Coaching Success Stories: January 2020

One day, you wake up and the phrase “I’m sorry” is the only thing you can say. The choice you’ve made to no longer eat is too big for you to undo. You may be filled with regret, but you also know that the right decision was made. You’ve made the choice that leads to your health and happiness, and you can make that choice everyday with the help of a coach.

In January of 2019, I was introduced to the concept of coaching by my good friend and fellow blogger, Dan Mielke. I considered this a wonderful concept! I was learning so much from Dan, and I wanted to do my part to help other people get the support they needed. I began by sharing my story in this blog post, and then I decided to extend my service to others by offering coaching services on my blog, and I think the response has been amazing!

The annual coaching summit for the Simply Fit Club is happening this year on January 19th, 2020 and we’re excited to announce our first coaching success stories, as well as some of the latest developments at the Simply Fit Club.. Read more about precision nutrition infographics and let us know what you think.

The goal was simple when these customers joined Coaching in January 2020 to better their health and lives: stick to the program and trust the process.

The COVID-19 epidemic struck after two months. There was no such thing as a simple existence.

Many people were suddenly faced with food shortages, financial instability, and a sense of impending doom.

It’s natural that these five individuals would put their health and fitness goals on hold. 

They didn’t, though.

Instead, they heeded the advice of a little voice within their minds that urged, “Keep going.”

Medical problems, forced company closures, heightened worry, the death of a loved one… all of the people featured in this article have experienced hardships in the last year. The list could go on and on.

Despite the challenges, they continued to show up for themselves, chipping away at their objectives one step at a time.

They underwent remarkable bodily changes over the course of a year.

What makes it even more impressive? These five people’s lives were altered in unexpected ways, and they learned profound lessons from their experiences.

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Victor: Despite his sorrow, he dropped 25 pounds and discovered a new sense of purpose in life.

Victor used to be hesitant to approach sales employees for assistance in determining his size. He can now buy clothing off the rack that suit him perfectly.

Victor Salgado, now 47, was diagnosed with diabetes in his early forties. He was able to control his condition with three to four insulin injections each day. He was also on eight other medicines for various health issues, including high blood pressure.

Victor’s life has been like this for almost five years.

He enrolled in coaching with a PN-Certified Coach in 2018, anxious for change. He dropped almost 50 pounds in that year and stopped taking insulin injections and blood pressure medication on the recommendation of his physicians.

“I haven’t used a single prescription medicine in the past two years—not even a shot,” he boasts.

Victor realized he wanted to assist others after working with a coach, so he became a personal trainer and got his Level 1 Certification. (He also graduated from the Level 2 program in the autumn of 2020!)

It wasn’t all plain sailing after that, however. Victor was having trouble again towards the end of the year.

“I am a PTSD-affected veteran. I wasn’t keeping myself occupied enough for a time. And when it occurs, your mind wanders away.”

Victor realized he needed something to concentrate on, something to channel his energies. He remembered his coaching experience and decided to enroll in Coaching.

Victor, who was freshly married at the time, relocated from South Carolina to California to be closer to his extended family. “It was difficult to adjust to a new family life in a new place.”

Victor was soon confronted with a new problem, in addition to adjusting to a new, well, everything: the epidemic.

Victor’s gym, where he had just started to find solace and camaraderie, had closed.

He attempted to convert his gym routines to at-home exercises, but finding cheap equipment was difficult. As a result, he began running.

Victor discovered a method to make it function even when the temperature reached intolerable levels (think: 130°F). “I awoke at 3:30 a.m. and was outdoors by 4 a.m. Even then, it would be 97 degrees.”

His neighbors once inquired whether he was growing weary of jogging every day. What was his response?

“I was getting weary of pricking my finger three to four times a day and taking insulin three to four times a day. That was exhausting. But what about running? No.” 

He eventually constructed some exercise equipment from metal bars and concrete. (He refers to his gym as his “Fred Flinstone” gym.) His 11-year-old daughter may sometimes want to exercise alongside him, which makes him happy.

Victor and his wife were diagnosed with COVID-19 towards the end of the year. “My heart rate began to skyrocket. My doctor advised that I reduce my exercises, which I did. But I didn’t give up. My heart rate eventually returned to normal.”

Victor’s mother-in-law, who resided with him, caught the illness as well. She died in December of 2020, only a few months later.

“That was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to deal with in a long time. I’m quite sure I would have been immobilized if I hadn’t acquired a resilient mentality with the assistance of PN.” 

Victor wanted to do something to pay it forward after surviving one of the most difficult times of his life.

“I’ve been trying to set up a coaching company. I started teaching my first online customer yesterday.”

Silvia: She thought she’d never run again after receiving a frightening illness. However, she recovered her strength and triumphed against the odds.

Silvia claims that she now regards her body with compassion, curiosity, and love.

Silvia Pontuschka was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both hips in her early thirties.

She recalls feeling as though she had been given a life sentence of suffering. 

By her mid-thirties, the agony had become unbearable, making it impossible for her to walk. She’d wake up stiff and in pain in the middle of the night.

She remembers being concerned about her future. “Was this something I’d have to deal with for the rest of my life?” In my forties, would I have to get a hip replacement? In terms of what I was permitted to do, I felt very restricted. The discomfort served as a constant reminder that life would never be ‘normal.’”

Silvia realized she couldn’t simply sit around and wait for anything to happen. She had no choice but to act.

Silvia had previously signed up for Coaching, but owing to the stress of an overseas relocation, she did not complete the year.

She felt ready to completely commit this time, but she realized she’d need all the help she could get. Silvia’s sister offered to conduct a weekly check-in for additional moral support when she told her about her intentions.

“That was the clincher for me. It was just what I needed to get me to join up,” she adds.

Silvia soon settled into her stride. This time, she kept in much closer touch with her PN coach. She also worked out three times a week at her gym, and she saw that her body was becoming stronger over the course of a few months.

COVID-19, on the other hand, indicated that her gym would have to shut shortly.

Silvia made the most of a bad situation. She converted her living room into a makeshift gym, using the program’s minimal-equipment exercise regimens.

This first worked for Silvia. When she exercised alone, though, she began to notice that something was lacking.

As a result, she found another accountability partner in the form of an exercise companion.

Silvia’s regular exercises soon became the center of her day, allowing her to maintain a schedule even when everything else appeared to be spinning out of control.

Silvia felt her body growing stronger after a few weeks, then months.

“Four modified push-ups became seven, then ten, and finally sets of complete push-ups before requiring a break.”

And what about her crippling hip pain?

She chose to use a technique she learned in PN Coaching to solve the problem midway through the year: she kept things simple.

Silvia supplemented her workout with a glute-focused exercise. She progressively incorporated additional focused workouts to assist her hip mobility as she felt competent.

Silvia accomplishing the seemingly impossible feat of running!

“For the final six months of the program, showing up consistently and gradually improving my strength, mobility, and the duration of my daily walks resulted in greater flexibility, less discomfort, and the capacity to do something I thought was no longer possible: go for runs!”

Silvia started looking for new methods to exercise her body. She went for regular afternoon walks, used the stairs instead of the elevator at her apartment, and looked for hills on her bike trips.

“The more I moved, the more I understood that my body was built to accomplish just that. Every action became a chance to pay tribute to my body and wonder at how amazing it is.”

“This was all accomplished not by being flawless and making big gestures, but by just turning up and doing what I could with the time, energy, and resources I had at the time,” says the author.

Bradley: After a decade of suffering, he regained control of his health and shed 80 pounds.

Bradley had been trying to reduce weight for a long time. That, and so much more, was accomplished by him.

Bradley was in a vehicle accident a decade ago that fractured his back in four places and left him in excruciating agony.

He experienced sciatica-like discomfort due to arthritis a few years later, making activity almost intolerable. He got rashes not long after, which his doctor treated with a steroid treatment.

As a result of the therapy, I gained weight that I didn’t desire.

His prior back problem was exacerbated by the additional weight, which restricted his ability to exercise even more.

“Physically and emotionally, I was totally shattered. “I had given up hope.”

When Bradley was at his lowest, he sought out to someone who had just completed Coaching. They said the program might help, and Bradley was willing to give it a go, so he signed up.

“When I first began, I couldn’t perform any of the exercises without being in excruciating agony. He recalls, “I had to take it easy.” Bradley made a point of stretching every day, walking on his treadmill, and following the program’s dietary guidelines.

He started to lose weight after just a few weeks.

Then came the epidemic. Another stumbling obstacle. Bradley couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Bradley was put into a demanding schedule as a healthcare lab technician conducting COVID-19 testing. The rigors of his profession, like those of many other frontline employees, left him with little energy for his own health.

Every day, Bradley found a new excuse to sabotage the progress he’d made in terms of diet and exercise. But he kept coming back to one strong, irrefutable reason to keep going:

“I needed to improve myself. Not just for me, but for my whole family.” 

So he did what he could, when he could, and every day he focused on becoming “just a little bit better.” He continued to shed pounds.

Bradley felt better the more he lost. The ball started rolling after almost a decade of feeling stalled.

Bradley felt like he was finally regaining control of his health.

Bradley, his wife, and their two children.

“After a time, losing weight was nearly effortless since I wasn’t focused on reducing weight, but on healing,” Bradley explains.

Bradley had dropped 80 pounds and 53 inches at the end of the year. His pain levels decreased from excruciating pains to moderate, infrequent aches as a result of the lessened strain on his body.

He’s finally back to bowling in leagues and competitions, which is his favorite pastime.

His most important takeaway?

“Completing the program during the epidemic taught me that, no matter what, I can find time for my health.”

Lindsey: After her company failed, she turned to diet and exercise for comfort, shedding 14 pounds in the process.

Lindsey explains, “Moving every day made everything else seem possible.”

Lindsey Marvin’s weight, sleeplessness, and worry were at an all-time high at 34 years old.

Lindsey and her husband operate a brewery and restaurant, and money was tight. Because the couple’s company is a labor of love, she was working 14-hour days back-to-back to keep it alive.

Lindsey’s health and wellbeing slipped to the bottom of her priority list as a result. “I was stress-eating the first thing I saw simply to get back to work,” says the author. She adds, “I felt completely out of control.”

Lindsey noticed that several of her favorite clothing were no longer fitting her.

And what about donning a swimsuit? There’s no way.

That was a watershed moment. “I knew I needed to make some adjustments since going to the beach is my absolute favorite thing to do.”

Lindsey had seen her spouse drop 60 pounds with the assistance of Coaching the previous year. She describes him as “more confident and in control than I had ever seen.” As a result, she decided to join as well.

A surprise came almost halfway through the coaching year: her restaurant was forced to close because to COVID-19.

Lindsey adds, “Seeing the restaurant empty was extremely upsetting for me.” “It’s like having a kid, starting and developing a small company. It’s terrible to think of it failing.”

But what about that empty area that seemed so strange at first?

Lindsey used her imagination and transformed the empty taproom into her own gym.

As weights, she used sugar sacks. She also utilized kegs that she had filled to various levels.

“I began to recover some sense of control over the situation when I started working out in my improvised exercise space,” she remembers.

Despite the uncertainty she was facing, here was a place where she could let go of everything and concentrate on creating something for herself.

“Moving my body and preparing my meals every day made everything else seem possible. I learnt to focus on what I could manage and let go of what I couldn’t.” 

Lindsey was improving not just physically, but also psychologically.

Lindsey gradually weaned off the anxiety and sleeplessness medication she’d been using with the help of her doctor. Simultaneously, she learned some new coping mechanisms.

“Instead of watching TV or browsing through my phone before night, I began crocheting. It provided just enough cerebral stimulation to prevent me from being bored, and it kept my hands busy enough that I didn’t want to eat late at night.”

Lindsey was apprehensive about joining a gym. She now visits a couple times each week.

Lindsey took one of the Coaching lessons to heart when gyms were permitted to reopen their doors: she went out of her comfort zone and attempted something new.

She joined a (real) gym and hired a personal trainer to help her get in shape.

“I was hesitant to hire a personal trainer. But having Coach Gillian’s backing made me more willing to give it a go. I’m really enjoying being coached right now.”

Lindsey dropped 16 total inches and developed a new attitude to her health by the end of 2020:

“I was preoccupied with the number on a scale when I first began PN. I used to believe that I needed to spend hours weighing food and that I had to be flawless all of the time. Now I understand that it’s about a series of little events that build up to something larger. There’s no need for me to go all out on anything. All I have to do now is think about myself and what I want, and strive to improve every day.”

Philip: He regained his health and fitness at the age of 61 by making modest, easy changes in the correct direction.

Philip’s dedication to making little improvements every day paid off.

Philip Davis was on a “gentle, but nevertheless evident, downhill slide” when he began coaching.

While Philip had always walked a lot, his friends pointed out that on their walks, he would choose the least steep path. He also realized he was out of breath as he climbed the steep slope to his house.

Philip was well aware that his physical fitness was deteriorating.

And the health indicators he was tracking were all rising: blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat percentage, and weight.

“I was becoming dissatisfied with how I appeared in the mirror. My clothing were no longer fitting properly. A friend even complimented me on my ‘dad bod’ on one occasion!”

Philip was well aware that he didn’t want bodily deterioration to become his new normal.

But he was undecided on what to do next: continue on the same path? Or do you want to start exercising more and eating in a different way?

Philip knew his huffing and puffing up the hill was caused by bad eating habits, such as drinking too much wine at supper and frequenting local bakeries.

As a result, he was eager to alter his diet when he started the program. But he understood it would take time, and that if he felt starved, his efforts might backfire.

He realized he wouldn’t be able to fully alter his behaviors in a single day. He soon realized, though, that he didn’t have to. (Find out why by looking at PN’s body transformation study.)

Philip convinced himself that if he “just kept coming up,” he’d be able to form new, better behaviors that would stay.

Forming new habits, in Philip’s opinion, is similar to sailing a boat. Changing the course of a boat by a few degrees may have a significant impact on its ultimate destination.

Philip had a few “lapses” during the course of the year. Rather of getting disheartened by his failures, he concentrated on how he might improve little by little each day.

And what about his house’s high hill? Philip isn’t even aware of it anymore.

He loves his regular hikes up the high hills in his area.

In fact, on their regular walks, Philip and his wife now look for hills:

“In the mornings, we go for a walk that involves a 500-foot elevation rise in half a mile. That’s when I realize how valuable all those squats from the PN workout regimen have been!”

Philip is 15 pounds lighter and much stronger after a year.

“I have a more proactive approach to my health and fitness that will benefit me now, tomorrow, and forever.”

Do you want to be the healthiest, fittest, and strongest version of yourself?

Most people are aware that getting enough exercise, eating properly, sleeping well, and managing stress are all essential for looking and feeling better. However, they need assistance in putting that information into practice in the context of their hectic, often stressful lives.

Over the last 15 years, we’ve utilized the Coaching approach to assist over 100,000 customers lose weight, gain strength, and improve their health… over the long haul… no matter what obstacles they face.

It’s also why, via our Level 1 and Level 2 Certification programs, we educate health, fitness, and wellness professionals how to coach their own clients through similar difficulties.

Interested in becoming a coach? Join the presale list to save up to 54% and get a seat 24 hours before the general public.

On Wednesday, July 14th, 2021, we will be accepting applications for our upcoming Coaching.

If you’re interested in learning more about coaching, I recommend signing up for our presale list below. Being on the list provides you with two distinct benefits.

• You’ll get a better deal than everyone else. We want to reward the individuals that are the most engaged and driven since they always create the greatest customers. If you join the presale list, you’ll save up to 54% off the general public pricing, the lowest we’ve ever given.

• You’ll have a better chance of getting a place. We only offer the program twice a year to ensure that clients get the particular care and attention they need. We sold out in minutes the last time we started registration. By signing up for the presale list, you’ll be able to register 24 hours before the general public, boosting your chances of getting in.

This is your opportunity to transform your body and your life with the assistance of the world’s finest trainers.

[Note: If you currently have your health and fitness under control but want to assist others, look into our Level 1 Certification program.]

I have decided that I needed to start a coaching business. I want to help people achieve weight loss, personal development, lifestyle change, and more. This is where the Just a Little Bite blog comes in. I will be posting coaching success stories every month. I want to highlight how coaching has helped people reach their goals, become healthier, and be happier.. Read more about precision nutrition weight loss reviews and let us know what you think.

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