Recently I’ve had the pleasure of working with a lovely lady named Chrissy, and helping her with her goal of losing weight after menopause
Chrissy is based in the USA, and I live in England. We connected on Instagram, and Chrissy reached out for help through online coaching.
She was stuck with weight loss, low on energy due to the effects of menopause, and wanted to break free from the diet cycle.
This was about gaining health – both physical and mental.
And, it was about losing weight while still being able to enjoy her life.
Chrissy is a busy mum (or mom in the US ) whose lifestyle involves plenty of social occasions. She also suffers with symptoms related to menopause – low energy, aching muscles and joints, and dips in mental health.
Menopause does not make it impossible to lose weight, but it can make it harder. You need to be extra consistent at a time when your body, mind and life seem to be conspiring to stop you doing that.
The correct knowledge and tools are so valuable, along with support and accountability to help you follow through. If you’d like to learn more about taking care of your body in menopause, I’ve written a whole separate article that you can find at the bottom of this post.
Chrissy stayed with me for 3 months, and has made so many positive changes in that time. Sustainable weight loss is now happening, while still eating out with family, taking vacations, and enjoying weekend parties.
She’s now set to continue and has everything in place to reach her long term goal.
Here’s what the lady herself has to say.
Chrissy’s testimonial
“I was a bit hesitant at first to work with a trainer so far away from me, as I live in the US. But following Hayley on Instagram drew me to her. I appreciated her style of training, positivity, wealth of information, and focus on mental and physical health.
Her experience in working with women, as well as women who have gone through menopause was also important to me. She was always so willing to answer my questions even before I was a client.
Working full time with a family and a son who is very active in sports plus maintaining a social life, she understood that my life was chaotic and busy.”
Losing weight while enjoying a social life
“Throughout our 12 weeks together, I had vacations, parties, birthdays, holidays. Hayley never made me feel like I was failing when I could not do everything at 100%. Even when I thought I was not good enough and I felt like I was failing, she questioned me as too why I was so hard on myself.
Hayley always had a way of knowing when I needed that extra encouragement, sometimes even before I did. And she never made me feel less then or guilty for overindulging or not being able to get all my activity in.
She would join me in goals I set for myself, such as getting up early and getting in a walk to start the day. Throughout our time together she never said that I could not have something or do something because of my goals. We always found a way to work these things in.
Even If I did not lose any weight that week, I may have walked more than I had the week before and that was a win and something to be proud of!”
Tools and knowledge to lose weight and keep it off
“While losing 12 pounds in a 3-month period may not seem like a big deal to some, it is exactly what I needed. I struggled to get under 200 for years since I had a hysterectomy. I would constantly gain and lose the same few pounds over and over.
In keeping this momentum, I will lose close to 50 pounds over the course of a year. And I will have achieved that while still living my life. Enjoying the birthday cake, vacations with the family, margarita(s) by the pool and chips and guacamole at dinner.
My goal was to find a sustainable way to get in more activity and to change up my eating a bit. I am a mostly plant-based eater, but I still needed help to cut down on my portions of the healthy food that I was consuming. I hadn’t realised how much avocado, almond butters and oils can still add up.
(On a side note- I loved that Hayley never pushed eating animal protein on me. She found ways for me to get more protein in by eating the way I choose to).”
No more guilt or perfection
“Hayley always had a positive gentle way to bring me back to that goal that I set for myself. She has given me the tools and knowledge to get to a weight that is maintainable for life and to finally stop dieting. For that I could not be more grateful.
I am finally able to let go of the guilt, stop seeking perfection and live a life where I stay active, eat healthy and indulge in moderation.
Thank you for that Hayley! XX”
Building habits and a lifestyle that work for you
This is what I love about online coaching.
The goal is to give you the tools, knowledge, support, accountability and self-belief to set you up for long term success. Every person is an individual – there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works for everyone.
It’s about building habits and a healthy lifestyle that works for you.
Once you have that in place, you’ll never need another diet ever again.
Whatever your life situation, you can still lose weight and get to where you want to be.
With Chrissy, these are some key points we focused on that helped not just her weight loss, but her overall health and well-being:
- Planning food ahead of time to minimise decision-making later on
- Continuing to eat the foods she loves, and adjusting portion sizes to help them fit better
- Learning more about nutrition, calories and protein
- Being totally ok with slip ups – learning from them and moving on guilt free
- Fitting in short home workouts to boost activity
- Prioritising sleep and drinking enough water
- Taking one or two actions each week to declutter or simplify life and reduce stress
- Building the habit of daily journalling and affirmations to boost mindset
- Moving Chrissy higher up her list of priorities and reminding herself daily she is worth it
- Making time for walks outside to boost mental health
- Looking for ways to treat herself and her body with regular acts of self care
- Highlighting the wins and positives from each week
You are worth the time and effort
For most women, at whatever age or phase of life, losing weight is about so much more than finding a diet plan you can follow. To lose weight and keep it off, value yourself more.
Focus on nourishing your body, reducing stress, putting yourself higher up the list, working on mindset so you say kind encouraging words to yourself (rather than listen to an endless barrage of self-criticism).
When you do it this way, the progress is slower than when you jump on a diet and drop 10lbs (most of which is water) in the first few weeks.
But doing it the slower and sustainable way means you get to enjoy the process and keep the results.
Take a little longer, take the pressure off, take amazing care of you, and make this the last time you ever need to lose weight.
You are worth it.
For information and advice on supporting your body through menopause, there’s an article for you here:
How to Help Your Body Through Menopause
And if you’re interested in Online Coaching, there’s more info here:
Online coaching with Hayley