Today we’d like to introduce you to MacKenzie Gangestad.
Hi MacKenzie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Growing up I was always active and playing sports, but 7th grade is when I really fell in love with fitness and started lifting weights. That was also my first year playing volleyball, which I still play in leagues today. Even with how active I was, I always seemed to be a little overweight. At my annual checkups, I remember the doctor bringing up my weight and mentioning that I should lose a couple of pounds, but never giving any clear advice or direction on how to lose weight. It was always something to the extent of “eat less, move more”, which usually just lead to confusion and frustration on my end.
In 2012, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the MN School of Business. I decided to pursue a career in the fitness industry because I was frustrated with my own fitness journey, I loved lifting weights and I wanted to do something involving helping people. To gain experience, I started training students and staff in the gym at school, and about 8 months prior to graduation, I passed my certified personal trainer test and started my first training job at Gold’s Gym.
I started to really struggle and actively tried to lose weight in my early 20s but nothing I seemed to do would work. If I did manage to lose weight it wasn’t sustainable and I would gain it back. I would go between being restrictive and following no plan at all, instead of finding balance. I decided to sign up for a triathlon that was in June 2011. (there’s a picture of me in the orange tank top that is included) In the back of my mind, I was hoping that when I trained for the triathlon that losing weight would be a byproduct. I now realize how unhealthy of a mindset that was and I want to help others have a healthy relationship with working out.
In addition to being a personal trainer, I worked as a rehabilitation specialist at a chiropractic clinic that specialized in functional neurology and as a program director for a children’s brain and body wellness program. I did enroll and go back to school with the intent of applying to a physician assistant program, but I withdrew in May 2019. I had this feeling that going to school was not what I should be doing at that time and I’m happy I listened to my intuition.
During Covid and the lockdowns, I was working on the operations side of a mental health clinic as a clinical operations coordinator. I was one of the only members of my team that was never furloughed and I finally got to a point where I was burnt out and just needed a change. One of the reasons for my working at the clinic was because it was close to home and school, but I had since withdrawn from school and I again had this feeling that I was not where I should be. I turned in my 2 weeks’ notice and I went back to training. For a while, I did a combination of in-person and online training/nutrition coaching, but I ultimately decided that I wanted to focus on just the online portion of my business.
The last couple of years I was dealing with some personal issues in my life that in combination with everything else, resulted in me losing a lot of weight mostly due to my struggle with anxiety. I really struggled with not having the drive to work out and I was hardly ever lifting weights, which contributed to the weight loss. I’ve spent the majority of the last year focusing on building muscle and making sure I have a healthy relationship with working out.
I started my online personal training and nutrition coaching business so that I could help others do the same. There is so much information about what people should/shouldn’t be doing when trying to lose weight and be healthy that it can lead to being overwhelmed, shutting down, and possibly even giving up. Lifting weights and focusing on bettering my health, especially when I was going through rough times, has made all the difference in the world to my physical and mental health.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Parts of this journey have been smooth but there have also been a lot of obstacles presented along the way. One of the biggest obstacles I’ve had to overcome is changing how I communicate with my clients. Training clients online requires another level of communication, which makes me appreciate all the time I spent training clients in person.
That time I spent training in person helped perfect my communication skills, so it has made transitioning to online coaching sessions much easier.
Another struggle was not everyone was supportive when I made the decision to quit school or when I decided to take my coaching business fully online. Since online personal training and nutrition coaching is a fairly new niche, there were some people in my life that not support my decisions. Unfortunately, as much as that hurt, I had to keep moving forward and following my intuition.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Buff Diamond Fitness?
I work with clients who have tried all the diets and workout plans but with little to no success. They are usually highly discouraged from so many failed attempts and a lot of the time they struggle with the belief that they can actually lose weight and make the necessary lifestyle changes.
What sets me apart from others is my ability to help my clients create habits that are going to lead them to success without going to extremes. I am known to break down goals into small more achievable steps, so clients are collecting small wins along the way until they reach their overall goal. What sets me apart from others and I am most proud of brand-wise, is I train all my clients with the goal in mind that one day they won’t need to train with me because we will have reached their goal and they know what to do to maintain.
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.
I think risks are important to take and usually, if you’re scared to do something it means that you need to do it. One of the biggest risks I took was withdrawing from school with no real plan of what I was going to do or where I was headed.
It was a decision that I made and didn’t really think it through I just had a feeling that I was supposed to be doing something else. If I never would have taken that risk to start my own business, I would be working at a job that I’m not happy with and don’t feel fulfilled, so even if you don’t have all the answers, make the jump and take the risk.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/buffdiamondfit?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3082029135420961
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenzie-gangestad-b02221170/
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@buffdiamondfit
