CrossFit South Bend

In this video we sit down with Brittany who completed our CFSB Nutrition one-on-one nutrition coaching program.

Brittany is a mom of three, and her job as a nurse has unique hours. So, she was concerned about how she could fit healthy eating into her life. Not only was she able to fit healthy eating into her life, she thrived while doing it!

During the program Brittany:
-Lost 15lbs
-Lost 3 inches off her waist
-Lost 2 inches off her hips

Even more importantly she had a lot of non-scale victories:
-She is more in control of her food choices
-Her husband and her entire family are generally eating healthier
-She found ways to fit healthy eating into her busy schedule

Brittany, we’re so proud of you and your progress! Keep up the great work!

___________________________________________________________________________Transcript

– Hey guys Robby here from CFSB Nutrition at Crossfit South Bend. Today I’m here with Brittany who just finished three months of nutrition coaching. Brittany, thank you so much for joining us today. So Brittany just lost 16 pounds. She lost three inches off her waist and two inches off her hips and I think we can both agree that the pictures are pretty night and day. You can see a big difference.

– Absolutely, yeah.

– So Brittany, tell us a little bit about what life was like before you started nutrition coaching.

– So we have three small children at home. We have a really busy lifestyle running to soccer practices and gymnastics and just kind of all over the place. So just busy lifestyle, on the go. Not that we ate a lot of fast food because we do have a daughter with allergies but we didn’t eat quality food. And we just ate what was quick, what was packaged thinking that there’s no way we could do anything differently. Until I hit probably, I would say the lowest or I should say the highest my weight has been since giving birth. And I knew something had to change. I knew that even though we weren’t doing fast food a lot that we still weren’t eating quality food and we still weren’t eating the way we should be.

– So tell us a little bit about what you thought about this way of eating that I was describing was gonna be like before you started. So we sat down, we chatted about it. Were you nervous? Did you think it would be okay? Like what did you think before you gave it a shot?

– So I was nervous because of how busy we are. And although my husband and I both like to cook, we definitely like our sweets and we like our pizzas and our Friday nights. So I was nervous about that. I was nervous about how much prep time and how much time I was gonna be in the kitchen and how that would take away from my children. And so I was a little bit nervous but yeah.

– So after we actually got into the flow of things, tell people how did the reality match up to the expectations? So you were nervous going in. How did that actually manifest itself when you were actually doing the three months?

– So my husband and I, the nice thing is he was 100 percent with me. He knew that we needed a change and he was there to support me. So the first couple of weeks, although yes there was, it does take a significant amount of planning especially when you’re on the go and you do have small children. But it wasn’t like I was spending hours in the kitchen or anything like that. I for the most part was able to prep and do things ahead of time after the kids would either go to bed or if my husband took over reading with the kids or doing homework so that I could prep for lunches and things the next day. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on things. And there are quick and easy meals too. So it wasn’t like you had a bajillion ingredients that nobody knew what they were. And we made it work just by shifting the way that we saw it a little bit or the way we did things just a little bit. And introducing foods slowly and taking out some slowly.

– Excellent. So tell people about what it was like, so you’ve got a family, you got kids. You have a job that sometimes involves unique hours. How did you navigate that?

– So like I said a lot of planning. It does take a lot of talking and looking ahead. There was a good video once about preparing for last minute changes and being a little bit flexible. So knowing that I needed to have extra veggies cut up in case we didn’t get a little bit of time between gymnastics and soccer practice. Or if I had to go from I work at a school during the day and then I had to go to work at a hospital shift at night. Knowing that okay well I have to make sure that I take not only my lunch for the school but I have to take with me to the school my dinner for work. But we were really good about talking with that the night before or even a couple days out. And just making sure that A, we had groceries in the house. And B that our kids were taken care of and made sure that their food and everything was packed and then mine as well. So it did take a significant amount of planning and talking with my husband and working things out but definitely worth it.

– Yeah once you put in the effort it sounds like it paid dividends.

– Mm-hmm, it did.

– One of the things we always like to talk about is the so-called non-scale victories. The things that go beyond the numbers and the pictures and the measurements. Tell people what non-scale victories you experienced during the program.

– So for me eating was definitely pleasure. It was definitely comfort. Definitely had a foothold on me. And so part of this program and part of why I entered it was kind of to break some of those unhealthy habits. To feel empowered, to be able to say no, I don’t really want that right now or things like that. So that when I went to a party and there was a whole bunch of things out that I wouldn’t feel like I had to eat it or I didn’t crave it. So I definitely have an empowerment over those unhealthy habits. Different foods that I can walk away from now. And it does make you just feel empowered and good about your choices.

– Yeah, absolutely that’s fantastic.

– And definitely an example for my children as well.

– Yeah, absolutely. The last question I always like to ask is imagine you were talking to someone who has a similar job or who’s a mom or Brittany three or four months ago when she’s not quite sure should I do this, should I not? What would you say to someone who is thinking about doing this after what you’ve experienced what you’ve experienced.

– Well I would definitely be honest with them that yes it does take prep. It does take talking about what’s going to go on during the week. But that it’s not impossible and that it’s not crazy hard. It just takes planning. It just takes looking at what the week holds and saying okay, so when do I get my groceries? And how can I get my veggies cut up? And just looking at it and planning ahead. But it really isn’t as scary or daunting as it seems. And if you have the support at home, just knowing that you’re in it together and you can do this.

– Yeah, absolutely. Well I have to say on my end I’m super proud of you and all the progress you made. I think you did a fantastic job. Yeah, and I wish you guys continued success in the future with eating this way.

– Well great, thank you.

– Alright guys well thank you so much for tuning in and we’ll see you next time.