I have played rugby my whole life but fitness was never something I was into. As a sophomore in high school I weighed 220 pounds and by my junior year weighed 155 pounds. I lost this weight during a battle with an eating disorder. This continued throughout high school, college, and adulthood.

I graduated college and got a job in Rochester. With the stress of adulthood and a new city, I stopped rugby, stopped working out and my eating disorder continued. Scrolling through Facebook, I saw a post for progression boot camp and signed up on a whim. Since my first day of CrossFit I have been eating disorder free (744 days). CrossFit helped me to feel good again. My weight and strength came back but my diet was beyond poor. It consisted of Kwik trip food and subway, aka processed food.

One year into CrossFit I was happy with my progress but still felt like something was missing. I messaged Jen and asked for a nutrition programming intro. At my initial appointment I weighed 198 pounds (18% BF and 5 visceral fat points).

Progression Nutrition Note: Visceral fat is the deep abdominal fat that surrounds your organs. Keeping visceral fat levels at a normal amount (less than level 10) over time leads to less risk of developing insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, and inflammation. At Progression Fitness, we use an InBody scanner to determine visceral fat level, along with other markers for body composition, including percent body fat, lean and skeletal muscle mass

The first two months of nutrition programing was hard. My weight stayed the same, body fat went up, and I thought about quitting. Jen said we had to figure out the right macros and to take it one day at a time. The number of times I worked out in a week did not change. The only change was clean eating (whole foods) and tracking my macros through MyFitnessPal. I can honestly say I have never felt better. My strength numbers have gone up and my body composition has changed dramatically. After one year of ongoing progression nutrition I have lost 13 pounds overall, gone from 18% BF to 8% and 5 visceral fat points to 2.

With progression nutrition I have learned how to eat and what to look for when it comes to ingredients. The most important thing I have learned is that it is about consistency, not perfection. Allowing cheat meals and having slip ups is okay. One bad meal isn’t going to derail all your progress. Progression nutrition has helped me build a foundation for a healthy lifestyle that extends beyond the gym into my everyday life.

Looking for a way to kick writing your own success story?

Signing up for the Progression Challenge starting January 12, 2019 is a great place to start. You don’t need to be a member of Progression Fitness to participate.

We have 3 levels to choose from – Basic and VIP level for members and non-members, along with a Hybrid level for non-members that includes 12 REV classes, which are a great option for people to introduce exercise into their routine.

The VIP level challenge is the best way to get results by working with a nutrition coach to obtain individualized calorie and macronutrient goals from the very beginning of the challenge. See our flyer for a breakdown of the 3 levels of challenge options available and what all we are including in these levels. You will also find a list of our amazing sponsors for this challenge – Power Plate Meals, Five West Kitchen and Bar, and Zevia beverages.