Currently living in Austin, Texas and working as a product owner at a tech company, I’m having a very different experience from growing up in rural Nebraska. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is my competitive attitude. If there’s a chance I can win, I’ll do it! Because of that, some of my favorite hobbies are playing volleyball and other sports, video games, board games, and trivia! I also really enjoy being outside, so you’ll also find me doing anything I can to be outside: hiking, camping, swimming, etc.
I’ve always struggled with healthy eating, including chronic stress eating and eating simply out of boredom. Even at my most active in high school consistently playing sports, I was still overweight. On top of poor eating habits, I’m an extrovert that can’t seem to say no to friend groups that often went to the bars and out to eat. Combine these together, and I’ve been slowly gaining weight over my whole life, especially noticeable through college and adult life. Every time I tried to take actions to combat the weight gain (eating the right things, exercising, etc), I would quickly fall off the wagon.
I was completely at a loss at how I could change things and stick to it. Though I was very happy with my social life and work, my weight was now slowly starting to impact the activities I loved doing. Playing volleyball and basketball, going out dancing with friends, outdoor activities… all was more difficult than it used to be. I was constantly sweating, sleep was difficult, and I wasn’t comfortable in my own body anymore. I desperately wanted to be able to be proud of what my body was capable of doing again.
Trying to solve things on my own felt hopeless. I’m young in a tech city with awesome music, food, and beer. I wanted to be able to continue to go out to bars, be social, and eat at the great restaurants in Austin. None of my friends were struggling with weight, and appeared to be able to do all of these things with ease and little impact to their body. I had no one that understood my struggles, and no one to keep me accountable when I tried eating healthy and exercising.
Before Copper State FIT, I tried Weight Watchers, as well as simply tracking food with BeachBody On Demand workouts. When I tried things like Weight Watchers, I felt incredibly alone though I was losing weight. Most individuals were older and in a very different place in their lives. No one understood how to try and balance being young and social while building healthy eating habits. Once I stopped going to meetings, I slowly put on weight again.
In my first call, the focus wasn’t on losing weight. Instead, CSF got down to what I truly wanted: being proud of what my body could do again and building the long-term, sustainable habits so I could keep dominating at the things I loved. In every call with my coach, she brought the challenging attitude that I needed to stay motivated and push myself. On top of that, the simple accountability of knowing I had a phone call and a goal target each week helped me change my day to day habits.
Each week, I was open about my weekend social plans with friends, and my coach and I were able to plan for that social time. Sometimes that looked like looking at restaurant menus together and other times it meant strategizing how we’d balance the day knowing I’d be drinking quite a bit!
After several months, I went on a weekend trip to wineries for a friend’s birthday. Instead of planning, my coach said “Go have a good time. Don’t worry too much about tracking, and be smart.” That weekend I didn’t track, I didn’t ever feel like I was limiting myself, and came out on the other side of the weekend having lost weight.
In my next call with my coach, it hit me. Normally, I would have gained several pounds and felt miserable. Instead, I had built enough good habits and judgement around what I was putting into my body to have a great weekend without stressing about every single thing I was doing and have my body feel great. I sat there for a bit and then said, “you know, I think I CAN ACTUALLY DO this!”
I’ve gone through a wild amount of change in the last year. Between the pandemic, several changes at work, moving apartments, and losing over 100 pounds with CSF, many people would have given up. Instead, I’m the happiest and most confident I’ve ever been with my day to day schedule and habits. I am able to easily keep up with my active friends and can fill a whole day with activities and still have energy to spare. I truly believe in my ability to keep up these healthy habits and am excited for the long lasting benefits.
The confidence I’ve gained from being proud of my progress with CSF has bubbled over to taking risks at work (promotion!) and to trying new things (wearing crop tops! ). On top of that, my body wins have been fun and exciting! I’m at the healthiest weight I’ve ever been at. I have baby biceps! I did my first unassisted pull up EVER! I’ve gained some killer quads that friends (and strangers) have commented on!
If I hadn’t started working with CSF, I would be at the same, obese weight or even higher. I would still be unhappy with my body’s ability to do what I love doing, and likely wouldn’t have the confidence to push myself in other aspects of my life.
The only thing you have to lose is a bad mindset. The confidence, healthy relationship with food, and the great habits you’ll build with CSF are worth every single second.
