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It’s been an honor and a pleasure to get to know more about Katrice, who has made an incredible body transformation with her dedication.
Katrice’s Instagram immediately conveys her classy image, as well as a healthy lifestyle, which includes weight training, along with healthy, beautiful meals based on fresh ingredients.
We asked her to share her transformation story, to help all of us in various stages of our process towards embracing life and living healthy.
You may be surprised by some of her answers; we certainly were! We hope that Katrice’s story will inspire you to know that you too can start on this transformative path towards looking and feeling great!
- Was there an “Aha” moment when you realized you wanted to make a change in your lifestyle? (i.e. lose weight, start an exercise program, etc.…) If so, could you describe that moment and how you got there? Were there false starts or too-extreme steps that needed to be brought into balance?
So back in December 2017, I had my annual physical where my doctor reviewed my blood work to tell me that my cholesterol was abnormally high for someone my age and I was at risk for heart disease or a heart attack.
And to top it off they mentioned that I was borderline obese for my height. It was all a gut punch to hear at the age of 26.
I knew I wasn’t my healthiest, but I never thought I’d be at such a high-risk stage in my health.
So, I knew my New Year’s resolution in 2018 was to get healthy. Little did I know it was the start of changing my lifestyle.
I took some extremes to my diet just eliminating fast food, red meats, processed foods, most cheeses, and high sugar items. I ate mostly organic and whole ingredient foods. This was to help my cholesterol numbers drop.
Some of you will be motivated by frustration with your appearance. But others might find that a visit to their GP is the wakeup call they need to make changes towards a healthy lifestyle. Katrice did!
- What do you think about before and after pictures? Are they for real? Is it possible to change your body shape so drastically, changing the shape of your behind, or getting rid of stubborn body fat that has always plagued you?
They are real! I used my before pictures to fuel my desire to better myself to continue to the goal of getting healthy and fit. It is possible to change your body and rid of fat by being focused and consistent with your exercise and diet routine.
Take some before pictures of your own and imagine what your after pictures will look like! Vision is huge in transformation. Use your imagination to get where you want to go!
- How has your attitude towards your body changed over time? (childhood, adolescence, adulthood)
When I was growing up, I was always active and was thin, so I pretty much got away with eating what I wanted.
It wasn’t until I got my full-time desk job after college when I started gaining unhealthy weight because I wasn’t active and I was sitting at my desk all day, commuting in my car for a few hours, eating dinner right before bed and then I’d wake up to do it all over again. It was a hard habit to break from.
Sometimes a lifestyle change, like a sedentary job, hormonal changes, or age can cause weight gain without our realizing; until we no longer recognize ourselves in the mirror or find ourselves huffing and puffing when we walk. Weekly weigh-ins can keep you about your weight gain, so you know where you stand before things spiral out of control.
- What are your top diet tips? What has worked for you in keeping to a healthy weight?
Focus on what you’re eating. Exercise supports your weight loss goals, but your eating is what makes it happen. Your intake is the key to seeing changes in weight or muscle gain. You must find a good balance of foods that make you happy and healthy. Be mindful of portions to not overeat.
- Share with us some of your diet history. Have you tried a lot of different diets? What kind of results did you see?
I ate intuitively clean meals. I never really followed a specific diet plan.
If you are lucky like Katrice, you can follow your instincts and create a healthy diet based on clean foods and intuition.
Others of you might need to follow a specific diet, or learn from scratch what healthy food looks like, and how-to effective control portions to lose weight.
In time, you too will learn to follow your intuition around food, eating to live instead of living to eat.
- How do you stay motivated in the long term?
I keep reminding myself about how unhealthy and unhappy I was. Looking back at old pictures really help remind me how much I’ve changed for the better physically and mentally.
- What would you say to a reader that is reading this at home, struggling with weight and unmotivated to exercise? How do you suggest they start this journey towards health? What is a good first step, second step, etc.…?
IT’S NOT EASY! But it’s so worth it when you start to see changes. Even when you feel like nothing is changing, it’s small things that add up to be the greatest accomplishment.
Every journey is different so go at your own pace, especially when it comes to working out! The first step would be to establish an overall goal and then write small weekly goals to reach towards.
Baby steps, Baby!
- Do you have a workout partner or someone that helps you stick to a structure and reach goals?
I don’t have a workout partner, but I did find others on social media to influence me to keep going and in the end we just ended up pushing each other!
Take Katrice’s example and build an online community that helps you keep in shape!
- Did you feel at some point that you have made peace with your body? Either way, tells us about that process and how it has affected you and changed your life.
To an extent, I’d say yes. I feel like I’m happy with the direction I’m going in and I’m only looking to gain strength and more self-confidence.
We appreciate Katrice’s candor. Even for a superhero such as herself, self-acceptance and making peace with your body is a process. Sometimes it takes a while for your insides to catch up with your outsides.
- How do you address the basic self-esteem issues that we all face? How can we overcome the tendency to be self-critical about our bodies and lifestyle, while working to improve ourselves?
Honestly, I still struggle from time to time beating myself up because I could be eating better, and I’ve got cellulite that I just can’t stand. But sometimes it takes dressing up and dancing in front of the mirror to remind myself that I am beautiful the way I am.
WE LOVE YOU KATRICE!
- How do you make an exercise plan? Do you focus on certain areas of your body? How long does it take to see results?
I follow the Sweat app because it makes the plan for me which I need that kind of structure to tell me what I should be working out and what days.
I do 2 days upper body 3 days lower. It depends on your goals and what results you want to see. It’s taken me 4 months to drop most of my unwanted weight, but it’s taken several months to gain muscle and have a naturally curvy shape and booty.
Now THAT’S Inspiring! Weight loss and toning, transformative body shape, in less than a year!
- What would you suggest for readers who want to exercise but can’t afford a gym membership or a personal trainer?
YouTube and Instagram. There are several incredible folks who share workouts and dance cardio routines regularly online.
- If you experienced extreme weight loss, did you have issues with toning, excess skin, etc.? How did you deal with these?
I didn’t have issues with toning up. It was just a struggle to gain some healthy curves back.
- What inspires you generally in your life? How do these inspirations affect your transformative journey?
My family is what inspires me. I just imagined what my younger sisters would think if something happened to me because I didn’t get healthy. As the oldest sister, I always hope to inspire them to be their best selves.
LOVE LOVE LOVE this answer. It’s not all about herself. Katrice is motivating in seeing herself as a role model to her younger sisters!
- Have you resourced medical supervision in your journey? Any tips?
Aside from getting blood tests to track my cholesterol numbers not really.
- How do you get out of a rut?
This is tough, but I usually will go back and remind myself how low I was before. The struggle of unbuttoned pants at the dinner table, looking at old photos to push me back on track.
- How do you balance motivation and effort with self-care, and how do you let loose, take breaks, and find time to play? How important is this?
Finding a happy balance is so important. You only live once so it’s not going to completely set you back to go out to eat or have a drink with friends.
It’s all about balance and moderation. Life gets crazy with work, but I make it a point to find time for myself to get up walk around and fuel myself properly.
- Do you ever splurge, or indulge in forbidden foods? How do you keep this in balance?
Oh yes, I’m only human! There are times I beat myself up about it but then I tell myself it’s ok. It’s not going to erase all my hard work. Tomorrow is a new day to stay focused and reach my daily goals.
We are all human. The only response to falling is to get back up again! And some experts recommend a weekly splurge of about 600 extra calories to keep your metabolism on track and give you the psychological relief of a permitted, non-guilty pleasure.
- Any comments on societal pressures to look a certain way, especially as women? Do you think that anything in this realm is changing or improving?
Absolutely! I think we need to get it out of our heads that we need to be a certain size. But the truth is we ultimately need to just be healthy and happy. Being a stick figure doesn’t make you healthy. Health is mental and physical, so you just need to find a way to find your own happiness.
- Final words of encouragement or wisdom to share?
Don’t give up! It’s easy to say one day but make it day one.
Thanks to Katrice for her candor and words of wisdom. Follow her on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/Katricekeepsfit/ for news, recipes, diet tips, and inspiration. She sure is an inspiration to us!
If you’d like to share your weight loss story with us please contact haley@transformfitspo.com. We can’t wait to hear from you!