Hiring a coach doesn’t mean you won’t struggle.
It doesn’t mean you’ll coast to your goals. And there’s certainly no magic or secret sauce that we give you that transforms you into the body of your dreams.
It’s simply an opportunity to do things different than you’ve done them before.
But that can be challenging. In fact, that IS challenging.
I’m fortunate enough to have helped thousands of people transform their minds and bodies after they felt like nothing would ever work for them. But there’s a common misconception that hiring a coach is the equivalent of ordering results on Amazon.
You don’t just sit back and watch your dreams arrive in the mail.
If you truly want insight into how it actually happens, then listen to these client wins and struggles that we discussed on our team call yesterday. This is what real coaching looks like.
Hiring a coach creates an opportunity to do things differently so you can see different results.
Coach Becky kicked things off with a client struggle. This individual came to us eating around 800 calories per day for a long time. She’s pretty small already at 5’2″, so the thought of eating more and seeing the scale go up was frightening.
She agreed that she didn’t want to live the rest of her life eating less than 1,000 calories per day so Becky started working her calories up slowly. This particular client is very detailed and organized, being a type 3. So consistency was not the issue.
They worked her calories up to 1200-1400 but the scale crept up about 2 lbs. and the client was concerned. She also started to notice that with more food came some digestive issues (aka not pooping regularly). Becky communicates with her daily because she knows how mentally challenging it can be for a client to have to eat more when they are afraid of more food and the scale going up.
We discussed that the 2 lbs. of weight gain is certainly not fat, especially when she’s constipated. It’s mostly water, food, and some poop that needs to come out. Eating more and having digestive issues can be a result of adding in certain foods that don’t sit well. When someone is accustomed to eating so little and then they have to eat more, they may increase the amount or introduce foods that are causing digestive distress.
On the flip side, when a client is reducing their intake and having digestive issues, it’s often because of stress. Anyway, we talked through some strategies to get her bowels moving again and how to approach the process of continuing to increase calories while keeping body composition in check. I feel very grateful because this is a situation where a client is in a tough spot and having the guidance and support of a coach is invaluable. She’ll feel a million times better giving her body what it needs.
Building healthy habits can lead to results that last.
Coach Liz was next and shared a client win and a client struggle. The client win was someone who is a type 2 diabetic and his blood glucose has been in the 220’s for the longest time. They’ve worked on prioritizing health first and foremost and he recently saw his numbers drop to the 170’s. He said that he hasn’t seen his blood sugar levels that low in the longest time.
When you take care of health, body composition is not far behind. He’s now in a great position to be able to respond to fat loss. But the healthy habits that they are building will truly make his results last.
The client struggle for Liz was someone who has a hard time controlling her impulses. She is currently in a fat loss phase but finds herself giving in any time an opportunity presents itself to indulge. Whether it’s a work event or some weekend fun with friends … she goes in with a plan to stay consistent and then gives in when the moment arrives.
We talked through some strategies to help her be more mindful. Like visualizing the moments ahead of time and how she’ll respond. What she’ll do instead of giving in. We also want her to visualize how her friends will respond. Often times we make the choice we want but then someone around us reacts unfavorably and we cave. If we can anticipate the unfavorable reaction and prepare for it, research shows we’re more likely to stay true to what we want.
We also came up with some future self exercises for her to do which are proven to be really effective with these exact challenges. Coach Ashley also had a great tip that she tells her clients in fat loss when it comes to weekends. She says that during fat loss, try to make it a point to not have 2 bad weekends in a row. Which can help with still feeling flexible through the process. I’m excited to see how the client does with these tools.
Real progress is about more than just losing weight.
Coach Shelby was up next and shared a massive win for a client who is down over 100 lbs. You’d think the 100 lbs. was the win but this is even more profound. Anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight understands the fear that is always present that one day we’re going to wake up and be back in that previous body again. I actually have frequent dreams about that so I totally understand the fear.
Well this particular client was so accustomed to losing and gaining from her past experiences, that she would get really anxious on vacations. In the past, she would try to control everything so much and then indulge to the extreme on vacation and would gain 15 lbs. each time.
This time, she went on vacation, enjoyed herself, and came back up 2 lbs. She was thrilled with the mindset progress that she’s made and her ability to still enjoy herself while keeping things in check. Not only that, but she’s still making incredible progress and losing about 1 – 1.5 lbs. per week!
We now offer MORE options for hiring a coach!
Meghan shared a win that she spoke with a few people over the past couple of weeks who were interested in hiring a coach and doing 1 on 1 coaching. They decided that POP Essentials was a better starting point and they reached out to Meghan saying how happy they are with the Essentials program and they’re doing great! I love that we have more options to give people the help they need.
Steve shared that he received some feedback from clients that enrolled in 1 on 1 coaching and told him that they couldn’t be happier with their decision to join. It’s so rewarding to know that just on the other side of that tough decision is the guidance and support that you need.
Coach Mel shared a client graduation win that really showcases what we’re all about. This particular client was with Mel for over a year and saw incredible results with her body composition. Like she got super lean. They went through a reverse and got her calories back up to maintenance and she remained very lean.
However, she wanted to be even leaner (or so she thought). After graduating, the client joined our challenge and put fat loss as her goal. Mel agreed that she could do 4 weeks of fat loss but then she really wanted her to embrace maintenance. After the challenge, she joined POP Essentials and still said that she wanted fat loss.
After communicating with Mel, the client had a revelation. She realized that she’s already lean and happy in her body. And that she doesn’t need to spend every minute of her life trying to be her absolute leanest. She said to Mel … “I know you’ve been telling me that for the longest time but for some reason it all of a sudden clicked.”
What a beautiful thing it is when that happens. Now she gets to focus on living her best life and thriving.
Accountability and support – 2 huge benefits of hiring a coach!
Coach Ashley was up next and had a client win and a client challenge. The client win was someone who joined in December and has lost about 10 lbs. of fat and her body composition is incredible. This particular client is pretty hard on herself so she keeps questioning how the results aren’t happening fast enough.
But here’s the coolest part … this time, it’s actually sustainable AND she feels amazing! She’s sleeping better, has more energy than ever before, her mood is better, her workouts are better, and her stress is lower. Doesn’t get any better than that!
Her client struggle is someone who is under a ton of stress right now and is having a hard time getting her blood sugar levels to come down. She’s actually made a good amount of progress with fat loss, but her blood sugar is remaining pretty high. Coach Liz jumped in to troubleshoot a lot of the functional tools we can utilize for this particular client. Our assumption is that her waking cortisol response is out of wack and we really need to focus on bringing down stress and emphasizing food quality. I think we have a solid game plan to start seeing improvements in her health markers.
Cat shared a win about a client who enrolled last week. This was a guy who said that he hates all things lol. He doesn’t like to exercise, he doesn’t like to meal prep, and he hasn’t enjoyed any of the programs he’s done in the past. So he was highly skeptical that this would be different.
He texted Cat and said that after chatting with his coach, Jimmy, and listening to the podcast, he’s more confident than ever that this is exactly where he needs to be. He said that the emphasis on health anchors seems very doable and not over whelming at all. He feels like he’s in the right place and finally feels like he’s got the support and accountability to get him where he wants to be.
Incredible.
So that’s the real deal insight into what this all looks like from the coaches view. It’s not always smooth sailing. It’s not always easy. But hiring a coach is always worth it if you truly commit to and engage in the process.
