Community Builders
Motivating Stories: Heather Krolicki
Allow me to introduce you to Heather. I met Heather in roughly 2021 when I started coaching at a gym in Towson, Md. Initially, Heather started out as a member, taking my class which was a Crossfit style workout. She also would take the bootcamp style classes pretty regularly. Heather truly embodies staying focused, motivated and working hard on her goals. Since starting as a member she has progressed to becoming a Coach and Personal Trainer. Heather is always learning and finding ways to improve her fitness.
Oh yeah, did I mention that she is a regular at 5:30am but also works full time in a school system. So her free time is pretty limited and constrained to a strict work schedule.
Enough from me. I want you to hear from Heather.
Share more about you and your regular day to day?
During the day I am a behavior specialist at a separate private day school for individuals with special needs. In the evenings either training my personal fitness/nutrition clients, learning on the BJJ mats, or spending time with my family.
When did you start your fitness journey? Was there a certain event or situation that lead you to start?
As a college athlete it feels like fitness has always been a part of my life. I would say my intentional fitness journey began during the shutdown of March 2020. At the beginning of the shutdown not only was I about 65lbs over a healthy weight for me, weighing in at 215lbs, I was the most depressed and lost I ever felt in my life. In October 2019, my grandmother who raised me from 2 to 9 passed away from coronary heart disease (CHD). A few months later in January 2020 my mother passed away after a 3-year battle with stage 4 lung cancer. Once the shutdown began, I knew my life had to change, I knew my mindset had to change or I would die. I was at a fork in the road. I could continue doing was I was doing, overeating, over drinking, binge watching the same old sitcoms, or I could embrace the hard things such as feeling my feelings, showing up daily and living my life by my core values. I needed to do more than, "lose weight". I needed to change the way I approached my life. I needed to stop being a victim of my circumstances. I needed to take ownership of my life.
As a busy professional, how do you find time to workout and/ or create a healthy lifestyle within your family?
With all the demands of life to have a healthy lifestyle I have to be very intentional about how I spend my time. Typically, the night before I plan out the critical items for the following day; 4-5 items I need to accomplish during the day. I try to knock these out as soon as I possibly can which is why I work out early in the morning. If life happens, which it will at some point, and I'm unable to complete a critical item I schedule for a time that I will be able to complete it. I am most successful when I'm intentional with my time and don't just let life happen to me.
Tell us more about your current exercise routine/ program?
Currently, I do some form of exercise daily.
M/W/F I attend the 5:30am classes at Grind Fitness.
Tuesday and Thursday I attend the Breakfast Club BJJ class at Baltimore BJJ.
Saturday and Sunday are a little less structured, but I typically go for a 45-minute walk.
What are 3 pieces of advice you would give someone on their fitness journey?
Consistency is key.
Keep the promises you make to yourself.
Develop a mantra for when the journey gets tough that you can resist to yourself. One I commonly use is, "I can do hard things."
Do you have a support system? If so, tell us about them
My support system consists of my significant other and a few close friends with similar goals.
What ways keep you motivated?
I'm motivated by changing the course of my family.
Tell us more about your nutrition plan, if you follow one?
I'm currently tracking my macronutrients (i.e., protein, carbs, and fats). I have a daily goal for each of these with leads to a daily caloric intake goal. My personal philosophy is to adhere to my plan at least 90% of the time and allow myself 10% of noncompliance. To see results I don't need to be perfect; having ice-cream every now and then isn't going to erase all my hard work. I am a product of the choices I consistently make.
What have been 2 biggest challenges throughout your fitness journey?
Avoiding emotionally eating.
Getting enough sleep
What are two songs that are constants on your workout playlists?
Anything Meek Mill or Drake.
IF you want to connect with Heather, you can find her on social media.
Instagram: coach_krolicki
Twitter: CoachKrolicki
Facebook: Heather Krolicki
Fitness is hard. But it doesn’t have to be complicated. My hope is that you find just one piece from Heather’s story to motivate you to keep going, get started or even contemplate getting started. Moral of it all, just get started. Deciding to do something even if it is one day a week is a huge change. You can see even from Heather that ice cream is still in the picture. So fitness doesn’t mean giving up on everything you’ve ever known. It’s finding the balance of it all.
If you are still unsure where to begin, I want to click this link and send me a message. From here I will ask you a couple questions and then we together will create a plan. This is 100% FREE. No hidden fees or secret sign ups. I want you to have a better understanding of how this can work for you too.
Being a busy professional doesn’t mean certain areas need to lack, it means finding the balance. But it does take commitment and consistency.
