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August 1, 2025 17 mins

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In this episode of MilesFromHerView, powered by KatFit Strength, host Kat discusses the limitations of before and after photos in capturing true fitness progress. She emphasizes the importance of focusing on personal growth, strength, and resilience rather than aesthetics. Kat shares insights on building a lifelong fitness journey tailored to each woman's unique life season and goals. She encourages listeners to cultivate a positive relationship with their bodies, food, and exercise, and offers practical advice for navigating different phases of life with confidence and self-compassion. Whether you're an athlete, a busy mom, or someone seeking a sustainable fitness path, this episode provides valuable perspective on finding authentic strength and balance.

00:00 Introduction: The Truth Behind Before and After Photos

00:37 Welcome to MilesFromHerView

01:26 Best of Episodes Announcement

02:05 Why I Don't Use Before and After Photos

03:32 Understanding Fitness as a Lifelong Commitment

08:08 Designing a Program for Your Real Schedule

10:54 Coaching as a Partnership

15:48 Final Thoughts and Call to Action



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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kat (00:00):
You've seen them before, the dramatic before and after
photos, promisingtransformations in six weeks.
They almost feel unreal.
But the truth is those photosdon't tell the real story.
They don't show the woman whofinally stopped feeling anxious
about food.
They don't show the woman whoeased her back pain and started

(00:22):
hiking again.
They don't show the woman wholearned to sleep through the
night for the first time inyears.
And that is one of the mainreasons why I don't use'em,
because real progress,especially in midlife, can't be
captured in a single snapshot.
Welcome to MilesFromHerView, thepodcast powered by KatFit
Strength, where busy women likeyou find practical solutions to

(00:44):
fuel your fitness journey withauthenticity and resilience.
I'm Kat, your host, a mom of twoactive boys, a business owner,
and an ultra marathon runner anda strength trainer in her
forties with nearly two decadesof experience.
I'm here to help you cut throughthe noise of fads, hacks, and
quick fixes.
This is a space where wecelebrate womanhood and

(01:06):
motherhood.
All while building strength andresilience and reconnecting with
you from a place ofself-compassion and worthiness.
Whether you're lacing up yourrunning shoes to go out for a
run, driving your kids topractice or squeezing in a
moment for yourself, I'm righthere in the trenches with you.
Let's dive in.
Hi, I am Kat.

(01:26):
I'm your host in the next coupleweeks, you're gonna hear a
couple best of episodes.
They have already been aired,,earlier this year or last year
because I am taking some timeaway from my business to spend
it with family, we are aboutready to start the school year.
So the next couple weeks I amgoing to take some time for me

(01:48):
to spend with a family and focuson behind the scenes work in my
business too.
Revisit the core of my mission,what and why.
I started my business 12 yearsago, and today's podcast goes
into that of the before andafter photo.
And it is something that for mein my business, my mission is

(02:10):
not to use them.
And I wanna clarify.
This has no.
Judgment or vilifying.
Anybody who does use them partof their marketing, that's for
them and that aligns with theirbusiness.
But I want to share somereasoning why for me, it's not

(02:31):
part of my business.
And if you are someone who feelstrapped by them, or maybe you,
yourself are using pro progressphotos, and maybe they are not
the best relationship, or maybeyou're having a great
relationship with progressphotos or before and after is
fantastic.

(02:51):
But it is a moment for me tokind of explain why I don't use
them, and that you don't have tobe a before and after.
So one of the primary reasons isyou're not a start stop.
When we use before and afters,it's where you started, where
you stopped, and that afterphoto becomes a metric of

(03:15):
comparison.
The fact is, you're a beautifulliving, evolving being.
Your body will change, yourschedule will change, your
priorities will shift, and noneof this is good or bad.
It just is.
And for me and at the core of mybusiness.
Is I'm teaching my clients thatfitness is a lifelong commitment

(03:38):
that adapts with them.
I work with my clients some fora season and some for years, and
my goal is the same to help'embuild the skills, confidence,
and routines that keep youstrong through every chapter.
Now, when I started KatFit 12years ago.

(03:59):
My background was not in theFitspo gym culture of detoxes
six week shreds.
I came from coaching athleteswhere progress was measured by
strength and resilience andshowing up not how you looked in
a photo and, and most of thewomen I work with grew up in the

(04:21):
weight watcher, SlimFast, celeryjuice era, special K diet.
You know where fitness was allabout shrinking yourself.
And they come to me ready tobreak free from them.
And even though I have been alifelong athlete, I was an
athlete as soon as I, I don'tknow, it was like 11 or 12 when

(04:42):
I entered sports, found trackand field as my primary sport.
It clicked with me.
I loved it.
And even though yes, coachingathletes, yes, myself as an
athlete, as I grew up from myteens to my twenties, through my
thirties, and now my forties,aesthetics are absolutely fine.

(05:05):
We can all feel the insecuritiesin our body.
It.
It is different when we'retraining in an atmosphere that
is positive and embracing andnot hyper focusing on chasing
the after, not chasing andnitpicking little bits about our
body.

(05:26):
Now, not all my clients, most ofmy clients in fact, are not.
In the traditional sense, anathlete where they are signing
up for a race, competing in asport or a league, most of my
clients are looking to gain thatstrength, that confidence, and

(05:47):
that resilience.
They want to find that goodrelationship with their body and
like I said, breaking away from.
The chasing the aesthetics, theshrinking themselves.
They want that freedom fromfood, anxiety, and guilt.

(06:09):
The ability to adjust toworkouts without spiraling into
shame, and to smile confidentlyin photos without hiding behind
someone else or passing on aphoto altogether.
The fact is these winds cannotbe seen.
In a bathroom mirror, a selfie,but these winds change

(06:30):
everything.
So how I approach this withclients is I really get to know.
The season of life they're inand I help them understand the
season of their life and allowit to empower them.
A lot of what we see with theseasons that women go through,
prenatal, postpartum,perimenopause, menopause, a lot

(06:55):
of change.
It is come with a lot of, youcan't or this is why your body
can't.
It is limiting beliefs andrestrictions.
I don't believe that does notmean, and I wanna make this very
clear, that any symptoms or anyfeelings that you have are not

(07:17):
valid.
They are a thousand percentvalid.
But when we learn to train inour training, cardio, mobility,
strength training.
Our sleep, our nutrition, ourstress mitigation, our social
relationships, our work lifebalance.

(07:38):
When it is in alignment withwhere we are at, you are going
to see incredible success.
So this is where.
I disagree with the limitingbeliefs of, oh, it's menopause,
therefore I can't, oh, it'spostpartum.
Therefore, I can't, can't.

(08:00):
Your body is very resilient andcan change, but we have to
understand the season of lifeyou're in.
Then from there, designing aprogram for your real schedule,
again, knowing the season oflife where you're at.
Are you currently pregnant?
Are you trying to get pregnant?

(08:20):
Are you postpartum with yourfirst, second, third, et cetera?
Are you postpartum?
And in this perimenopause years,are your kids grown and flown?
And this is the first timeyou've been able to come up for
air and now menopause is hittingyou and you cannot remember the
last time you did a workout orhad time for yourself.

(08:43):
Okay.
Let's put a plan that sets youup for success.
So it has to understand who youare, where you're at, and then
designing that program for yourreal schedule, not a schedule of
where you think you should.
Understanding that even if youhave 20 minutes between meetings

(09:07):
or 20 minutes in the morning orin the evening, wherever it
works in your schedule, or thatyou can dedicate three solid
workouts a week, it's creating aplan that works in your schedule
that is gonna set you up forsuccess, not burnout.
When clients come in, I ask,what have you done in the past?

(09:31):
Why did that stop working?
I wanna know what is theirhistory?
What are things that haveworked?
What are the challenges, thebarriers that have come up and
put in a plan with tweaking,because that sets'em up for
success.
Oftentimes, I hear clients say.

(09:52):
And I'm not their first trainercoach that or program that
they've ever done.
That.
The program, they loved it, butthey couldn't keep up with it.
It didn't.
It worked for a season of timeand then it stopped working and
there was no adaptability orflexibility.

(10:12):
So.
That's where it's understanding,again, the season and
understanding the schedule.
Then I wanna get to know theirbody.
Are they having aches and painsin areas?
Do they have past injuries?
Do you know how?
Is there kinesthetic awareness?
How are their kinetic chainsmoving?

(10:35):
So how are they squatting?
How are they moving about life?
And I wanna improve theirmobility.
I wanna put in exercises thatare gonna help them build
muscle, help them ease aches,and strengthen their over
overall body and improvemobility throughout their
everyday life.
Again, it's meeting them wherethey are at with their schedule

(10:58):
and the season of life andcoaching is a partnership.
I'm not here to say, here's yourplan, do it, and if you can't
figure it out, don't you knowthat's on you too often.
I have had women come to me inthis essence of, I got a plan.
I really wanted to do it, butthere were limitations and

(11:21):
whoever they received it from,or gym or class or whatever,
there were no options.
There were no.
Adaptations to help them.
My job and the way I view it, isI wanna help you build that
authority and autonomy over yourown body.

(11:43):
I want you to know when to pushharder and when to pull back and
how to trust yourself in theprocess.
It's not about the rigid plan,it's training that works for
your life and not against itbecause.
Inevitably.
We all have a starting point ora continuation point with our
fitness.

(12:03):
I have had them in the past.
There's nothing bad and there'snothing bad with progress
photos.
I don't think they need to bethe marker of success in fitness
to see if a program workedbecause there are so many
different changes to show aprogram is working versus a

(12:26):
dramatic change in a shortamount of time.
A lot of my clients come in andwhat they will see.
With the biggest changes thatimpact the overall change in
their body composition in theirbody is being able to get a full
night's sleep, feeling confidentwith adjusting their workouts,
staying consistent on a program,not for six weeks, but for six

(12:50):
years.
Rebuilding muscle and strengththat makes their body feel good.
And not limiting them further orquitting a program because they
feel so sore and achy, or havingpast injury flare flares
returning to the adventures andthe sports that they love.

(13:15):
They get back to hiking, skiing,running, cycling, and signing up
for those races are my all timefavorite.
It is when they jump into photoswithout hiding their body and
they are smiling.
Those are the most amazingprogress.
Those are things that the beforeand afters don't show.
Strength training is aboutresilience and freedom, and not

(13:38):
about perfection.
It's about building a body and amindset that adapts with you
through every season.
And the truth is fitness isn'tabout being done.
There's just no finish line withit.
That after photo with thatdramatic change.
In order to sustain that, weneed to continue on the plan.

(14:00):
And if you aren't understandinghow to adapt the plan, how to
understand when you need to pusha little harder in your
workouts.
Or you, maybe you can take on alittle bit more with your
workouts or you need to pullback in your workouts because
life, you wanna put more of lifeas a priority.

(14:21):
I wanna.
Be a little bit more clear.
Clear with my words, does notmean that when you are pushing
with your fitness and yourworkouts that you don't have a
life.
We're in summertime right now.
A lot of my clients are pullingback on their fitness because
maybe they're dealing withmultiple schedule changes.
Maybe.
And like for me, to be quitehonest, in these next two weeks,

(14:43):
I'm pulling back on my fitness.
That's a progress check-in.
I could keep pushing.
I'm not burned out.
I feel really good.
I have rest built into myschedule.
Same thing that I do with myclients.
There's rest time.
There's, weeks where theworkouts are a little scaled
back, It's when we understandand develop that we are not just

(15:07):
a start and stop with thesebefore and afters, that we are a
whole human in life, that thingsare going to come up and if we
learn the skills.
Of understanding our body andour seasons, we can tune into
exactly what we want and trainfor our whole life and not for

(15:31):
white knuckling, um, ourselvesthrough intense, restrictive
programs that are really hard tomaintain, especially when life
gets lifey because life willalways happen, happens to me,
happens to everybody.
So I wanna leave you with this.

(15:52):
Do you wanna be known for yourstrength or your pants size?
If you're ready for a coachingapproach that evolves with you
and teaches you how to truly ownyour fitness for life, let's
talk.
Jump in the show notes, book afree discovery call, and
together we'll create a planthat fits your season of life,
your schedule, your goals.

(16:14):
Without guilt or pressure.
If you have questions about thispodcast or any other podcast,
hit reply to the podcast.
I will respond to your message.
I read every single one, and no.
If you've enjoyed this podcast,if you could take two seconds,
hit a follow rate, the podcast.

(16:35):
This helps individuals likeyourself find the podcast.
I can't wait to be back here intwo weeks.
Thank you for tuning in toMilesFromherView, powered by
KatFit Strength.
If this podcast inspires you,don't keep it for yourself.
Hit follow or subscribe to stayupdated on the new episodes, and
leave us a review to help morewomen and moms discover this

(16:58):
space.
Your feedback fuels this podcastand I'd love to hear what's
working for you or what topicsyou want to dive into Next.
You can connect with me onInstagram at KatFitStrength or
share this episode.
Road with a friend who is readyto embrace her strength.
Remember, fitness isn't aboutperfection.
It's about showing up foryourself and finding strength in

(17:20):
every step of your journey.
Until next time, keep movingforward one mile at a time.
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