Lose Weight in Union Hill KC
Jennifer lost 16 pounds and got her health and fitness back on track with Hitch Fit Gym Personal Trainer Nancy Choquette!
Jennifer’s Before and After Weight Loss Photos:
Jennifer’s Story and Hitch Fit Gym Review:
“My original journey with Hitch Fit began in the fall of 2013. I was working on my Masters in Health Promotion program with Cleveland University of Kansas City and we were learning about health coaching. As part of the class, not only did we have to coach others, but our instructor made us come up with SMART GOALS and complete a personal health contract every week where we would check in with her and give her updates on our progress toward our goals. Being a massage therapist for 12 years, the physical demands of the profession can be very challenging and I have learned over the years that if I don’t exercise regularly and make smart nutrition choices my energy levels tank by the end of the day. Thus, I decided if I had to set a SMART GOAL for a 12 week course, I might as well team it with a online personal training Hitch Fit program to help me get into better shape and hopefully increase my energy levels. So that fall I signed up with an online Hitch Fit program working with Diana. During that 12 weeks, I learned a ton about nutrition and pushed myself harder than I ever had before in my workouts. Although I didn’t completely meet my goals I finished my program with significant weight loss and inches lost but more than anything I found a new sense of confidence in myself and truly learned the benefits of using SMART GOALS.
Fast forward to January 2017. After finishing my Masters program and diving back into my massage business full-time I found myself falling back into some bad habits that unfortunately have plagued me most of my career as a massage therapist. One of my biggest struggles in running my own business and juggling my work at my office, house calls and corporate massage has been finding time to eat regular meals. I could usually get in breakfast but every other meal/snack of the day was usually crammed into 5-10 min breaks between clients or in my car on my way to a house call. And more often than not if I ran late with a client and the next client was waiting then I would skip eating all together.
In addition, my exercise routine had become spotty again. I have always been someone that enjoys group fitness/yoga classes but after moving to a new apartment in 2016 in a new part of Kansas City, I couldn’t find a gym/studio I enjoyed and I couldn’t get back into any groove at the onsite gym. In addition, my social circle was shrinking due to friends getting married and having kids. So after some encouragement from a few clients I decided I would try joining an intermural volleyball league. I figured it would be a great way to get active doing a sport I used to love and play in junior high and hopefully meet some new people in the mean time. Well to my dismay the idea backfired on me. About three weeks into the league play, I was hit in the face by a ball that ricocheted off my teammates hands after a hard serve. Needless to say I ended up with what turned out to be a concussion or at least multiple concussion like symptoms. For the next 5 months I worked with my primary care physician and chiropractor to treat some of the ongoing symptoms. I had off and on full-body nerve tingling, dizziness, headaches and worst of all was the brain fog. I found that even just taking my dog for a walk would jiggle my head enough to bring on symptoms. So needless to say any kind of vigorous exercise, specifically running/jumping or anything with hard impact to the ground was out of the question.
After several months of enduring practically no physical exercise in fear I would aggravate my head. I finally woke up and decided I wasn’t going to let this injury keep dragging my health in a downward spiral. My energy levels were depleted, I had gained about 15lbs, my digestion problems had returned and I just did not feel like myself. About that same time through social media I had been following my old colleagues from my Spa Tuscano days and had known about the amazing Hitch Fit transformations Nancy Choquette had done with Anna Palmentere, Melissa Allinder and Stephanie Davis. I had thought to myself several times how they looked like they had so much fun working out with Nancy and knowing them all as I do… I knew that their workout sessions must be non-stop laughter.
So I finally contacted Nancy and told her I wanted to be part of all this fun, I wanted to find a way to start exercising again that wouldn’t aggravate my head and I wanted to change my bad habits. Having done the program before I knew how successful it could be but I really was going to need a trainer this time to push me and keep me focused.
On July 4th, 2017, (appropriate being Independence Day) I started my transformation. From day one at Hitch Fit I immediately felt like I had joined not only a workout transformation gym, but a family. Nancy and I hit it off like no time at all had passed since working together at the spa and her enthusiasm/spunkiness was just what I needed in a trainer. Throughout my 16 weeks with her I was impressed how she would constantly check in with me and make sure my head was ok and would change up the workouts to make sure I wasn’t doing anything that involved jumping or hard impact to the ground. She was legitimately concerned about my health and well being throughout the whole process. There were many times through the program that I would get super frustrated that I couldn’t just run on a treadmill or go for a run outside to do my cardio and every time I expressed this frustration to her she showed complete compassion but redirected me to focusing on my goal.
Nancy was also there for me anytime I had any questions about my nutrition. We stayed in contact multiple times a week (often everyday) and she would give me ideas on easy meals to make and different spices to use to add variety to my chicken/fish. Cooking has never been my forte but I found the program has given me a whole new appreciation for the kitchen. By learning how much added salt they use at restaurants, I actually look forward to cooking my meals at home. It’s crazy how sensitive the body becomes to salt when you start reducing it from your diet. And I definitely learned what a large impact it can have on retaining water and your weight. Every time I would choose to eat out I would almost always weigh more or simply hold pounds that would normally drop.
One thing I really liked about the Hitch Fit Gym was how every trainer and client there was a cheerleader for you. I literally had another trainer stop her own personal workout to start yelling “Go Go Go” as I was slamming the ropes next to her. Everybody in the gym was there to cheer on your progress and cheer you up when you were having a bad day.
My 16-week transformation did not come without challenges. As much as I wanted to stay laser focused and do every single day of cardio and stay 100% on my nutrition plan the reality is that life was still happening outside my transformation bubble. I had a family vacation, a work conference, a sick dog, celebrations with friends… all of which would tempt me with food outside my plan or simply prevent me from having time to get in a workout. In addition, I did have several weeks that I was still experiencing symptoms from my concussion. The dizziness, headaches and brain fog are still very much present off and on depending on my activities and workload. To me all these challenges are a huge part of my transformation. Yes, I wanted to lose weight, lose bodyfat and have more energy, but more importantly I wanted to learn how to face all these challenges and have the tools to keep moving forward and making progress toward my goals despite setbacks or temptations.
Having completed my second program with Hitch Fit I honestly do feel transformed inside and out. I made significant strides toward my goal weight and far exceeded my expectations for my loss of inches/body fat. I am stronger both physically and mentally and my digestion has improved immensely! Since I work with muscles and tissue everyday as a massage therapist, I also noticed how much healthier my tissue feels. The toxicity has decreased and the hydration levels have increased. My muscles are much more balanced which has helped to reduce previous problem areas of pain and weakness in my body such as my pelvis and neck. By learning to cook at home, I have become much better about meal prepping , which helps make sure I have food to take to my office and allows me to make sure I get enough to food throughout the day keeping my metabolism working at all times. What excites me the most is that I can literally feel the difference in my body and muscle strength, which has given me motivation to maintain my progress and set new goals. In fact, I have already scheduled more sessions with Nancy to push me through the holidays! I am thrilled to have reconnected with Nancy and consider her a friend, mentor and amazing life coach/trainer.”
Are you READY FOR YOUR TRANSFORMATION with Nancy Choquette at Hitch Fit Gym in Kansas City?
Email: [email protected]
Call: 816.506.0393
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