I have been lucky to work with Rayann over the last two years! We took it slow and made sure she was able to sustain this over the long term. We built her from the ground up, changing her nutrition and behavioural habits around food. We did several periods of cutting with maintenance in between to keep her progressing and not burnt out.
I learn so much from each of my clients and I found I could really relate to Rayann as she reminded me of myself. Rayann has never given up; no matter how bad the weekend or summer breaks were she always came back and kept on trying. Her perseverance and consistency are admirable. I love Rayann’s honesty; she is honest with herself and she is honest with me. She tells me exactly where she was at each week. She understands that this process is not linear and it can be hard at times- but she has proven it is worth it.
Rayann has accomplished amazing physical goals by losing 38lbs through Mission Nutrition and CrossFit. Remarkable no doubt, the bigger transformation has been her mental transformation. She dug deep and discovered the root of her issues; she worked so hard to understand “the why” and then took the steps to overcome them. She has continued to repair her relationship with food and work on her overall wellness which will keep her going long after she finishes the program.
Alongside nutrition with me, she has done one-on-one coaching with Darlene at Fitness Lair, who eventually got her to a place of feeling comfortable in group classes – something that was not happening before! …But did I hear that she actually misses the gym and CrossFit with the people since shut down?!?! She has been still doing her workouts at home and has kept on track through these upsidedown times.
She has a great attitude and I am so proud of her and the hard work she has put in!
– Alyssa Veikle
READ RAYANN’S STORY BELOW =) :
What results have you seen from Mission Nutrition, where are you with your goals?
Oh my where to begin! First and most obvious is the weight loss, however, there are changes in my energy, my mood, my confidence, the clothing I wear, soooo many changes! I never really had a goal weight in mind however I originally said that I wanted to fit back into my wedding dress and I hit that goal this week!!
What have you learned from this program?
So so much! I have learned how shitty I used to eat and I am not just talking about “unhealthy” foods. I mean how little protein there was in my diet compared to the disgusting amount of fat and carbs. I now know that carbs are not the enemy and I can and should eat a healthy dose of them. Also, I have learnt that when I think I’ve messed it all up I need to step back take a breath and keep pushing forward and if I do this I found I didn’t do as much damage as I originally thought. When I would decide to indulge and eat that cupcake or I went over on my macros for the day I reminded myself not to go back to my old way of thinking… “well I messed up now I might as well keep going mentality”. Also, I can be so flexible with meals on this program. It’s not just all about eating salad and veggies all day. I can literally make anything work with my day if I wanted it bad enough. There are some “treats” that just aren’t worth the extra macros for me!
Was this program a big learning curve for you or were you close just needed to final puzzle piece to your nutrition?
HUGE learning curve. I had no clue what a macro even was, how to track, or even what meals to cook to stay on track. I was so used to eating the quick out of a box-type meals that the thought of cooking/prepping meals scared the crap outta me!
Is there anything you learned or did anything happen while on MN that was unexpected?
Yes, I learned how dedicated I could be to something if I wanted it bad enough. I learned how much strength and resiliency I had in myself. That and just how much I “ate” my emotions. I also learnt how to cook a lot of foods I swore I’d never ever touch!!
What do you specifically like the most?
How flexible it is. I am one of the pickiest eaters around and I can make this work for me. With that said I did learn that I do like a few things that I never ever thought I would! Also, if I want to go out and have drinks or eat not so healthy food I can I just need to plan my day accordingly. And if that plan gets blown out of the water it’s okay, I just need to start fresh the next day. I didn’t have to stop “living” to be on this program I can still do all the things I want and succeed.
How important did you feel the accountability with your coach was to your success?
This was HUGE for me! If I wasn’t sending my numbers into Alyssa I probably would have said fuck it so long ago and given up completely. At the beginning, it was way more important to me to not let her down than for me to hit my numbers. Also to have her there literally at my beck and call for every stupid question I had was so damn helpful for me. I could literally, and still do, message her any day of the week and she would respond and have so many helpful tips and tricks to get over a hurdle. She has been there so she gets it! I honestly can’t express how much Alyssa has helped me through this all and how important her role has been.
Did/do you have any struggles?
Soooo so many!! Like I said I didn’t realize how little protein I ate before. That was my first biggest struggle; eat more meat. Then came the social activities and the want to eat and drink everything in sight. Also, getting back “on the wagon” when I had fallen off. So many times I wanted to say screw it (some I did) and just eat whatever the hell I wanted. Just last week I had a mental break, I was doing all the right things and the scale wasn’t reflecting that. One message to Alyssa and she got my head back on straight and I pushed through it and I am so damn happy I did!
How did this program differ from others you may have tried?
I hadn’t really tried too many programs prior to this. The usual that I think lots of people do, drink this shake and look magically you are skinny, or just eat salad and cut out carbs type of mentality. This one you can eat literally anything if you can make it fit in your numbers and when you are on maintenance 9 out of 10 times you can fit those treats you want. As I said, I am a super picky eater and this program works with picky eaters too because you choose the foods you eat; it’s not pre-packaged meals that leave you starving – this teaches you how to do it in real life.
Having a coach to be accountable to is huge for me. I don’t like to let people down or disappoint them so this was my biggest motivator when I started. That and like I said they have been in our shoes and still are so they can totally relate to what you are going through!
Did you have any hesitations about signing up? Were you reluctant about anything?
Absolutely I did. The thought of failing but not just failing, failing with an audience (my coach) almost stopped me from signing up completely. I kept thinking just do it on your own why spend money on this after all if you just eat salad all day it’s basically what they will tell you to do, boy was I wrong! That and I was completely reluctant to take half-naked pictures of myself and send them to people I really didn’t know very well.
Aesthetics and clothes fitting better aside, what other things have you noticed with your success on the program?
So much more energy, better moods which in turn has made a lot of my relationships stronger, more confidence, I like foods I never thought I would.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you first and foremost to Alyssa my coach. You were there every step of the way and I appreciate all that you have taught me along the way. You were harsh and to the point when you needed to be but not to where I wanted to quit. You put up with my many weekends of overindulging and never through them back at me you just gave me the words and wisdom that I needed to push through them. Words can’t express how much you helped me through this all! Also, thank you to Darlene who took on the fitness and mental aspects of my journey (which I don’t imagine was fun at times!) as well as some of the eating aspects. Lindsey and Kaitlyn (Wallace) thank you to you 2 as well, even though neither of you were my coach I often bounced ideas off of you or questioned you on tracking items when I was lost and neither of you ever made me feel like I was a bother. Last if you’re debating joining just do it. Don’t wait for the “perfect” time. There will never be a perfect time. It is a learning curve for sure however there are a lot of great people that will help you along the way; coaches and the MN community. Also for those on MN who find themselves struggling keep pushing through you will get there… and last my biggest words of wisdom please ignore the damn scale as much as you can that thing will mess with your brain! I am so so happy I took the leap to join and even happier I didn’t quit when I wanted to.
You are amazing girl! You did the work, we just pushed you along! I can’t wait to see where you are in a year from now!
If you are looking to make a change, you can sign up any time with any coach of choice (if they have openings) through our Mission Nutrition page. If you are interested in a group start with at home workouts included and an 8 Week Challenge, we start on May 4th! Early bird pricing ends Apr 28!!