“Over the years, you develop unconsciously all the behaviors and ways of doing things that make up your lifestyle. And because life is happening, you often don’t have the time or energy to reflect on what that lifestyle is doing to you,” she said.
Upon retirement from a prestigious career which entailed extensive international travel, Jennifer was determined to lose the excess weight she was carrying and get healthy once and for all. Motivated by the activities she wanted to participate in and the clothes she wished to wear, as an investment in her success, she signed up for H3@Home Coaching and began what has truly been a metamorphosis.
Jennifer admits it took some time to establish her new habits. “For the first three months of coaching, it was like, ‘Yeah, I know. But I can’t do that because…’ That’s why I needed to continue—to realize that I can do something about this and this is what I’m going to do about it.”
She continued in the coaching program for another three months, taking it a step at a time and turning the corner toward the life she envisioned.
“You have to change your lifestyle,” she said. “There’s no silver bullet. I had to make a thousand small changes in the way I do things—all those things you do automatically to get you through the day have to be re-examined and modified or changed completely. It is hard work. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
The result? Over the past 15 months, Jennifer has lost 65 pounds and gained a heck of a lot of energy and confidence along the way. Persistence has paid off. The endorphins have kicked in and the compliments keep coming.
“In the beginning, although you may see the changes, other people may not notice. So you don’t get that external feedback of people saying, ‘Wow.’ After about six months, people start to notice. And then the things that you wanted to do but haven’t been able to do all suddenly become possible,” she said.
“There are no shortcuts. You have to do the cooking and the shopping and the exercise…you’ve got to fix it bit-by-bit. And when you do, it’s great! There’s no going back. You just feel so good.
“I’m not sure what my end weight will be. I still have lots of behaviors I can tweak that should lead to further weight loss. I expect I will find the weight I can live at when I have changed all the behaviors I am willing to change. But I am sure it will be at a weight that makes me look great in Armani and lets me play tennis and go cross-country skiing!”
How did H3@Home Coaching impact your success?
“I need some external accountability. The weekly discussions over Skype with Coach Linda made me plan each week in detail—what I would be doing and how I would deal with challenging situations. For me, that’s been the most important part of coaching is to keep that day-to-day, week-to-week focus. I know what to do. It’s the doing that’s the issue, and coaching forces me to think about what I will do in concrete terms.”
What advice would you give to others who are considering home coaching?
“Having worked with an executive coach in the business world, I’m a big fan of coaching, and I do think it works. I highly recommend it, and particularly for people who are here for a relatively short period of time. You can’t learn it all in a week or two weeks. You need ongoing support.”
[caption id="attachment_8824" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Jennifer After"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_8823" align="alignright" width="200" caption="Jennifer Before"]
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