Functional Total Fitness

03/29/2023

Happy Monday!!!

TEAM BFF Client Win!!
Meet client Caroline who is coaching with Team BFF

She’s glowing!!!!
Left pic is March 2023 and right is Nov 2022

This is what she has to say!

After just a few short months of working with Brooke I am more confident in my eating, my movement and my overall choices.

I know that I am working to consistently lay the groundwork to achieve my goals and to have a sustainable way of eating/living that allows me function at my best.

The check-ins are so helpful, the workouts are perfect timing and allow me to see progress and all the tools make day to day easy to do.

The biggest lesson, so far!, is that consistency pays off. Being “ruthlessly consistent” gives me the roadmap for success and isn’t restrictive at all - it actually allows me more freedom!

I could not be happier and excited to continue my journey.

We are super proud of you!!

Keep Crushing it!

Love, Team BFF

01/16/2023

My clients are so amazing!

CLIENT WIN

Caroline has been working with for the last few months and is down 8.2 pounds and is seeing a lot of changes in her own body.

Not only is she an extremely kind and caring person, but she’s been working so hard to improve her relationship with food and she’s been really enjoying setting small, weekly goals.

She’s feeling more confident about her nutrition choices, she’s been improving her relationship with food and she is really enjoying strength training.

She’s absolutely crushing it and we’re so proud of you!

We Can Do Hard Things

Love, Coach Beth

06/02/2021

Nobody is going to do the work for you.
You can have all the resources and tools in your toolbox, but if you don’t utilize them you’re not going to get the results you want.
Doctors are there to give you data, resources, answers and guidance regarding your health.
Ultimately, the quality of your health depends on you and what you do with that information.
You can go to the most prestigious university but that doesn’t mean you’ll get a degree or learn anything if you don’t put forth the effort.
You can hire a trainer, a strength coach or buy a gym membership but you’re not guaranteed results, “just because” you did so.
That’s not how it works.
“Just because” doesn’t produce results.
You need to recognize the intent of your actions, determine if it aligns with your goals and do the work to make your dream a reality.
If you’re under the care of a doctor, be an active participant and a collaborative patient.
If you want to learn something, you have to study, ask questions and do your research.
If you have a fitness goal, you need to do things necessary to reach that goal.
Nothing worth having comes easy.
You have to buckle down, get to work, be patient and use the resources provided.
I hope this helps. Always remember...
You got this 💪🏼🔥

04/11/2021

You can’t be in a fat loss phase forever.
First of all, you only have so much fat you can lose, and second, if you’re in a prolonged fat loss phase and not seeing results, there’s a problem with your plan (if you have one).
I often reflect back on the first time I stopped pursuing fat loss.
I frantically thought, “What if I lose all my progress? What if I don’t like the way my body looks? What if I end up back where I started?”
There comes a point where you have to be honest with yourself and ask, “Is what I’m doing really working?”
When I consult with new clients and ask them what their goals are, the most common answer I get is, “I want to lose fat and build muscle.”
There are two instances where this can happen simultaneously.
One, if you’re brand new to strength training and two, if you’ve returned after a prolonged period of time off.
These are called, “newbie gains” but eventually your body will adapt. Pair that with a calorie deficit and BOOM, fat loss and muscle gain.
But what happens when adaptation occurs? You need to be strategic.
As mentioned above, you can’t lose fat forever. Maybe it’s time for a diet break or a maintenance phase. Maybe it’s time to go into a surplus and build some muscle.
Have you ever gone through a fat loss phase or dieted down to realize your body isn’t quite what you envisioned?
Did you expect to have more muscle definition or for your abs to resemble a washboard?
Well, in order to achieve those results you have to BUILD muscle and that takes time.
In fact, it takes more time than it does to lose fat, but I can assure you it’s well worth it.
Building muscle and losing fat is best done in separate phases with structured nutrition planning and structured strength programming.
It’s like patting your head and rubbing your tummy. Sure, you can do both at the same time, but it’s much easier to excel at one or the other separately.
Quit trying to do everything at once or always trying to lose fat. You’ll miss out on the beauty of the process.
My advice to you is set a specific goal, be strategic and have a plan, execute that plan and always remember...
You got this ❤️💪🏼

04/08/2021

Simple swaps can save you calories!
When I first became aware of calories and nutrition tracking I was blown away at how many calories I didn’t know I was eating.
You see, these aren’t things you inherently know. It’s very easy to underestimate how many calories you’re eating.
Most people associate whole, minimally processed foods as, “healthy” and don’t bother paying attention to those calories.
Sauces, dips, dressings and other condiments often get overlooked and add up quickly.
Here are some simple swaps that can save you some calories...
Sour Cream, Mayonnaise, Buttermilk, Cream Cheese ➡️ Plain Greek Yogurt (low or nonfat)
Calorie dense condiments and dressings ➡️ Zero/low calorie condiments and dressings
Increase amount of vegetables at each meal (1/2 plate) or replace 1 meal with a big ass salad with protein.
I hope this helps, and you can always save it and refer back to it later!
Always remember...
You got this ❤️💪🏼

03/28/2021

I once believed in conspiracy theories.
I was a self proclaimed Netflix and YouTube documentary connoisseur who believed anything these biased and absurd productions spewed to the public.
You could present me with outstanding evidence to argue what I believed was false, and I still wouldn’t believe you.
It’s wild, right?
I believed that instead of counting calories, people should focus on counting chemicals (though you should still eat nutritious foods), and the law of energy balance was a ploy the FDA created to keep people buying ultra-processed food.
At one point, I believed vaccines and other medications caused an array of health issues, neurological conditions and that big pharma was attempting to take over the world, one medication at a time.
I believed that everyone was out to get me; even if science proved me wrong.
It wasn’t until I hired a coach who was not only patient with me and my dogmatic views, but educated me with the absence of judgment and criticism but instead with empathy and tolerance.
“Don’t knock it til you try it,” she said with a smirk.
That’s when I began counting calories and learning more about energy balance and nutrition science.
If this was true of fitness and nutrition, what other fallacies did I believe?
The message here is so your due diligence and don’t believe everything you hear, or at least do your own research using credible sources.
Trust those who’ve dedicated their life’s work to keep you safe and healthy.
Always remember...
You got this ❤️💪🏼

03/16/2021

I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been feeling myself over the past few weeks
I have to be honest with you; I’ve been burnt out and left feeling depleted.
A year ago today I found out my business was being shut down, my son was out of school and life as you and I knew it was completely turned upside down.
Over the past few weeks, memories from a year ago have been popping up on various platforms and it has been overwhelming and eye opening.
We’ve had to learn to be resilient, empathetic and patient.
(At least some of us anyway.)
We’ve had to overcome struggles we’ve never expected to deal with.
But ya know what?
It’s made you and I a helluva lot stronger.
There have been many times I felt like life as we knew was stolen from us.
Then I remember one important thing.
It could be worse. It can always be worse.
During this time, I’ve met an incredible online community of like-minded people and coaches who genuinely want to see me succeed and push me out of my comfort zone (for my own good).
I’ve started to become more myself and better mother and spouse to my family.
I’ve reconnected and mended friendships that I neglected and took for granted.
I spent time to focus on me and my mental, physical and emotional health.
I learned to never stop learning and always look for ways to improve even when the situation isn’t ideal.
Lastly, I feel compelled to apologize for being MIA the past few weeks.
This year is catching up with a lot of people and it caught up with me too.
I’m trying to create some more balance in my life and if you’re a parent, partner or even have a busy ass job, you get that the balancing act is rarely effortless.
I just want you to know that if you’re struggling, it’s okay and sometimes it’s okay to not be okay. Just always remember you’re not alone and...
You got this ❤️💪🏼
📸

02/24/2021

Your results are only as good as the effort you put in.
I used to be the person who wouldn’t take action and then bitch and complain that I wasn’t seeing results.
I figured because I hired a coach that results would appear even though I was half-assing my workouts and eating like I didn’t give a f**k.
It took me awhile to realize my victim mentality was the problem, and nothing else.
I would blame my surroundings for my lack of success.
My child, my job, and even my friends and family as to why I wasn’t seeing progress.
I would use other people and circumstances as a scapegoat so I wouldn’t have to take responsibility for not doing my part.
I would get pi**ed when my coach would (kindly) call me out and that’s when I would start making excuses.
“I was too tired,” “But they were maple bars,” “I was going to start again Monday,” “I forgot to track,” “I was too sore,”...etc.
The audacity of my coach doing their damn job...🙄
It wasn’t until I became a coach that I saw how common this is and something a lot of people do.
If you want to make excuses and not put in the work it takes to reach your goal, that’s on you. It’s okay to not be ready right now.
But do not, I repeat, DO NOT get mad at not having results you did not earn.
If you want to see results, crank up the intensity in all areas of your life that will elevate your success.
Dial in your nutrition, bring intensity to your training and instead of finding reasons why you can’t do something, start figuring out how you CAN.
Do the work, and the results will follow.
Always remember...
You got this ❤️💪🏼
📸

02/20/2021

Are you trying to crunch your way to a 6-pack?
If so, you’re wasting your time if you think that’s going to create ab visibility solely through exercise.
Body fat is the veil covering those abdominals of yours.
Can you do exercises in your programs that will make your abs grow and get stronger? Absolutely.
But the way to make them seen is through your nutrition. Fat loss, specifically.
It’s always a good idea to do core exercises for strength, stability, pain reduction, etc. but if you’re trying to crunch or plank your way to a 6-pack you’re going to be disappointed.
Focus on your fork, focus on building strength and stability in your core and always remember...
You got this 💪🏼🔥

02/14/2021

I do not want to see your “Inspo Pics”
I can’t tell you how many times people have sent me these pictures saying, “I want to look like this!”
Is it okay to be inspired by other people? Of course! I am everyday.
But it’s important for you to understand that sometimes the person in the picture doesn’t even look like that.
I mean, if you see in this post there’s a side by side picture of me with and without an Instagram filter on and though subtle, the changes are noticeable.
Not to mention there are apps out there that can drastically change appearance, enhance or minimize features and of course, the good ole photoshop.
It’s also important to point out that you and the person in the picture may have completely different builds and genetics.
If you’re 5’3” with short arms and short legs and you bring an “inspo pic” of someone who is 6’0”with long arms and long legs, you will never look like that.
I don’t know of any exercise that will lengthen or shorten your limbs or your torso...sorry 🤷🏼‍♀️
If you do feel the need to have an “inspiration picture” it should be a photo of YOU at a weight you were comfortable and HEALTHY at.
It should be a time in your life where you had a better relationship with food and a weight or composition you can maintain.
There’s only one YOU on this earth, don’t spend it wishing you looked like someone else.
Always remember...
You got this ❤️💪🏼

02/10/2021

You don’t have to lose weight to have a fitness goal.
I know I talk a lot about fat loss and weight loss and what not, but it’s not the only goal you can achieve in fitness.
It’s just an incredibly common goal for a lot of people.
As a society, we’ve been conditioned to constantly be pursuing weight loss and thinness. Especially women and those who identify as women.
This happens to men too. The expectation of being jacked and shredded with a 6-pack and the biceps the size of Texas year round is spewed all over social media.
However, it’s not realistic to walk around looking like a fitness model or a physique competitor all the time.
It’s totally cool to have physique goals, but it’s also okay to have other fitness goals too.
You might want to go through a muscle building phase and gain mass.
You might have a strength goal like being able to do a push up or hit a certain number on your deadlift.
Your fitness goal could also have to do with functionality like maintaining independence as you age, or being able to play with your grandkids.
It doesn’t always have to be about weight loss.
Your goal should be whatever makes YOU happy.
If that’s weight loss, great.
If it’s not, also great.
As long as you’re striving to be the best version of yourself, that’s all I want for ya.
Time is going to pass either way, so you might as well spend it chasing goals you actually give a s**t about.
Always remember...
You got this ❤️💪🏼

02/07/2021

There are going to be times where you’re progressing even if it doesn’t feel like it.
It’s still progress and you’re allowed feel whatever emotion comes up about it.
If you’re discouraged that the scale hasn’t gone down, feel it, own it, but also try to look at the facts and remain objective.
If you’ve built the habit of consistently going to the gym when before you didn’t go or weren’t consistent, you need to acknowledge that progress.
If you’re not losing weight on the scale, but you’re losing inches around your body, you need to acknowledge that progress too.
You can feel discouraged and still remain objective. You shouldn’t let a fitness coach on Instagram tell you how to feel, or anyone for that matter.
But I will tell you not to unpack your s**t and live there and have a pity party.
In order to be successful, you have to celebrate the wins, acknowledge the feelings that arise, and look at your progress through a logical lense.
You may be progressing beautifully, losing weight, inches, killing it in the consistency department and STILL feel like you’re not doing good enough.
Again, feelings are not facts; lay it out with you’re progressing, acknowledge the facts, give yourself credit where it’s due and keep moving forward and know it’s okay to feel that way, just don’t sulk in it.
It can be hard to be objective when feelings want to hijack your journey but it’s an important tool to develop.
Always remember...
You got this ❤️💪🏼