We recently connected with Lexie Swearingen and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Lexie, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I found my purpose for health coaching women through decades of my own struggles achieving a physique I actually felt proud of and healthy in. I grew up doing competitive gymnastics so I always had an awareness of my body and compared to other girls in my sport, staying lean did not come naturally. Even in my younger years I had to make an effort to eat healthy. When high school came around I struggled with anorexia. I finally lost weight but it came with a high price tag. My relationship with food went downhill, I spent hours doing cardio in the gym and even though I was thinner than I had ever been I still lacked confidence and comfort in my body. In college, the years of restriction caught up with me – I could not keep “white knuckling” my way through food restriction and I began binge eating. Desperately trying to keep my calories low but falling victim to spells where I simply couldn’t control myself. I was gaining weight rapidly, I felt absolutely terrible about myself and as a kinesiology & exercise science major it was embarrassing that I didn’t look the part of what I felt passionate about. Eventually I learned more about nutrition through the process of tracking macros and led myself to strength training instead of hours of cardio. While the narrative around tracking food can be negative, learning how to objectively understand my food in a way that was backed by data helped me learn that I could eat things I wanted without ruining my progress. There were no bad and good foods. I also saw my body shift as I built muscle and my mind shifted along with it. I learned how to not only manage my mindset around food, exercise, and my body but with actual data that I could understand I learned how to implement strategy to actually reach my goals. I was no longer guessing and following random diets or aimlessly restricting myself. Now, I use my methods of tracking macros, periodized nutrition and strength training to help women who love fitness achieve the body of their dreams with strategy beyond simply eating healthy and working out. I want all women to understand that they can “look the part” and actually have a physique that shows they workout!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am an online nutrition & fitness coach for women. I do 1:1 online coaching to help women achieve any health, fitness, or physique goals that they may have. I mainly work with women who want to lose body fat or achieve body recomposition meaning that they want to look more “toned” “defined” or actually look like they work out! Most of the women that I work with already are attempting to eat healthy and they workout regularly but they feel that their efforts done show in their physique and they’ve never been able to achieve (or sustain) a body that they feel especially proud of. They are constantly second guessing what they’re doing, wondering what they should be eating or what they should be doing in the gym. That’s where I come in! I help these women finally develop a true strategy to reach their goals and help them understand their bodies and how food and exercise contribute to their goals so they can continue seeing progress forever. I utilize flexible dieting and macronutrient tracking to help women learn that they can fit all foods within a healthy diet and a balanced plate. I also work my clients through a model of nutritional periodization. This is magical for most women because it serves the purpose of showing them that they do not need to be dieting forever – there are phases for fat loss but also reverse dieting, maintenance and building. This eliminates weight loss plateaus and allows for continuous progression and more lifestyle flexibility. The best part of my nutrition coaching is that my clients have access to me throughout the week and for a weekly check-in. This allows us to work through any mindset hurdles that they may be facing on their journey and I’m there to make any adjustments to their plan as needed. Gone are the days of wondering whether or not they need to eat more, eat less, is this working?! I do the thinking and they just execute.
On the fitness side, I am absolutely IN LOVE with strength training (to put it lightly). Having more muscle mass is something that most women need – it completely transforms not only your physique but your metabolic health and allows for much more flexibility nutritionally and ability in your lifestyle. I make customized training programs for my clients but I also have a training membership called STRONG by Lexie that anyone can join for a low cost.
I also host a podcast called the Get Your Health Together podcast where I speak about my methods, educate on health & fitness and share lots of practical tips…along with some tough love. I really enjoy hosting the podcast!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Process focus – In my fitness journey I continuously focused on how I could do better each day to move the needle forward. I never put a timeline or an end date on myself and trusted the idea of “it’s not if it will happen but when” and just kept going. You need to lean into the actual actions that you’re taking everyday and not the outcome that you desire. Stop waiting to get there and start actually getting there, doing the thing! This is so important because it’s likely that once you get to your end destination, you’re not done. You will have to keep leaning into that process and making it your new normal. This is also something I focus on as an entrepreneur and I think I’m better for it. I never feel that my business is just done and I will never treat this like a job where I clock in and clock out. I am constantly getting new certifications, mentors, and educating myself to serve my clients better.
Growth mindset – Looking at challenges and instead of shaming yourself and blaming yourself for failure – KEEP WORKING. Never believe that you aren’t cut out for success because something didn’t work out the first time you tried it. Look, assess and keep trying to learn and figure things out. In many cases I am teaching my clients skills in the gym or with their nutrition that they’ve never done before. I always try and instill the idea that I don’t expect them to be great at it and certainly don’t expect them to be perfect. The only thing I hope they will keep doing is look at what went wrong and keep trying. None of us popped out of the womb having all of the skills we have today, we had to fail to get there!
Self trust – If you do not trust yourself to do the things you say you’re going to do, you won’t move forward because your words and commitments become meaningless. If you know that you will keep the promises you make to yourself and develop that self trust I truly believe you can achieve anything. Also, talk about the #1 way to boost your confidence!!!
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
My ideal client is a women who likely wants to lose body fat. She wants to be “lean and more toned” and probably thinks she has enough muscle and just needs to lose the last 5-10lbs to look how she wants. My ideal client is the woman who works out and eats healthy but still doesn’t feel like she “looks the part”
She constantly things that she just needs to work harder or be more disciplined and “knows what to do just needs to do it” but doesn’t realize that just because something worked in the past for her doesn’t mean it’s going to work again. She needs an actual strategy because there’s only so long that more exercise and less calories will pay off.
She thinks she’s doing “everything” and maybe just isn’t cut out to look the way she wants but she really needs to switch up what she’s doing and try something new.
My ideal client probably loves working out but is maybe doing too much. She’s maybe focused on burning calories in the gym or is strength training but needs an actual plan
My ideal client (like I used to be) is maybe the friend who is always making time for the gym or trying to order the healthy meal at the restaurant but her friends are in better shape than her and doesn’t know why it isn’t working!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @coachluie_
- Other: Tik Tok: @coachluie_
Email: [email protected]
Podcast: Get Your Health Together by Lexie Swearingen (available on spotify and apple pods)
Train Heroic: https://marketplace.trainheroic.com/brand/luie-fit-coaching?attrib=583196-web
Coaching app: https://lnmcclelland.typeform.com/to/Wfx2MhAi
Image Credits
Cara Eliz Photo (Cara Salter)
