One Month Results After Working with Coach Mark + Daunting Europe Maintenance

A few weeks ago I shared some mega vulnerable, personal pictures to help illustrate a few things I wanted to share about my first experience working with an online health coach. Working with Coach Mark was a very (very!) spontaneous decision, but at the halfway mark of my first month, I was feeling confident enough in the program to share it with you guys in case you wanted to hop on board with me too (a few of you did!)

I had to do my official pictures and measurements a few days early since we were leaving for Germany, so these are technically my 25-day results.

Total weight lost: 6.6lbs

Total inches lost: 5 (mostly in my hips and waist)Challenges faced throughout September: a weekend in Tuscaloosa with friends for a football game, my mom’s birthday, a couple girls’ nights out to dinner, coffee dates, sugary chocolate and cake at church, Jamie’s work party, etc. There were a ton of things that could have thrown me off track, but I pushed through and truly tried to do the best I could do.

At one point I whined to Mark a little bit that I was frustrated that the scale wasn’t moving faster than it was. I was staying on track 100% and wanted to see faster results in order to stay motivated. After a little bit of conversation back and forth, he basically told me that if I am going to primarily focus on the scale for my results, that I might as well stop working out and gaining muscle.

Oy. Jamie wanted to high five Mark so bad! Haha. Mark told me that he didn’t want to come across as harsh, but that there are other ways to measure success and overall health and wellness besides that number on the scale.

And this is why I’m so glad I’m working with Mark. He isn’t there to be my best bud; He’s there because I’ve paid him to teach me how to achieve my personal goals and be a healthier version of me.

So I was really happy with my September results and signed up to work with him another month. I was nervous about nine days in Europe though and had a feeling I was going to come back and see my starting weight back on the scale. Mark gave me the best travel-related advice he could, asked me to check in when I could, and told me to have a good time!

I tried my best but still really, really enjoyed our vacation. I ate and drank what I wanted to and didn’t hold back on  experiencing the yummy parts of vacation. 🙂 I did try to be mindful where I could though, so I really wasn’t sure what the scale would say.

I hopped on it two days after we got home, and I was shocked (!!!!) to see that I was a pound less than when I left. How in the world?!

I have a few theories, but in general, I just really think Mark’s program works. Ultimately, it’s simply sustainable in every way.

Here were the pictures I took last Friday as I neared the six-week mark. I was exactly one pound lighter in the picture on the right than the middle picture (even though it doesn’t really look like it!).

Anyway, I know that I always enjoy reading about how others are practicing healthier habits, so I figured I’d share this spontaneous little journey I’ve been on that has ended up being a really great thing. I’m not consuming nearly as much bread, cheese, wine, or ice cream, and though I miss all four of those things from time to time, I feel great, and that feeling helps me fight some of my cravings to occasionally reach for those things outside of my indulgence meal. (And yes, I still “mess up” from time to time but hey… I really am just trying to live life and do my best!)

One random thing I love about this program: I am cooking foods I never cooked before. I made dairy-free mashed potatoes last night, and they were amazing! I also made a recipe last week that called for a leek, and I had to look up on YouTube how to cut it up and cook it because I had no idea! Seriously learning so many new things.

Mark’s program involves commitment, but if you are ready to be held accountable toward better eating habits, kicking  bad habits, fitting better in some of your clothes, etc. I think that signing up for Mark’s November group is a great idea!! You should chat with him. I believe him November enrollment is happening NOW! You can get in touch with him by clicking here.

Let’s chat!

Is there anything that you cut out of your diet at least 80% of the time, such as dairy, sugar, etc? If so, what led you to cut it out? How has it improved your overall health?