MP & myself began working together around 5 months ago. She reached out to me & was looking for help as didn't know her to achieve her fitness goals alone.
When she first signed up her initial goals were to get herself to a healthy weight wanting to lose around 1 stone, improve her level of fitness& strength so she could actually feel confident on her horse & enjoy him as much as possible.
This journey deeper down was all about becoming more confident and stronger mentally & physically to allow her to enjoy her life to the full. She was fed up of not feeling happy or confident in her clothes, putting on her jodphurs & feeling uncomfortable or seeing a photo & think Oh my God is that me.
I remember her saying to me on the call, "I'm stuck. I need structure & consistency but I don't know how."
She was overweight, going through the changes of menopause and working a high pressured corporate job. She was struggling with a lack of confidence in her riding, and doubted herself hugely.
MP believed that the reasons for not achieving her goals before was because she didn't have a structured plan to guide her in the right direction, and she was finding it difficult to fit in working out and eating well around riding her horse, life and her job. She had a big lack of self belief as to whether she could actually do this & that doubt kept creeping in. She knew from experience with her horse that she had experience & knowledge in terms of how to get him fit & performing at his best & wanted to do the same for herself & make sure what she was doing from a training & nutrition principle was actually going to be effective.
She was worried about putting her time into something & not seeing any progress or direct benefit to her riding. She was struggling with aches & pains on a daily level & constantly felt stiff & sore. Having scoliosis her neck was constantly sore as well as suffering from knee pain. This wasn't making life enjoyable for her but it was also creating doubt in her mind as to what she could do as she had that thought that she was going to make things worse physically & end up hurting herself.
She had been down the route before of dieting including restricting calories and cutting carbohydrates, she would lose the weight she wanted but that was it and it would be back on before she knew it. She had tried pilates, running, various apps that cost quite a lot but ultimately none of it had worked for her long term! She hadn't seen progress so had got fed up & quit-quite understandably. She knew the rough guidelines of how sustainable change works & had a little knowledge towards a balanced diet & the importance of lifestyle areas such as sleep but needed some accountability & support as she had this constant voice in the back of her head questioning, can I do this?
A lack of time was a big area area stopping her from achieving all her goals, having tried multiple things in the past she didn't want to waste her time doing something that would have no benefit to her goals & especially her riding. With a dressage riding holiday booked for Mar 2023 she had about 5 months to get herself fit to make the most of that trip. "I want to be able to fully enjoy it & benefit from it & not let my fitness stop me."
She was already doing some exercise, walking during her lunch breaks and she also did pilates once a week but she didn't have any true consistency with what she was doing. She was particularly interested in working on her core and her hips to help improve her balance, and to get her legs stronger so she could be applying aids more effectively whilst riding. Having pain in her lower & mid back around riding she really wanted to work on getting herself stronger so she could get the most out of her horse, know she was riding at her best & not get off feeling sore & stiff.
When I asked what would success be to you her response was;
"Making memories with my horse & riding, looking good on him & having a true partnership feeling good, confident in myself & really enjoying what we're doing."
MP has now lost 8kg-well over a stone! She was talking with friends recently who were currently dieting and were restricting their calories to 800 a day to lose weight whilst she is eating 1700 calories and still losing weight.
I always say my program is about longevity which MP absolutely saw & in her words it's been life-changing. She now knows how to plan her time with her training sessions from home to make progress with her strength, fit in runs around work days and meal prep to make better choices with her nutrition & keep herself on track.
In her words;
"It's been hard work and you can't be lazy, you need commitment and to be consistent. I've kept belief in myself, and with the guidance and step-by-step help from Katie I have made great progress. Katie is always so positive with my feedback, with no judgement when things go a bit sideways or you run out of time to train which really works for me. I feel supported but know there's no excuses.
The programme for me has genuinely been life changing, I feel happier and in more control of my life. I am so glad now looking back that I made that choice to financially invest in myself as well as making me the priority & making that time. It's given me such a buzz. I now just want to go out and be more active & I am so much clearer with what I want to do and when."
She returned from her Portugal riding holiday 10 days ago & had the most incredible time. Having the physical strength & fitness to be able to ride at her absolute best gave her the most out of all the coaching & riding & by the end of the trip she had learnt so many new riding skills & movements to take back home with her. Finally she felt she could ride a collected canter & had the strength to do so! Riding twice a day between hacking & lessons she was worried about how intense the holiday would be when she is used to riding her own horse around 5 times a week. Throughout the trip her energy was sky high & she loved every moment. She has returned off this trip absolutely buzzing, ready to put into practice everything she learned riding wise & continue to make more progress with her health & fitness so she can continue getting the most out of life every day & enjoying what she is doing!
As a coach, seeing riders follow through, commit to the process and achieve their goals gives me so much job satisfaction, and is why I love coaching so much! I hope this story gives you inspiration, that wherever you are right now you can do this too if you are prepared to commit & put in the work.
*If you'd like to hear more about MP's journey & her review hit the video links above to listen to what she has to say!*