Fit & Fine: Kendra Williams

Age: 37

Occupation: Keto Coach

Education: Clear Lake High School , Texas Southern University

Major: Business Management

Motto: “Happiness is a choice.”

Unknown facts:

• Though my passion is fitness, I yearn to be a journalist. I love storytelling and expressing my thoughts in a direct way. On paper, my words are intriguing and heartfelt, with a splash of me, spice.
• I am a lover of birds. Cardinals and blue jays are my favorite. I’ve been a bird watcher for several years.

Fitness start: “I was overweight, miserable and I needed change. I started keto because I have PCOS, polycystic ovary syndrome. It’s a hormone disorder that has many symptoms, but the most common; irregular cycles, obesity, infertility, facial hair, and insulin resistance. I wanted to have children, but I wanted to lose weight too. I did more research and found that keto helped with all of my terrible symptoms. I lost weight, got pregnant (4 times) and my cycles were flourishing. In high school, I was told that I’d never had children, they were so wrong. I wrote a book about my experiences with keto, opened a Houston-based office and here I am today, a successful keto coach. I’ve coached over 5,000 people and have helped over 300 women have beautiful babies.”

Fitness advice:

1. Identify your “why”, “what” and “how” so you can be clear about your goals. Be sure to write them down and update them as you reach each goal. Be consistent.
2. Start slowly. 30-minute workouts, 3 times a week, are very realistic for a beginner. Just start.
3. Find a support group or a supportive partner to help you stay on track. Only keep positive people around you who want to see you win.
4. Plan or you will fail. Meal prep, plan social events around your eating regimen, eat before leaving your house, cook for yourself, etc.

Top 3 fitness tips:

• Lift an appropriate amount of weight. Start with a weight you can lift comfortably. You are not competing with anyone. Take your time. Utilize free outlets like Youtube, Pinterest, etc., to find different routines if you are a beginner.
• Jump roping, jogging, brisk walks, walking your local trail… It doesn’t matter what you do, just get moving daily. It all counts.
• Lunges will change your life! It tones your body, especially your core, glutes, and legs. Do them daily at home, you will notice a difference.

Social Media:

IG: @blackketogirl

Website: www.blackketogirl.com

Nutrition: Intermittent fasting is my way of living. You are what you eat.

“Intermittent fasting is my way of living. I only eat 1-2 meals per day, based on my appetite. It is so healing and has cured my food addition along with improving my blood pressure, weight loss, PCOS and hyperpigmentation. Typically I have black coffee in the morning or hot tea. For lunch, I continue fasting until hunger arises. By dinner, my appetite is ravishing. I will have a spinach smoothie with tons of healthy fats, along with stuffed salmon, a green salad and tons of healthy fats like, avocado, olive or MCT oil.”

“The keto diet is a high fat, moderate protein diet that is limited to 20g of carbs per day. This allows your body to step into ketosis and you start to use body fat as your fuel vs carbs and sugar. I am a fat-burning machine that is NEVER hungry. The best advice, seek therapy to learn why you are fighting food addiction. Is it stress? Sadness? Work-related? Depression? There is always a reason why we can not make the best food choices. Seek help. Once you are able to know why then the work of making the best food choices comes into play. Choose you and never allow yourself to makes excuses. Also, know that are human and perfection should never be the goal. Take your journey slowly and always allow yourself grace.”

Physical: If you are eating poorly, what you do in the gym will not matter.

“The biggest workout mistakes that people make are not knowing that abs are not made in the gym, they are made in the kitchen. You are what you eat. Most times we feel if we slave in the gym, we will pop up with the body we desire. Wrong. If you are eating poorly, what you do in the gym will not matter. Eat healthy, based on hunger only, along with the gym, and yes, you will slowly gain the body goals of your dreams.”

“Weight lifting. Cardio is great, but focusing on cardio to gain the body of your dreams, slows down the process. If you have a high body fat %, weight lifting in the process, you can “snap” your skin back as much as possible to avoid skin removal surgery.”

Mental: When you do what you love, balance comes naturally. Happily.

“Living a ketogenic lifestyle creates balance in itself. Having lost over 120+ pounds, I had to figure out a way to ensure that I could create a family and work environment that would not allow me to gain the weight back. I work from home so my life revolves around keto. Though my children are not keto, they are very familiar with it. Socially, I eat keto while out still educated those around me, gaining clients, and changing the minds of non-believers. And work-wise, I breathe keto talking to women and men around the world. When you do what you love, balance comes naturally. Happily.”

“My clients motive me. They inspire me to not only make the best choices for myself but also give me the confidence to create change within the keto community. The hardest part of my journey is staying confident and stern within my craft. Keto is shamed upon daily and it’s exhausting defending it, but it’s so worth it. My clients are healing, mentally and physically through the foods they eat. That in itself is extremely motivating.

Spiritual: Speak to whomever your higher power is and you will always have direction.

“I take time daily for myself, mentally. I create 30-45 minutes of “me” time to speak positivity into myself. To be thankful, grateful, and blessed for how far I’ve come within my food addition journey. “Me” time is a must or my mind would be a war zone. You must take time for yourself to weed out your thoughts. Speak to whomever your higher power is and you will always have direction.”