Meet Coach Katie Woodall
Hi, I’m Coach Katie!
Thank you for stopping by!
This is my family — my husband, Justin, of 20 plus years, and our three kids — Kara, Lane and Cami. Justin is in real estate, and we spend most of our time getting these kiddos to and from school and their favorite activities like competition cheer and tennis!
Our life is full! And I’ve learned since my kids were young that I am the best mom when I am honoring the body God has given me with exercise and good nutrition.
God lit a spark in me to help women in their fitness journey about 14 years ago when my son was just a baby. I had zero energy to take care of my two young children as a stay-at-home mom. I remember my ‘then’ doctor telling me, “This is normal.” But I refused to believe this was my “normal” as a young 28-year-old wife and mother.
Instead of accepting this as my forever reality, I started exercising with my friend Caroline, and she started teaching me how to fuel my body with whole foods. It only took 6 weeks of creating new healthy habits with better nutrition and exercise for me to gain energy, and at the same time, start noticing changes in my body physically.
A few months later, I trained and completed my certification to teach group fitness at a local studio. So that spark God lit in my heart started by encouraging women to feel better through movement!
I taught almost four years and decided to take a little break from the stage — then came our youngest daughter! But I couldn’t stay away from teaching long. I later taught group strength training and HIIT classes for my friend, Caroline, after she opened a local training studio, TransFit Athens.
Fast forward a few years to 2022…
I took a leap of faith and decided to open my own personal training studio out of my home. I was tired of being on the road, and I felt the tug to reach women in my community from my home. One of my favorite things about my studio, is seeing the generations of women come together to train with me — from teens up to women in their 70s, lifting weights together! It brings me such joy!
So you might be wondering how does counting macros fit into all this?!
Well…as you’ve read, you can see that I’ve been teaching and training women and exercising myself for quite some time. In my experience, I have seen what a vital role nutrition plays in reaching goals, in particular, my personal goals.
Before opening my own studio, I worked with a coach and started counting macros early in 2022. Along with strength training, I was tracking macros which helped me stay laser focused on eating more protein, balanced with healthy fats and carbohydrates. As a result, I have seen more changes in my body physically and more muscle definition than all the years prior with simply counting calories or just trying to eat “good.”
It’s not that I’ve been working harder, but I’d like to say I’ve been working smarter!
Nothing about my journey has been perfect. In fact, I’ve probably learned the most from the mistakes I’ve made along the way. I’ve made a lot of mental shifts with how I view food.
For many years, I was stuck in that dieter’s mentality. I would eat “good” during the week, then after a weekend of indulging in pizza with my family or getting ice cream with my kids, I was flooded with guilt and with shame, and I would tell myself, “I’ll start eating clean again on Monday.” So either I would avoid eating out with them altogether, or I would eat something and feel lousy or like I “cheated” just because I enjoyed a treat.
What was I teaching my kids? And how was I setting an example for my clients? It’s all about moderation, right? I didn’t want my kids to feel like eating some of their favorite foods was “cheating” or necessarily “bad.”
Enter macros!
Tracking macros has given me more flexibility! Focusing on macros has helped teach me moderation. It's also the first time in my life I have truly focused on maintaining my weight without constantly feeling like I need to "cut" calories. I feel fueled for my workouts, but also fueled for my family. I have the flexibility to enjoy my favorite foods from time to time without the guilt and the shame.
At maintenance, I’ve been able to build muscle and maximize my time lifting weights. Having adequate energy helps me feel stronger to lift heavier, and for the first time in my life, do a chin-up!
So that spark God lit in me so long ago just keeps igniting! Not only do I want to train women in the gym, but I want to teach women how macro counting can help them reach their fitness goals, too! I want to show women that you can reach your fitness goals without giving up the foods you love!
In other words, you can have your cake and eat it, too!