!

But, it wasn’t always the case.

Three years ago she was, in her words…

“I was doing a terrible job of motivating myself, and I had quit taking care of my body. In my mind, nothing was more important than work. Exercise was a thing of the past. My body didn't feel great, and my mind was foggy. My good mood was gone and I didn’t feel right. I’d tried accountability with a friend, but as you say, Kelly, it doesn't work with a friend because a friend will always let you off the hook. I was sure that with a group of women I didn't know, I would feel more accountable. So true, right? I also needed guidance, not even sure where to start. I was looking for a place to start, motivation and the support I needed to keep going!” Results

Her first big wins?

Better sleep & eliminating painful knees!

“The very first big win I had was sleep. I sleep now.:) I was sleeping very poorly, and I didn't realize how much lack of exercise was affecting my health. Getting out of pain was huge too. I’d had knee surgery a year before, and my knee was okay, but not terrific. What it needed was for me to move it, but I thought using it would hurt it more, until we started talking and I started moving. (Now it's doing what knees are supposed to do)”

Her next big wins?

Vitality, energy, a happy mindset & strong, fit legs!

“I didn’t have energy, plus I’d become flabby. After a few months in the group I remember one very specific day. I was walking down the stairs in my house, and caught my reflection in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs. WOW. My legs looked so much better, and they felt so much stronger. I'm thin, so I could put on clothes and hide my lack of muscles, but that doesn't mean I didn’t feel it inside. I wanted to feel great. So strengthening and toning were big game changers for me. And my happy mindset is back.”

Of course, there were setbacks along the way, it’s life, right?

She had some injuries, she had some pain, but she had a plan. She had accountability. She had support and she always got back on track. That's what happens when you master fitness consistency. Even when you get offtract or life throws you curveballs, you trust yourself to restart because you're a new woman now! And the wins just keep coming!

Today, her energy, health, body, mind, and fun are priorities in her life and her excitement is infectious. She still runs an extraordinarily successful real estate practice without letting her business run her life.

She even finds time to lead some of the Fit is Freedom Adventures, like kayaking and hiking the San Juan Islands and Dog Sledding in the winter!

Life just keeps getting better. Jenny has learned the magic trick; when you give yourself the gift of fitness, you give yourself the life you’ve always desired.

What do you want from this one precious life you have?

In this episode, I’ll be walking you through a client’s story who has been with me for TWO YEARS! The first episode in this series shared a client’s successes who has only been with me three months. The second episode shared a client of 6 months.

This is the third installment of my mini series where I share REAL results from REAL Fit is Freedom members. I’ll show you, the viewers, what to expect (and how long it will take) when you embark on your own health and fitness journeys!

Two years is a long time to be dedicated to something! Some would even say that doing something for two years would prove that you are a committed person. Well, that wasn’t the case when this client first jumped on board. Let’s discuss her story; where she was, where she is, and where she is headed.

This particular client referred to herself as “so flipping inconsistent” when it came to her health and fitness. She felt really discouraged after having tried so many fad diets, and she was in a lot of pain. Her knees and hips hurt, and she was finding that she had less and less energy to get up and do things she once enjoyed.

Because my client had tried so many things in the past that didn’t work, I wanted to emphasize the importance of her plan, showing her that it’s more like a recipe that we’re putting together that works just for her. Based on what we learned from our initial phone call, here was our plan…

• Mindset Shift

My client was so down on herself. Her self esteem was shot, and she didn’t think she had it in her to be consistent with anything. I knew we needed to address that mindset first!

The best way to shift her mindset was for her to start collecting evidence that she WAS capable of being consistent and changing her lifestyle!

• Find Enjoyable Movement

I knew if we were going to need to find little wins to prove she was capable, we needed to find a movement for her that was fun! She wasn’t ready for the gym yet, and that simply didn’t excite her. She did, however, enjoy jazzercise! So we started there!

• Add Accountability

With jazzercise, this client would often watch the videos at home, but not fully commit! Because of this, I challenged her to get up and go to a class! That added not only a new twist, but also some accountability!

• Start Mornings Right

Another thing my client already did that we capitalized on was journaling. Instead of simply journaling about anything in the morning, I also challenged her to add some information about her fitness journey in order to track her progress.

• Year 1

By the end of her first year with Fit is Freedom, she had lost 3 inches in her hips. She was fitting better in her clothes and feeling more confident. Her pain was less, and, most importantly, her confidence in herself was growing exponentially! The end of year one was met with excitement and momentum to keep going!

• Year 2

Now that she is in her second year, she has graduated to more resistance training. She is upping her game in the world of health and fitness, and she now sees herself as someone who is active. She no longer worries about giving up on her fitness journey because it has now become a part of who she is! Talk about an incredible mindset shift in such a short amount of time!

Every person I work with is unique and brings on different lessons and takeaways! Here are my three takeaway tips you could learn from this client…

• Commit

Are you at a point where you’re ready to just draw the line in the sand? Are you ready to schedule a call with me? It only takes one thing to move the needle in the right direction, and you’ve got to decide you’re ready before you get going!

• Don’t Rush

Baby steps are key! Take your time and don’t rush yourself into burnout. The best health and fitness journeys are more tortoise and less hare.

• Track Your Progress

Journal your process. Write out how you’re feeling, how you want to feel, and what you’re doing to make a change. Looking back and seeing what all you’ve accomplished is simply a special feeling.

This is the second installment of a mini series of the Fit is Freedom Podcast in which I share REAL stories from REAL Fit is Freedom members!

In the first installment, I shared about a client’s 3 month journey. For this episode, I’ll be walking you through a member who has been with me for about 6 months and taking a deep dive on her trials and successes along the way!

This particular client came to me at a time when her life felt like it was quickly shrinking. She had recently retired, very slim and fragile with a lot of hip, knee, and shoulder pain, and she was simply not having any fun.

Her life was feeling bleak and dim, and she knew she wanted something different for this new phase of her life. She didn’t want her life to shrink, she wanted to find new ways for it to expand and grow. So, we set her up with an action plan and got to work!

As with all of my clients, we set up a customized action plan. For this client, I wanted her to find the joy in her life again, but before we could do that, we needed to get her out of pain. Here’s the action plan I developed in order of importance…

• Mobility

Like I mentioned, I needed to get her working on her mobility ASAP. She was weak and a little underweight, but before we can add muscle, we needed to get her moving with some mobility.

• Find the Fun

Once she was moving her joints and warming them up properly, I challenged her to do 2-3 fun things each week. While I challenge some clients to find fun activities that involve movement, I didn’t even have that as a requirement here. I simply wanted this client to have more things to look forward to, whether that’s coffee with a friend or a walk through the park!

• Fine Tune Food

As we achieve the steps above, we work through her diet, fine tuning her choices and balance of food.

• Physical Therapist

In addition to mobility work each day, I paired her with a physical therapist to really work on those problem areas.

• Sleep Improvement

The last piece of the puzzle, so to speak, was her quality of sleep. I encouraged her to get an Aura ring and observe her patterns.

• Month 3

With a solid action plan in place, my client was almost completely out of pain by the third month. She reported not only feeling exponentially better, but that she was excited to wake up each day! She had things to look forward to, and I could feel the enthusiasm over our phone calls.

• Month 6

At the 6 month mark, my client was a completely different person. She had moved on from using resistance bands in her workouts to actual weights, she was out of pain, and waking up excited!

Most importantly, she not only found a tribe, but was actually leading her group on a hiking trip! So, in just 6 short months, she went from being incredibly weak and feeling like her world was shrinking, to expanding beyond her wildest dreams and leading others on their own journeys. Talk about an incredible transformation in just half a year!

1. Awareness Check-in

Take a moment and check in with yourself. Do you feel like your life is expanding or contracting? Are you having fun and growing? Or do you feel like it is mundane and slowing?

1. Understand Stress

Unfortunately, stress plays a huge role in so many of our lives. But, you must understand the ways it contributes to your quality of sleep. If you struggle with sleep like my client, you may want to not only do an awareness check about your life, but also take some time to evaluate your sleeping patterns.

1. Find a Tribe

Never underestimate the power of a tribe! My client’s life expanded so much when she discovered her tribe. Whether you find one through my staff and me or through a local community center class, put yourself out there. You’ll never be able to experience the impact if you don’t try.