Fitness Together Ellicott City - August Client of the Month
Sep 26, 2023
Client of the Month – August 2023
Justin K.
Who is Justin? He is…
A young man in his thirties who is a great son to his parents and brother to his sister. Justin is a genuinely nice guy to all those he comes in contact with and treats everyone with respect. Justin is an IT guy who just finished his Masters Degree!
Why him? Because he lost…
100 lbs after just one year with us at Fitness Together Ellicott City! He is our client of the month for August because Justin has reached a tremendous milestone in his fitness journey. Justin had his last session 8/24 and is now confident enough to continue his fitness journey on his own. At this time, we would like to celebrate all that Justin has accomplished at Fitness Together. He is an inspiration to our trainers because he truly committed to coming in for his training AND did the work in his daily life to make long term success. But he did not do it all at once, he trusted the process and made small but progressive changes. As you read this, you might find Justin’s journey relatable to your own. We hope you all find him as inspiring as we do.
When Justin first came to us, he was tired of living in the body that made him feel very self conscious, he felt he was unrecognizable and it kept him back from living the life he wanted to live. He was a popular kid in highschool who played football and lived an active lifestyle into his early 20’s. He had some life and career setbacks that broke down his self esteem and caused him to live an unhealthy lifestyle. He got his life together and got his career back on track but was still struggling to get back into healthy lifestyle habits. He found Fitness Together in Ellicott city and after meeting for his consultation with Devin he decided this was the place that would allow him to be held accountable and make the lifestyle changes he had difficulties doing on his own. We made steady progress in his strength training because he never missed a workout at FT and was encouraged to progressively do more exercises on his own. It started with a goal to just do 3-5 minutes of marching in place 3x/week, then to body weight workouts at home: 3 exercises for 3 rounds 4x/week, to working out 5-6x/week 3-4 strength training and 2-3x/week running! He started tracking his calories and slowly but progressively reduced his calorie intake and increased his protein intake. From his first reassessment to his last he lost an average of 10 lbs every time!!!
How did he do it?
Justin did everything he said he would. He worked out at FT 2x/week every week since he started. He always warmed up for 15 minutes before his sessions. When discussing the SMART goals during his fitness assessments, he took them seriously and was an active participant coming up with goals that he would actually do and progress by his next fitness assessment.
Just like many other clients, we had him start with drinking a little more water then he usually did, be consistent and track with a refillable water bottle. So that he would consistently get more movement each day, we started with 3-5 minutes of marching Monday, Wednesday and Friday first thing in the morning, to 20 minute workouts on his own three times a week to finally working out 5-6x/week with strength training being 4-5x/week and cardio 2-3x/week.
When it came to Justin’s diet, he knew coming in he was using food for comfort and was tired of that self defeating habit. Our first goal for his nutrition was to limit his habit of eating out/ordering in. We also had him meal prep sandwiches for lunches Monday through Friday and cooking dinners for himself, which was some kind of protein/meat source veggies and rice. WE agreed ordering take out on the weekends was OK. During the next couple fitness assessments Devin would encourage Justin to cut out take out meals all together, including weekends, but he was not ready for that and that was okay. He had already made so many great improvements. We were seeing some plateaus in his progress and Justin finally felt ready to start meal prepping for his weekend meals too. That really helped him move the needle and to continue to see improvements!
Justin then moved to Texas. At this point he was already doing a lot on his own but to help him stay accountable and on track while he adjusted, he stayed with us virtually 1x/week for 5 months.
Fun facts about Justin!
Justin loves video games. However, now that he has a new found confidence and appreciation for life, instead of playing video games he loves to try new things. He is always surprising me with a new class he took or an experience he tried with a friend. He has an adventurous soul and loves to be outdoors and travel. He once backpacked the Appalachian trail for several days or weeks. When he is not exploring nature you can find him going to concerts with friends, keeping up with his fitness, playing and recording his own music with his guitar.
We are so proud of you Justin! We will miss you! Keep up the great work!
