Living Functionally

Hey ya’ll,

Oh, what a week it’s been! If you couldn’t tell from my insta, this past week was amazing! We are still trying to recover from the holy spirit hangover (that’s what my husband calls it). My church hosted Hillsong Monday night and dang was it amazing. I can’t even fully get into that yet because i’m still processing everything that happened. In the words of THE @brookeligertwood “Michigan City, IN. Significant, divinely appointed night. It won’t leave me quickly.” I mean come on somebody? How amazing is that!!

For that event to even happen it took a lot of WORK from a lot of people! And dang my body is still feeling it. So, when I got the call from Tina at Living Functionally to come in for an assessment I was so excited! First, I mean HELLO look how cute this studio is? It is located in the cutest downtown area of Michigan City, IN.

When I arrived I honestly didn’t know what to expect because I had heard Tina does a different style of training but I was super excited to learn. We sat down and she started going through a list of questions and the main one was the “WHY” Why are you wanting to train? Why are you wanting to work out? Why are you wanting to create this as a lifestyle. And in that moment the why actually hit me, I communicated that women in my family tend to struggle with weight, and I wanted to break that barrier for them. I talked about how before we start having children I wanted to make sure that I am the healthiest I can be for them and for my husband. I think this question is so important because if you don’t know the “WHY” in your life you can’t even reach your full potential. Why are you working that job you hate? Why are you dating a guy that treats you like garbage? Why are you living in a town that is dying? Why are you trying to get fit? I really encourage you to really search for the WHY in your life and I promise you will find so much freedom and joy in doing that. This Hillsong picture really encouraged me when I saw it because even people who are really successful and on a platform need a reminder of the WHY.

We then talked about my bodies history with injuries and even eating habits. Instead of throwing a full meal plan at you she gave me 1 thing to work on until the next time we meet. To start my mornings with high protein and to end the night with no carbohydrates. I loved this! Sometimes when you are given a full meal plan on day 1 it can be really intimidating, especially if you were eating McDonalds and ice cream the day before. It’s important to set reachable goals in the beginning. I once heard this pastor say that he set a goal to go to the gym everyday, he didn’t even write down the workouts he needed to do because in the beginning it was about getting there and not so much about doing it.

We then talked about trigger points from car accidents and injuries and she showed me how to identify those and how to take care of them. Once we went through all the questions we then went through the movement part of the assessment. She gives you a list of movements, workouts and even just breathing to do as she watches and evaluates. After we finished I felt like she knew everything about my body, she could tell what muscles I wasn’t using correctly and which I was over using. She noticed that I wasn’t breathing at all during the workouts or even breathing correctly while just talking. She showed me different ways to train myself to use my diaphragm to breathe and even gave me the WHY you need to do it that way. Did you know that women who don’t use their diaphragm to breathe usually carry more weight around their bellies? THATS CRAZY! I had no idea! My friend Taylor even mentioned that women tend to want to suck it in to look skinnier but really they are making it worse by not breathing the correct way and just holding on to that excess belly fat.

We then went into different stretches and foam rolls you can do at home to really help you get to your goals. And yes here is your laugh for the day at me attempting to do those….

I cannot say enough amazing things about Tina or Living Functionally. From cupping therapy, to strength training to even prenatal care this girl has it all!! And did I mention it’s women only? You can be yourself and feel comfortable. Living Functionally is a strength-giving program that builds fitness inside and out. I encourage you to visit her insta @living_functionally and even set up an assessment for yourself. If you aren’t in the IN area I know there has to be more great studios for YOU, I will be on the lookout for more! This won't be last post about LF, I feel a much needed partnership in the (very near) future.

Shout out to my girl Taylor Wright for the amazing pictures (AS ALWAYS): @taylorannwright

XO,

- K