Caitlin Johnson - A Success Story Interview

If you don't know who Caitlin Johnson is, you will soon. She first appeared in Ironman Magazine.

But Caitlin isn't your everyday beautiful fitness competitor/model.

Let's face it, many of us look at women in these magazines and wish we were blessed with their genetics.

We think they don't have our problems, or our metabolism and they don't have to work nearly as hard to look as good as they do.

Well, no more excuses.

Cat worked extremely hard to get where she is.

And I had the pleasure of interviewing this amazing young woman.

After you read this inspiring interview, you'll get to view some incredible before and after pictures.

1. Cat, you've managed to lose 70 pounds of fat. This is phenomenal and Icongratulate you once again. You should be very proud of what you have accomplished. Many people are unhappy with their weight, their job, etc.

What was it that finally motivated you to get in the gym and start eating properly? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are like most people, you must've been unhappy with how you looked for some time before making the commitment to do something about it.

If this is accurate, what do you think kept you from taking action all that time?

A. 1). When your stuck in a lifestyle that is unhealthy but familiar it has to been something extreme to motivate you to change your life. For me it was the scale and me making 182 lbs, which was 20 pounds away from 200 pounds.

In my mind 200 lbs was too heavy and I decided I could never make that weight and be able to live with myself. Second I had just taken a kickboxing class from a teacher that had the ultimate physique and I could relate to her because she was short and a female.

Every day I trained with Denise Hart I worked hard because I was striving to look like her.

What kept me from really putting my whole heart into training before is I didn't relate to the other trainers because they were men and I couldn't relate to them.

Even now as a competitive athlete my trainers relate to me because they've all been athletes.

2. How did you get started with your new lifestyle? In other words, what changes did you make, or planning did you do, to give yourself the best chance at success?

A. 2). To get started Denise gave me a plan and I tried to follow it the best I could. Small meals, no sugar or fat, lot's of cardio and two full body circuits.

3. What problems did you have to overcome in order to stay on track with your new fitness program? You obviously must have been living a dramatically different lifestyle than you had lived previously.

Some of the popular excuses I've heard from people I've trained include "not enough time"(both for exercising and eating right), "eating healthy is too expensive", "don't see results fast enough", "weights will make me big and bulky", "have trouble sticking with an exercise routine". What were the obstacles you had to overcome?

A 3). For me if I have a plan to follow I'm fine. It's when I'm not restricted I lose control. In the beginning I had to realize if I drank 3 beers a night I wasn't going to lose weight. I also have quite a sweet tooth so I had to cut my sugary Starbucks drinks out.

4. How did you overcome those problems? What specific techniques did you use to make your dreams a reality?

A 4). Denise would be hard on me and tell me not to waste her time. She was right and the harder she was on me the better I was. She use to say "Do you want it"? In my mind that made me strive far and never give up.

5. Moving forward and knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?

A 5). I would've signed on with Kim Oddo in the beginning . It took me four years because I didn't eat much protein and then for a few years did the no carb diet which was a total waste of time.

6. What would you have done the same way, and will continue to do, going forward?

A 6). CARDIO BABY! It burns calories, raises endorphins, relieves stress, etc. (continued below)