My name is Carol Linstid. In 2012 I was a new mom with zero free time and lots of stress. I had lost my dad after a long battle with diabetes and heart disease. He had missed the birth of his long-awaited and only grandchild by six months.
I needed a way to work through the day in front of me and fight back against medical fate in the coming years. I started making small, incremental changes to every aspect of my life. I was already having issues with hypoglycemia. I didn’t want to go down the road of diabetes without a fight.
Even if I lost the fight, I wanted to set myself up to manage my blood sugar well and make it easier on my family. I didn’t know at the time if it would work. I’d been trying to lose weight off and on since late childhood. This time I focused on habits instead of pounds. I made a promise to myself that even if I didn’t lose a single pound, I would keep going if it meant a longer, healthier life.
Along the way I found habits to rewire my brain to handle stress better. These habits helped me get through each day as it came and transformed me from the inside out. I made one change, then another, then another. Slowly, all those little things added up to a tidal wave of change.
Within 3 years I lost 50% of my starting weight. I have lived the experience of exercising while carrying more than 100 extra pounds. It’s important to me to support others who are new to that. I used to see that weight as a sign I wasn’t the kind of person who exercised. Now I see it was a sign that my body had more strength training experience than I’d imagined. As the weight came off I was shocked at how strong I already was. I want to help others realize their own strength too.
Big health goals for the future can be turned into habits that improve the quality of life right now. In turn, those habits are much easier to sustain long enough to see them bear fruit. This philosophy is at the core of my coaching practice.
Two categories of clients that I am well suited to work with are:
- People concerned about diabetes.
- People who are juggling their own health concerns with the need to care for others.
I don’t pretend to have everything figured out or to have all the answers. Each new phase of life still throws me as I adapt what I’ve learned to the new terrain. There are times where it’s two steps back for each one forward and I find myself on detours, sometimes long ones. I want to help others learn those navigation skills and to find faith in their ability to navigate rather than give up.
As a Health & Wellness Coach and Certified Personal Trainer I’m committed to helping each client find a path that fits both their goals and actual life.
To honor my dad’s memory, I started walking and eventually running races each year near his birthday.
Here’s a timeline of that period by the races I did in his memory:
National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
Certified Personal Trainer (NASM)
Behavior Change Specialist (NASM)
Weight Loss Specialist (NASM)