Crystal O’Keefe: Welcome to the MetPro Method Podcast. I’m your host, Crystal O’Keefe. Today I am joined by MetPro Coach Cat Ramirez, and we are gonna be discussing the summer body mindset. Cat, thank you so much for being here today.
Cat Ramirez: Thank you for having me.
Crystal O’Keefe: I am excited that you are here. Uh, now remind me, you’ve been doing coaching fitness, CrossFit, your own thing, like for a while now.
How long would you say that’s been?
Cat Ramirez: Um, probably around 23 to 24 years. Um, without like, High school collegiate stuff involved.
Crystal O’Keefe: Okay. And the reason I was wanting to ask that is I wanted to kind of see like how long you’ve been dealing with this question I’m about to ask you, which is, okay. So, do you see people every year trying to get their summer body?
Cat Ramirez: Yes. So I own an affiliate in North Carolina. Um, I’ve been in affiliates for a while for CrossFit. And trends seem to be like, the holidays people kind of forget, like we need to buy presents. And also it’s the holiday and I don’t really want people say, I want to allow myself room, or I want to give myself, a break, or, I don’t want to have to think about it or worry about it.
And, it’s a pet peeve of mine because, there shouldn’t be certain times of the year where it’s okay to disregard your health and wellness. Um, and then it kind of ramps back up with the new year, new me and then it trickles back down because everybody goes on like summer vacation or whatever, so they want to like get that summer body.
But then they just want to be able to show off the body, but not necessarily do the same amount of work for summer and enjoy the, you know, um, the vacations and the trips and stuff. Um, and, and then they come back again in the fall and then off again in, um, in the holiday season. So, I love that we’re covering this because I hate that health and wellness gets put into that.
Um, seasonal category, like there are certain seasons where it’s appropriate to be healthy, where it’s appropriate to be mindful of your choices, be mindful of your movement. And then there are other seasons where it’s okay to not be mindful about that because, you know, parties or whatever it is, right?
There’s definitely a way to do that, um, forever and ever maintaining a good balance and. And also, um, maintaining a good sense of health and wellness so that you can. Do those things longer, frankly. I mean, we don’t want to just think about health when it’s convenient.
Crystal O’Keefe: Okay. So that raises a whole lot of questions for me.
You have not only have you been like in this industry for a long time, it it, everything I know about you has been, you are a healthy person and you have been like your whole life, you’ve always been into activity and fitness. Um, So I guess my question comes back to I am the exact opposite of that, and um, I think that where I, I can’t speak for everybody obviously, but for myself, where some of that comes from is just not having.
A positive role model in my life in the sense that like, we’re always going to be eating good foods and like my family would eat really healthy meals, but it was more that like meat and potatoes and like my, mm-hmm. My dad’s like blue collar, so he had to have like a lot of calories every day. I didn’t eat all those calories because I was the kid.
My whole point to that is, if cyclical, this up and down isn’t a good idea and people don’t come from that naturally, how, how would you recommend that they do that then?
Cat Ramirez: I have not actually been in a healthy environment my entire life. My family did eat healthy, but again, similar to you, meat, potatoes, maybe a little bit of veg or it was like, um, a salad, like an easy salad was considered the veg. I have divorced parents, um, and they had joint custody.
We would go back and forth and it would be very different eating situations in both places. And so, I did get, uh, a lot of cooking instilled in me just because of the nature of my, uh, family and my father really enjoyed cooking. So that was instilled from a very early age, but not necessarily healthy eating.
And then, um, going into, um, high school and collegiate sport, um, I was, you know, I danced, I did other sport, um, and. The thing that I had going for me was that I was really skinny. Okay. Um, and so it was. That’s what people pushed your light. You’re skinny. You can be the flyer and cheerleading, you could do this, that, you know.
So then there was that pressure to like, well, I don’t have the strength, but I have being skinny. So, um, then I had a lot of years of extremely restricted and unhealthy eating. Um, and it wasn’t until, um, it got to a very unhealthy place that I was like, okay. This isn’t working anymore. Um, and so I took it upon myself to kind of seek out, help around that.
And then, and that’s actually what brought me to CrossFit was, um, getting into a healthier place and a more supportive environment. Um, so people, a lot of people, even people that have known me for a long, long time, they see how I feed my kids and how I eat. Um, and they assume that it’s just been something that’s like very natural for me.
That’s come my entire life. I mean, there was a period of time where like a Dr. Pepper, four green apple slices and a handful of 94% fat-free popcorn was my meal. Oh. So it’s not been something that’s been a lifelong thing where it’s just like, oh, it’s so easy for Cat because she’s always done it. Yeah.
Um, and I always tell my clients like, anybody can do this, anyone. And we can put anything in there to make it work. So we want, if you’re not coming from a place of, um, just like a natural kind of healthy household, oh, I’ve always done sport. I’ve always been healthy. My parents were healthy, my parents were triathletes, whatever.
Like that doesn’t matter. It’s about taking control and taking charge of your health and wellness, and making the choices to just walk in a healthier direction. And that doesn’t always mean kale and quinoa. It just means making better choices, having better. Portion size, um, creating better variety, adding better color to your plate, getting up and moving for a minute more each day, having an extra cup of water, um, taking five minutes to meditate. If meditation’s not your jam, it’s not mine, like I get it. I try and do five. That’s all I can handle. You know, so it’s about walking in a better direction, but consistently through the rest of your life.
Crystal O’Keefe: Well said. And, and thank you for sharing that.
Um, I really appreciate that. And it’s, um, A good reminder never to make assumptions about people. Uh, yeah, that’s all I’ve ever known about you, so I really appreciate you, you sharing that. And I then I think that maybe when you talk about like, it not being cyclical, you’re not saying like, don’t enjoy treats during the holidays, you’re saying.
Don’t, don’t let it go completely in the other direction. Like, exactly. It’s not a free for all, in other words.
Cat Ramirez: Exactly. Don’t let it derail you. Don’t let it be the like, all consuming, like, don’t let it be, oh, I had one, so 12 is fine. Right. Like I had, you know, a bite and so this whole day is shot. I’ll just take the whole day to like cheat and then I’ll be back on tomorrow.
Oh, breakfast didn’t work out. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow it’s, it’s the, that Monday mentality On Monday, I’ll start on Monday, I’ll do this on Monday. I’ll, you know, start being healthy. That’s not how it works. Right? Like your body doesn’t acknowledge I. Like you, you’re like just general health and wellness, your cardiovascular health, your, you know, pre-diabetes, your, whatever it is, that they’re not just like, well, it’s Monday, like we’re going to reset.
Like, you have to put something into that bank each day. It’s like a savings account, right? You’ve got to put something into that bank each day to move in a better direction to, you know, really reap the benefits of that health and wellness and create that account, right? That you can then be in a better place where you’re like, it’s Thanksgiving and I decided I wanted to have, you know, some pumpkin pie, but this isn’t going to derail me.
It’s not going to push me over the edge. I’m not going to, you know, be sacrificing an aspect of my health in order to do this. Mentally speaking, I can wrap my head around it and get right back into the swing of things, you know, whatever it is, right? Like. I don’t eat a hundred percent all the time. Granted, my like off meals might seem granola to like other people because I just am not like a sugar person.
But I’m not a hundred percent all the time. My portions are not a hundred percent. You know, like if I’m out and about and have to find something, you make it work. But generally speaking, if you were to look at the items that I eat, I think everyone would agree. Like these are. On the spectrum in the healthy department, right?
Crystal O’Keefe: Yeah. Okay. What do you think is kind of, the downside? Obviously, your health can be impacted, but if you’re a person who cycles through this summer body, like sometimes I’m doing really good, sometimes I’m not doing really good if, if most of the time it ends up being a net. You know, like they’re staying even throughout the year.
What is the downside of those cycles? Like what do you see the potential downsides as being?
Cat Ramirez: Um, so in the downsides of this, like if they’re pretty even all year round, like if somebody, if I have a client who’s like, generally even they’re pretty healthy year round, and then we’re just doing like tune-ups, that’s not a downside, right?
Like, we’re generally healthy, we’re in a great place. Um, maybe we’ve got like a wedding. We need to, you know, be particularly mindful around, um, And that’s not, like, that’s not a bad thing. The point is not like, oh, never, you know, never commit to it full bore. Like never have those like moments where you’re just going to like, bust your butt and give, you know, the a hundred percent.
That’s not the point. It’s a, um, consistency is created at that 80% or above, right? So we always, generally speaking, want to have that mindset of creating that consistency of 80% or above, walking through life. Now, if you’re like, I’m going to Mexico, I’ve got a real small bikini and I want to look particularly great in it, like then great work with your coach.
Work with a coach though, don’t do it by yourself because. Most of the time it leads to unhealthy crash dieting or restricted eating. And that is very, very hard to come back from. And it’s very, very hard to get your metabolism back into that like 80%. And we’re still able to manipulate it and do the things that we want to do.
Zone. So if you do have something to that, you know, to that extent where it’s like, An event or in a particular, you know, time where you’re like, I, I really want to lean out a little bit. Um, I want a little more definition. Like I want, or I want to feel lighter for a race or something like that. Right. Work with a coach so that the coach is watching you.
The coach is making sure that we’re in a healthy place, that we’re doing this appropriately. That it’s something that is not going to be detrimental to your metabolism, to your mindset. Right. Um, and then, and that’s great and that’s fine. And we all have those things that come up, you know, like. You have a baby, you wanna get some baby weight off, right?
Like whatever it is. So there are those times in life where, where we need that to happen. The key is not to create those moments every week where you’re like, I wanna look great for my date on Friday, but then the rest of the weekend I’m going to blow it. And then on Monday I’ll be back on.
And we’re working for Fridays. We’re working for Fridays, right? We wanna overall, Be living in that, um, consistent zone.
Crystal O’Keefe: That makes a lot of sense. Like the approach there is get some help when you have these focused events. If, if a person is like, okay, I’m ready to be consistent all year round, do you have any recommendations for how they can get started with those approaches to be consistent?
Cat Ramirez: Yep. Absolutely. So this is also a talk that we have a lot with our clients that are on concierge, right? Where we’re doing like really fine tuning and we’re doing cycles and cutting and whatnot. And then when you transition off, people are always like, well, I don’t know how to do these cycles, or, I don’t wanna cut, or, this isn’t sustainable, or, you know, I don’t wanna do this forever.
I usually talk to my clients and liken it to like, okay, you go to the doctor for something and they give you like a protocol that you’re going to follow to like remedy, whatever that situation is. And then they give you okay, and then if it comes back, this is what we’re going to do and you just come back and see me.
It’s the same kind of thing, like you’re working with a professional. We are taking you through a protocol. No, this is not what sustaining, maintaining 80% looks like. Absolutely not. This is what digging deep looks like. This is what, you know, nailing down the events, increasing that performance, you know, whatever it is.
That’s what it looks like. I’m watching you. We’re working together. We’re, you know, figuring out the little subtle nuances of your body, your health, you know, whatever it is. And then you go into a maintenance mode, that 80%, right, where either I’m telling you, you know, this is what I generally want your plate to look like.
Like start taking pictures of your meals at this. Phase, send it to me. This is what maintenance looks like. So next time you make a plate for yourself, try just making it by eye. Um, or I’m giving you, you know, a range of grams to stay within, or I’m referring you to our app. Which is a great 80% tool. Um, I always say like, our app is amazing for that.
If you’ve got something that you really wanna dig in for, contact a coach, be with a person, like have somebody watching you. But the app is amazing. It’s 49 bucks a month. Like you can’t beat that. You’re tracking, you’re logging, you’ve got your. Workout recommendations. It does move you up and down, but we’re, we’re not like doing major builds or major cuts.
It’s not like huge increases or decreases. It’s very manageable. Um, and it gives you that accountability factor. You can reach out to a coach if you’ve got something to ask. If you decide like, hey, I really like where I am right now, but I do have this, event in June. I really wanna, tune up for great.
You can reach out through the app and contact and hop on concierge for a little, um, tune up or like package so that you can, be ready for that event, whatever it might be, and do it in a healthy way without sacrificing, your mental space or anything like that.
Crystal O’Keefe: Very helpful. And is there anything about the approach of having a summer body that you wanna make sure listeners hear that we haven’t covered yet?
Cat Ramirez: Your summer body should be your year round body. There will be times where our bodies change, and it’s important that we appreciate every stage and phase of our body, but can also sit in. The place that we are. So what I mean by that is appreciate your body. It will not always be your 25 year old, you know, 6% body fat.
I am, you know, perky is everything body. But we can appreciate the functionality of our body. We can appreciate having a healthy body. And we can also acknowledge like, And maybe not being my healthiest self right now. So let’s, let’s tune it up a little bit. Let’s put a little more, um, effort into it in terms of our mindset, but it’s more so about the health and wellness.
That’s what we’re looking at, not the stage presence, the striations, the tan, the definition, et cetera. So, Composition is great and absolutely, I’ve got clients that are composition clients for what it is that they do, and that is amazing, and we will yield those results a hundred percent, but appreciate a healthy, functional body and go into.
Whatever it is that you do each day, putting something towards making that body healthier and more functional, creating the longevity that you need.
Crystal O’Keefe: Wonderful. Cat, that was fantastic advice and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for your time today. Thank you. Listeners, that’s all for this week. You can find all of the MetPro Method episodes anywhere you get podcasts, or you can go to MetPro.co/podcast.
Please be sure to follow the show and rate and review that lets other people know what to expect. You can also learn more about MetPro at metpro.co. I’m your host, Crystal O’Keefe and I will be back next week. Until then, remember, consistency is key.
