Bringing you guys another client testimonial, and I am so excited for this one! Magic Makers, I truly got to work with some of the most amazing women I have ever met during the last 15 years and I love that a lot of them fostered into lifelong friendships with them! And Katie Veazie is no different! Like, she literally could be my own child, if things went wrong at prom…. LOL!! I have loved seeing her blossom over the years and where her career has taken her!
I love the mindset that Katie brings to the conversation, she’s all about finding a way to live her healthiest life just for herself without worrying about the expectations of others. She is using her own struggles with the pressures of societal norms and the toxic diet culture of the 90s and early 2000s to help her clients navigate the best health practices, all while making them feel like a total strong badass! Combining vulnerability with strength helps her to connect with her clients and achieve sustainable results! – Told you she’s freaking AMAZING!!
During my coaching years, I have seen it so many times where everyone comes to competition and just wants to do a show, but what they don’t realize is that from those words to now, those words “I want to do a show” can completely transformed their lives and this goes for Katie as well. It has completely changed her life. And of course, it has come with lots of ups and downs, but to say that she has grown from that experience is an understatement of the century! It has catapulted her career, her life, and changed everything for her!
Now that you are on the other side of it… Do you feel that being coachable is that thing, that is the factor that gets clients the results they are looking for?
Yes, you can tell who the people are who will do the work. The ones that are giving me feedback in my online program, tend to get the results. The quieter ones tend to not. Having the feedback definitely leads to the most results. But everyone is different.
For me, getting lean was the easy part. Like freaking eating bacon, the week of the show was fine! What was hard was taking the year off to pack on both muscle and fat, I was uncomfortable in my body. But when you are an athlete and you want to take it to the next level, you have to trust your coach and know that they have your best interest at heart. I know you always did, and we put in the work! For me, I did well in the local shows, but that year at the Fitness America show in Las Vegas, where I came in dead last Together we stood on that stage, and you said to me are you ready to go to work! As a coach that was so pivotal that you put that much trust in my hands. Then the next year you came back to that very show with a top 5 trophy because I listened to you, did the work, and took the time off. It was hard but it was the CONSISTENCY in just building and trusting YOU!
There are so many false promises out there. I feel like for someone who is trying to find an online coach, how do you not fall for the pretty pictures or funny reels? How do you start to say to yourself that I am going to buy in?
Just working with you the year before, we developed a really good relationship and in that one year built so much! Going into the program like Cathy Savage, I knew there was a great reputation behind it and trusted who she had as coaches. But there are also some people who do one competition and become fitness coaches. I love working with women and strength training, but the competition coaching is just not for me.
You really have to do your research. With social media, you can kind of tell someone is fake. You want to look at the coach who lets you in on the real side of stuff too. Not just butterflies and rainbows and photoshoots all the time. Having social media helps you get a glimpse into that coach’s life and hopefully, you can see personality-wise if they will be a good fit for you!
As coaches, a lot of people come to us with expectations. Because I gave you money, I am going to magically make the transformation that I have in my mind. Or magically look like you, etc. But that is clearly not how it works. All bodies are different and built differently. And that is what is the tough part with online space, you have to be really clear about what your actual goals are. So that way, we can decide what is the timeline for that, because there is such an unrealistic timeline. It is such a tough pill for people to swallow that it will not happen in 8 weeks with instant gratification and false promises especially online. This is not Amazon prime.
A lot of times as coaches, we have to come up with other ways other than the damn scale and how something looks, especially if you have a long-term goal. And I do this with my clients. Small goals along the way. Really focus on strength training for women. Really try to push them and run them through the different cycles!
Fitness is supposed to enhance your life. It shouldn’t be your entire life! It should not be giving up everything to spend hours and hours at the gym and weighing every amount of food unless you are competing at that level or you’re a professional athlete. It’s supposed to enhance your life outside of the gym!
What would you say some of the results you have seen by working with me are?
There is so much beyond the physical… But I was able to put on a lot of muscle with you. And the results weren’t just in that fitness competition space either. I have created this healthy body mass, I have carried throughout this time, and I haven’t stepped on stage in a long time but am still able to maintain this muscle mass that has now transferred into being really strong in CrossFit!
Something else I definitely gained from you was confidence. Confidence and appreciation for my body and allowing myself to go through seasons of change with my body. Where before it was tough. I would be lying if I said staying home during COVID wasn’t tough even with a home gym. It was tough! But because I worked with you, I was able to SAY this is just a season! This is a phase in my life. This is a phase in my body. I know overall I am healthy and will get back to it without staying and harping on myself!
I am now able to go through ebbs and flows and understand that life happens. There are going to be times I am not going to work out as much as I want and eat as healthy, but through working with you, I was able to move through those times. Get back on the horse and not get so down on me about how my body looks! My body is able to do so many things for me. That it is so much more than what it looks like in the package it is in. And this is one of the big things I learned from working with you!
We all get that little crazy spiral started, but we have to say this is my season, it is going to end, I am doing what I can. And talk yourself off that ledge!
For women, that confidence of coming in thinking you aren’t strong enough and don’t know what your body is, then finding out WHAT YOU ARE capable of is so freaking powerful! Strength training is just hugely life-changing for women! Even for what it brings outside the gym. Strength training teaches you there is a process. You are not going to see progress in an instant. Maybe all of your lifts aren’t going to progress, but out of a month, one of your lifts is going to progress, that can make all the difference. Showing up consistently VS beating yourself up will give you the results!
The gratification is when you are getting out of your comfort zone and becoming uncomfortable. Strength training is the end all be all for women and every woman has to pick up a weight! at least 2-3 days at least for15-30 minutes. This doesn’t have to be 3-4 hours long. Just get in there and become consistent and you will feel confident and freaking amazing!!
Magic Makers, you have to go and follow Katie on the socials. She keeps it real and is pretty freaking amazing!
LINKS
Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/kimbarnesjeffersoncoach
Facebook Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/fitgirlmagic/
Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fit-girl-magic-healthy-living-for-women-over-40/id1476883661
58 Free Fool-Proof Plant-Based Recipes
https://www.fitgirlmagic.com/plant-based-recipes_podcast/
Katie Veazie Instagram:
www.Instagram.com/ktvz_fit
Katie Veazie Website:
www.KTVZFitness.com
