January 2020- McCohn Muscle Client of the Month

Heather’s story began back in 2013 when she started having some pretty serious health issues. After several appointments with doctors and specialists she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. UC is an autoimmune disease where the immune system basically attacks the digestive system, cause inflammation and as you can imagine, some pretty crappy symptoms (yes pun intended haha).

There is no cure for UC, but for most people the disease can be managed through medication, healthy lifestyle, and diet. However, since the disease can't be cured, it's very common to experience flare ups where symptoms become pretty bad as well as periods of remission with little to no symptoms. It was pretty devastating to learn in her mid 20's that she would have a health condition that couldn't be cured, and that it would affect every aspect of her life.

For a long time she was just getting by, but she didn't really have the motivation or energy to do much of anything. Fast forward to January 2018 when she reluctantly signed up for McCohn Muscle's 6 Week Transformation Challenge with Q. McCohn after her coworker (shout out to Astrid) convinced her and another friend to sign up.

Suad, Heather, and Astrid = Team Dynamic

She was nervous, but also excited to see if the exercise and accountability for healthy eating would help her feel better. Long story short, it did! She felt healthier in 2018 than she felt in a long time- she lost weight, gained muscle and her UC almost seemed like a bad dream.

At the time she was trying to run in several 5Ks throughout the year, and she really wanted to push herself to run a half marathon. It was something she never thought she could do, but her year of working out with Quentin gave her the confidence that she could.

More struggles came while training for her half marathon. Things started getting really stressful for her at work, and the stress from work combined with her ramped-up training schedule caused her UC symptoms to creep back in.

She was in denial since she had been feeling so good the past year. She thought that things would get better quickly, but they did not. During her half marathon she felt so sick she ended up missing her goal by almost 7 minutes. She knew it should have felt like an accomplishment that she pushed through and finished, but she wasn’t feeling the fact that she didn’t achieve something that she had trained so hard for. Then there’s that internal depression or sadness of being sick again after a year of feeling so great. On the outside she looked fit and healthy, but inside she was slowly falling apart.

Things took a turn for the worse on July 4th 2019 when she went to the ER, where she was then admitted to the hospital for 5 days. During this time she lost over 15lbs (including most the muscle she had spent the last year building), and she was told that she would have to have surgery to have her colon removed if things did not get better soon. She was put on a new treatment plan and sent home to work on getting healthy again.

Her road to recovery took a lot longer than she was anticipating. Even as her digestive issues were getting better, she started dealing with severe joint pain and swelling. The iron in her blood dropped to the point where she was close to needing a blood transfusion. Her hair started falling out, and the steroids she was taking cause her to gain 20-25lbs. It was one thing after another and she struggled mentally with getting back to the level she was in the past year.

Even though Heather endured these health challenges, she did not give up on her dream of being the healthy, fit, happy girl from 2018. She knew that if she could get her health back on track, she could have another chance to find that girl again. She could have a another chance to reach her half marathon goal. Even through all the sickness, she was determined to do all she was physically able to.

For a long time, she was only able to take short walks around the block, but her walks gradually got longer and longer until she felt confident enough to go back to the gym. It definitely wasn't easy- there were several weeks where she almost passed out during every workout. The key is: she never gave up.

At McCohn Muscle she approached every workout with intention. She never knew when her health issues would flare back up, so she pushed herself every day to do her best, and she was super motivated to come back stronger that she was before.

She saw the mental focus pay off in November when she got a new 5K personal record that was almost 2 minutes faster than her previous record, and then she beat this record by 30 seconds a week later.

Ask Heather what her journey has taught her and she will likely say that she appreciates how fortunate she is. She takes the time to count her blessings and focusing on the positive helped her get through some pretty rough times. Also realizing in a big way what a negative effect stress can have, it's easier for her to not get worked up over little things.

We have teased her about becoming a Personal Trainer because she is always encouraging others to do and be their best. While training at McCohn Muscle she was able to

1. experience the relief that she is accomplishing her goals

2. understand that living with an ailment would not stop her from reaching her goals

3. learn that illness is temporary, and good health is not something people should be willing to give up on

Now she is back to her dream of being the healthy, fit, happy girl from 2018. She is finding that healthy girl again. She has another chance to reach her half marathon goal, which she is training for now.

This is exactly why we are passionate about health and fitness. There is someone reading this that is struggling with their health just like Heather was, and perhaps you may have even given up on the idea of being that healthy, happy person you once were. Heather is proof that with an ounce of determination, you can change it all around. Let McCohn Muscle help you find the confidence you need. Hit the link below and get more information about our 42 Day Transformation Challenge.

https://www.mccohnmuscle.com/sign-up

June 2019- Client of the Month

Five years later……she’s earned Client of the Month again!

Jess has been working with the best trainers in Columbus since February 2013. When she started she was over 200lbs, and 40% body fat. After training hard for over a year she earned McCohn Muscle Client of the Month- June 2014. She dropped 8lbs, 6.5% body fat and improved her 1-mile run time by four minutes. You can read more about her first success story here:

https://qmccohn.blogspot.com/2014/06/mccohn-muscle-client-of-month-june-2014_18.html

There was a lengthy amount of time after her accomplishments where Jess was training to stay fit and healthy, but wasn’t locked all the way in on her nutrition. We all know what that’s like. She also was not getting pushed to be her best and receiving inspiration from her coach like she should have.

So that took us back to the drawing board starting with Gameplan 2019. In January, almost 30 McCohn Muscle members signed up for their “gameplan.” They met with Q. McCohn for an hour or more to go deep and write down goals, the amount of time they wanted to achieve them by, the action steps they would take to get there, and an affirmation that they could accomplish it.

Then they got to work!

For Jess, consistency is the name of the game. She set a goal to lose 10lbs by the end of March, and she dropped 15lbs. She also had a goal to cut another 10lbs by the end of June, and she hit that mark before the month of May was over. Overall she’s down 22lbs, 3% body fat, and 4 inches. Besides the stronger legs and less pain in her joints, Jess has enjoyed her improved cardiovascular endurance.

Q. McCohn says that his favorite part of Jess’s journey was the day before her birthday, at his wedding. He walked across the room to pay Jess a compliment after noticing her in a pretty blue dress. She told him that she’s had the dress for 10 years and had never worn it. She cut the tags off it that morning.

There is still more work to do. Jess isn’t going to quit now, but she deserves the recognition for not being average. The average person doesn’t follow through with the health and fitness plans they make after the new year. The average person does not train with McCohn Muscle for over six years, and the average person will give up after setbacks and become complacent. Jess is still striving for overall health and fitness improvement. Congratulations Jess on being McCohn Muscle’s first 2x Client of the Month.

Mo has handled a lot of Jess’s training in 2019. Props to you both. Teamwork makes the dream work.

Ways to Prevent Summer Weight Gain

So you spent the winter working hard and staying in decent shape.  You exercised consistently, and you were careful to eat more healthy foods as you watched your portion sizes.  Why?  So you would look great at the lake and have plenty of energy to enjoy summer.  You greeted summer with a healthy, toned body.

But summer, in spite of all the fun and relaxation it brings, can be tricky and deal us a cruel blow when it comes to our fitness.

Have you noticed the scale creeping up a little over the last couple of months?  If so, you are not the only one. Summer is a very easy time to overindulge and pick up those pounds that you shed during the winter months.

That’s not what we want, right? We aren’t trying to undo all that we’ve worked so hard to accomplish.

Remember that bad habits creep in slowly.  Perhaps you are skipping your workouts a couple days each week, because ‘You have so much to do.’ Or maybe you have been indulging in unhealthy food or drinks a little more frequently when you are with friends.  It happens-little by little.  It happens one small choice at a time.  But those choices add up fast.

If you realize that you have been slipping up, it’s not too late to turn around and get back on track. Really!  There is still plenty of summer left for you to regain whatever ground you might have lost and get back to awesome.

Here are a few common reasons that people gain weight in the summer and how to remedy them.

1.  Disrupted sleep cycle.  Summer brings with it more daylight and longer days.  This extra sunshine can cause our circadian rhythms to change which causes us to sleep less.  But if we don’t get enough sleep, our bodies will respond by packing on a few extra pounds!  The solution?  Be diligent to get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

2.  Baby, it’s hot out there!  When it’s hot and humid, we tend to move around less.  Our energy is lower and besides, who wants to sweat even more, right?  But the less you move, the slower your metabolism is and the fewer calories you will burn.  Be intentional about keeping up with your exercise.  Find indoor exercise alternatives like our fitness training or maybe even take up swimming.  Just keep moving.

3.  On the road again.  Summer meals travel and travel means healthy eating just got harder.  Eating on the road presents big challenges if you are trying to eat clean.  Before your summer trips, brainstorm some ways to reduce the amount of fast food that you will consume while you are away.  Consider packing a cooler with hummus, nuts, lean proteins sources like chicken, fresh fruit and raw veggies.

4.  Caution:  Cookouts!  Ahhh…summer cookouts, parties, family reunions.  All this spells danger because the food at these festivities is usually about as unhealthy as you can get!  Make sure you pass on the hotdogs, potato salad, oily salad dressings and rich cakes.  Look for grilled vegetables, fresh fruit and lean cuts of meat prepared without greasy marinades.

Don’t let the summer creep undo all the hard work you’ve done to get you where you are right now.  Decide to fight back.  Make up your mind to finish well this summer.  Your future self will thank you!

There are still opening for you to come and work with the best personal trainers in Columbus. We want to learn more about your fitness goals and exercise history. Work with us to build your strength, lose unwanted pounds and body fat, and feel great about yourself when you look in the mirror.

Use this link to schedule your FREE VIP fitness assessment

calendly.com/mccohnmuscle