When Cherianne came into nutrition coaching, she was already a good athlete, but she knew that the only thing standing between good and great, was her nutrition. She loved good food, loved to eat, but felt confused when it came to feeding her performance and not just her pallet. So what did we do? We bridged the two and showed her that it was possible to have both. “When I started working with TSK in before the competitive CrossFit Season started, shortly after competing at Legends, I realized I needed to do more for myself in the way of food. My goal for the past couple years had been to qualify for the CrossFit Games and I had not done it yet. I knew all the pieces were coming together but my nutrition needed some help.”
She scheduled a free nutrition consult after a major competition called the Legends Championship. “During the event I felt tired and at 3-2-1 go, I fizzled pretty fast and it was super frustrating. At the event I began to doubt my ability to reach my goal of making it to the CrossFit Games” which is why she decided to reach out to us. In addition to her goals of reaching the Games, one of the more important things too, was keeping her injury free throughout the season and taking into consideration her hormones, since she was navigating menopause, at the same time.
Coming into coaching, “I've always been a "good eater" - I like good food and not really a junk food type of person. After speaking with Coach Alix for a bit, I decided to give it a try and let her plan my meals. I wanted to take all the thinking out of it and just train.” It wasn’t just about performance though, with Cheri, it was about making sure the food she loved, and the routines that suited her commute and training schedule, surpassed her expectations. “She sent me a weekly plan and if I didn't like something I just let her know and she found a better choice for me. Each week I checked in with her and we made adjustments as needed”.
Here at The Swole Kitchen, a big thing that we do is that we don’t just tell people what to do, but we teach them along the way. This not only gets the client more involved, but ensures that the changes we make, and habits we practice, are going to be suitable and maintainable long term, not just short term. “I had no idea carbs are a good thing and trust me when I say, I LOVE carbs! In a very short period of time I went from feeling like I had a weighted blanket on me, making my training and my mood state awful, to being energized throughout each day and actually enjoying eating as much as I needed to.”. To put this in perspective for you, by the end of Cheri’s season, we had her eating 2,000+ MORE calories than she came into coaching eating.
“I started hitting personal bests on each lift and overall felt like a normal human being.”
With weekly check ins and full time access to chat with her coach, we were able to establish a strong line of communication. This ensured that we were able to ‘nip things in the butt’ when they happened, rather than wasting time, so we could be efficient with our changes. This looked like feedback on sleep, stress, digestion, soreness, energy, mood, and so much more. Whether it was positive or negative, Cheri was transparent with the process, giving her coach the opportunity to apply their expertise and knowledge for optimal (and efficient) results. “Fast forward to the Age Group Online Qualifiers... we made small adjustments to the meal plan and I was able to compete and not feel completely wiped out going into the next event.”
By the end of her season, “I ended up qualifying for my very FIRST CrossFit Games and I know without a doubt there's not way it would have happened had I not used The Swole Kitchen. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping this old gal reach her goals!”
