Coach Corner: Kara Simpkins (#2 in Series)

Good afternoon!  In today's blog entry, I am so excited to introduce my friend Kara Simpkins!  Kara and I first met two years ago.  Her twins were just celebrating their first birthday and her older daughter was age two!  We met through MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and became friends.  I remember seeing Kara at a couple of activities with her little girls and thought about how she had a great presence of mind and seemed to be unflappable.  I could appreciate her no-nonsense approach and looked forward to getting to know her as a friend.  I remember talking with her the first time that she came to my home for a playdate.  I thought "Wow!  Kara just may be the smartest individual that I know in everyday life!"  I love that Kara is a go-getter and I knew from the start that she would be an excellent asset to our MOPS leadership team.  Kara is now expecting baby #4 and that is perfect as she is the future leader of the entire MOPS group.  She is now "eligible for five more years of MOPS"!  The photo used in the collage above was just taken this afternoon.  Kara has now entered the 2nd trimester of her pregnancy.  She is getting ready to attend a friend's wedding and is looking great!

When I first began my own transformation, Kara was very encouraging and I could tell that she was keeping tabs on things.  When I became a coach five months later, Kara joined my first challenge group and she took on the 21 Day Fix program and had fantastic results!

Kara joined my team as a coach and I love seeing her enthusiasm for helping others.  She is such a knowledgeable person who is able to take technical information and break it down in a way that others can understand it and apply it to their own lives! This new healthy lifestyle has had ripple effects in Kara's household... her husband Brian also got on board and they have now moved on to T25 together.  It is neat to see the many tips, stories and recipes that Kara posts on her blog.  I enjoy keeping up with her perspective there!  Check out Kara's Blog.

I recently asked Kara if I could feature her on my blog.  She shares her own story below.  Thank you Kara!  Congrats on your amazing progress!  I am so happy to have you as a member of my team.  :)

Tell us about yourself...

I am originally from Conway, PA (a small town in Beaver County about 30 minutes west of Pittsburgh). I have my Master’s degree in Bioengineering and a Certificate in Asian Studies. I have three beautiful little girls. A will be five in September and will be starting Pre-K. B and C are twins that turned three in June. Baby number four is due in February 2015. No we aren’t finding out what we are having. I’m married to my best friend Brian. We will be married nine years in October. We moved to Erie three years ago when Brian took a job as the Director of Pharmacy Resident at LECOM. We have had our times of ups and downs but now our marriage is stronger than ever. Moving to Erie was definitely a God thing and brought us closer to one another than I could have ever imagined. We have dates nights in the evening when the girls are in bed. We like to joke and have fun. Most of our free time is spent as a family. We want the girls to know the importance of family and the strong family bond. I love being a stay-at-home mom. With three under four they keep me busier than my full time job.

What prompted you to get started with this lifestyle change yourself?  Why did you become a coach?

In June of 2011 B and C were born at 27 weeks. We spent 60 days in the NICU. They came home and a little over a month later we moved to Erie. With two preemies we weren't really allowed to go anywhere. It was RSV season and winter in Erie. I started to eat for something to do. I didn't have any friends in Erie and was lonely. I ate to cope with the loneliness. I ate to cope with the business of three under three. I ate to cope with the feeling that I wasn’t a good mom. I continued to gain weight till I was as big as I was the day I had the twins. I wasn’t ready to make a change then. It was the Spring of 2012. I just would say I can do it when the kids get older. OR I would try to placate myself and say I didn’t have a problem. In the summer ice cream became a favorite. Every time we went to the beach we'd stop for ice cream on the way home. We were going to the beach at least twice a week so these "treats" were killing me. By January of 2013 the twins were walking. I started to casually work using a website’s workouts. Over the next year I lost 23 pounds and 30 inches. So here it was January 2014 and I was sitting at 186 but still didn’t want to make changes to my diet. Jeanette had been transforming herself with Beachbody products since September of 2013. I had watched her lose weight, become stronger and more of her personality shine even more. She became a coach in February and when she asked me to join her "21 Day Fix" challenge group at the beginning of April I said yes. I figured what did I have to lose. I need more energy. I needed to be able to get up to chase my kids around for longer than ten minutes. I needed to be able to walk up the stairs carrying the twins without huffing wind. After one week I lost 5 pounds. It was so easy to follow. The portion control portion of the program was exactly what I needed. The workouts were challenging, but fun. They also had enough variety that I didn't get bored. When she asked me if I wanted to become a coach I said yes. I was so excited for this new journey in my life. I also knew with the accountability I would be able to lose the weight and keep the weight off with others "watching" me.  I love helping people and I love spending time investing in others’ lives. After my first 21 days I lost 9 lbs and 16.25 inches. I’ve lost a total of 30 pounds and 28 inches before I got pregnant. 

What has been the biggest surprise so far?  What do you find most rewarding about coaching?

I thought it would be a gimmick. I thought there was no way it would work for me. I also thought that there is no way I’d want to drink a Shake every day and enjoy it. I’m a food person so this was my biggest reason for never making the plunge with Beachbody before. I think my Shakeology is now my favorite meal of the day. I love it. As far as coaching I love to see when others hit that “ah ha” moment. The one where they know this is totally doable for them. I also love to see how each person is unique in their why for making the change and then helping them focus on that why to get to their end goal.

Where do you hope to go from here? 

I want to rank advance and continue on with my Beachbody business. I love helping others and want to continue being healthy myself. I’m hoping for a healthy pregnancy. I’m hoping that I can keep my weight gain at a minimum. I’m also hoping to continue my progress once my baby is born. I know that with the support of my team and my drive the sky is the limit. I want to inspire other pregnant women that they can workout during pregnancy too. I also want to inspire others that they can do this no matter where they are at in their life now. 

Any suggestions for those who are on the fence about jumping in themselves?

Jump right in. Don’t hesitate. The only thing you have to lose is the old you. You won’t regret it.