-27.4 lbs (15 Weeks)

Online Nutritional Coaching

I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired for years that I came to a point where I knew something had to change. I attempted to do it on my own, but lacked any real knowledge of how to change my lifestyle and become healthy. Marcus had been recommended to me from a colleague, I also had seen the results from a friend who previously worked with him, and I knew that I had to reach out and ask for help to get me out of the unhealthy hole I’ve spent years digging for myself.

I wanted to learn about nutrition, movement, and how to properly lose weight and change my lifestyle in a sustainable way that I could integrate into my life. I remember looking into a personal trainer, but that route didn’t seem sustainable or completely accurate to the goals I had in mind. I am so happy and relieved that I got to work with Marcus, because he taught me what actually constitutes a lifestyle change: nutrition, movement, sleep, and stress management, and how all 4 work together.

Besides from being put into a calorie deficit, we took away my dependency on coffee and tackled some sleep debt issues I had. Not being able to drink coffee past noon was probably the biggest hurdle I had to initially overcome, it was awful in the beginning, but let me tell you it was so so worth it and I am thankful that he brought me out of caffeine dependency. My energy levels and mental clarity started to go up and I became more in-tune with my body and what it needed from me.

I lost a lot of weight in 15 weeks, but really the biggest results were shown through how I felt. Throughout working together, I became more in-tune with my body and what It needed/wanted. If I ate something that didn’t agree with me, I now know how to remedy it by going for a walk and being aware that perhaps that I don’t digest that specific food well and to not eat it. Because being bloated and feeling crappy isn’t worth eating the thing that doesn’t nourish my body.

I found myself wanting to go on walks, hikes, wake up early for a workout…I wanted to move because I had the energy and desire to do so, I loved how it made my body feel. I started to feel naturally energized by getting proper sleep, handling stress, making sure I was moving and eating healthfully. I wanted this as a goal, but had never felt it before so achieving it was an amazing feat. Marcus showed me that it’s completely doable to live like this, even with a crazy work life.

I loved having a coach for many reasons, but one being that I could ask for advice or information about an article or post I saw online. Like I said before, I didn’t have a lot of knowledge about the health/fitness world, so having Marcus explain or give his opinion was incredibly helpful. It also helped me manoeuvre through all the stuff we see online or are told, and knowing what’s true and what’s just a gimmick.

Marcus’s opinion and outlook on how a week went was super valuable too. There were times where I thought my week was decent, but he would come back telling me my movement could improve, which pushed me to do better for the next week. But then there were also times where I was really hard on myself, and he told me that my week was actually a lot better than I was giving myself credit for. As well, he would get me to tap into the emotional side of things and explore maybe why I thought the week wasn’t great, which is a tool I use now when i check-in with myself.

Also, I loved listening to the podcast! I have re-visited episodes numerous times depending on what’s going on in my life or what I feel like I need some advice on. It’s really a great source for information that I’ll keep using even after my program ends.

The part I struggled with for quite a bit were the weekly check in photos. They are such a great tool to measure progress, but in the moment, it was a lot of raw facts just laid out in front of me. However, along the way I would go back to earlier photos and it would help me reflect on where I was when i started this journey, and reminded me of how much I did not want to go back to that…they ended up being a great motivator in the end!

This lost lamb is a found fawn thanks to you Marcus :)