We're back to showcase another long-term client of the Audacious Athlete team! Michelle has been a part of Coach Casey's roster for well over a year now.
Michelle joined coach Casey roster with the primary goals of improving her body composition, finding consistency with both training and nutrition and learning how to balance both while still enjoying social events and eventually feeling confident in succeeding on her own.
First off, how’d you find the Audacious Athletes team and your coach?
A friend of mine was a long time client of Chanel's. I not only heard great things and saw the awesome work she was doing but I started following AA and all the coaches on Instagram. I found them super relatable, knowledgeable and it inspired me to contact them to get involved myself.
What prompted you to seek out coaching initially?
As mentioned before, I not only saw the work my friend was doing with Chanel and how much she was learning, but I was ready for some accountability myself. To be honest, I had had some pre conceived notions about coaches, who benefits from coaching etc and thought it was not for me since I wasn't going to be competing or anything like that. I am glad that I was wrong, I have benefitted and learned so much and I never got the sense that I had to be super strict or extreme with my goals, I could just live my life and make improvements every week / month to push myself to be better with out having to be extreme. Everything I have done and learned is to be manageable and easy to incorporate into the lifestyle I already had, just making myself a little bit better every week.
Since being a client, what goals have you been able to accomplish?
Aside from all the obvious things - education on fitness and nutrition, weight loss, accountability - my mental health and stress around exercise and nutrition has improved DRAMATICALLY. I no longer feel like one weekend away or one big event derails my progress, I feel equipped to be encouraged to make progress slowly over time and keep going and honestly having coaching has taken a ton of the stress out of thinking about workouts, what to do each week, what tweaks to make etc. I have learned how to make so many different goals to be proud of, not just the scale number. That's been a huge mind set shift and overall improved my view on fitness by so much!
What do you enjoy most about your relationship with your coach?
One of the very first things I appreciated about my coach was the focus on "non scale related victories". I used to get so discouraged, or in my head about the fluctuations and it was a huge road blocker to succeeding any type of progress for me. She encouraged me - and taught me why - to focus on other small wins each week and after a while I started to see changes that made me not want to give up, even if they were small. I feel like she really got to know over time what motivates me, what doesn't and how to work with me to stay positive and not focus on things that would drag me down or backwards.
I love that she has always been supportive of whatever I have going on in life, but pushing me to make slightly better decisions or choices each time. I never felt like she judged me and that in itself was a huge reason I have kept going for so long. She never made me feel bad for "messing up" or for having questions, it has helped me learn and grow so much in an environment where I feel really supported.
There have also been times where she's gone out of her way to provide me with extra details - meals I can make easily in a hotel room, snacks I can bring to work or on a plane, alternative workouts for traveling - and just going above and beyond to help me succeed.
If someone was on the fence about becoming an Audacious Athlete client, what advice or guidance would you give them?
Don't be afraid to start. I was always scared that I was "not serious" enough or they would be mad at me if I did XYZ and didn't think I could make it a big enough priority in my life. I have gotten to know different clients, read their stories and know that we are all DIFFERENT and we all make it work - that each coach really tailors whatever it is that they're doing to each individual client. I really had a view of coaching as sort of a one size fits all approach and that had never worked for me in the past so I never wanted coaching. I was extremely wrong and I'm glad I was. I never felt like I was doing something that wasn't right for me and I appreciate that. The best part about it is that I have been able to be myself. But I have also been pushed to do things I would not have wanted to do in the past - for example progress pics I hated - and looking back, I am so glad I was pushed because it is all a part of being able to look at my journey and how much I have accomplished. Sometimes it really does just take someone being in your corner and wanting you to succeed right along with you, to help you keep going!
Michelle will be leaving Coach Casey's roster in about a month after spending over 75 weeks working together having had accomplished some pretty incredible goals.
Aside from the physical changes that Michelle has achieved, she also has completed some pretty impressive endurance-based goals (races) in the process as well.
If you aren't already, be sure to follow us over on Instagram where we often share what our clients are up to! If becoming a client on our roster is something you're interested in, fill out this form here to set up a consult call with Head Coach Chanel or a specific coach you're interested in working with!