Health Coach | Speaker | Writer | Welcome to my digital diary! I'm here to help you blend life & fitness to find your health & happy! Thank you for being part of my family & allowing me to add value to your journey!
When Cardi B said, “I gave you more than I gave myself. So loyal to you that I betrayed myself.” I felt that…
Deep shiz reflections & life feels lately
I’m in such a wonderful place in life. I give gratitude every day for this privilege. This growth. I prayed for it.
How many times have you betrayed yourself because you were giving more to other people or your personal issues & limiting beliefs?
I understand how changing myself to please others or validation attracted all the wrong things that I needed to figure out all the right things. I know if I can’t be my raw, authentic, no filter, little weirdo self around someone it’s not meant for me.
Maybe it’s disordered eating
Maybe it’s that toxic relationship
Maybe it’s that job you hate
Maybe it’s drinking too much
Maybe it’s negative self talk
Maybe it’s stagnation & fear
Maybe it’s a scarcity mindset
Maybe it’s as simple as too much coffee🙋🏼♀️ (I’m trying 😆)
I’ve been in an abusive, obsessive relationship with all of these at one time or another in my 41 years.
What helped me? Journaling & getting real. Falling on my face. Failing. Spending time alone. Finally getting a place of my own that I LOVE. Stepping into my worth. Focusing on being the person that I would like to be with.
Knowing I don’t have to be in a relationship to be happy or more worthy. But knowing I’d really like to find a special someone to live life with that looks at me the same way I look at them.
Look for beautiful people & places that quiet your soul. Not just beautiful people & places.
I love my family & small circle.
We may not like or see each other every day but I’m grateful to know that I have a forever home to go to whenever I want & that’s wherever my people are. It’s wherever I am.
When we show up fully & completely as ourselves, content with where we’re at, being fully present & conscious in the moment, listening attentively, showing love & respect, practicing gratitude — we attract more love, positivity, & abundance into our lives & expand those feelings to others.
It took me a long time to learn that what society deems as “beautiful” people & places are common.
Hell, nowadays all you need is a good filter & just the right angle. You can’t build anything with beauty alone.
I prefer the REAL good stuff. The stuff that stings a lil bit. The ones with scars that tell a story. The places with history & character.
I had a client tell me she just wanted to be told she was beautiful. I teared up, I understood exactly how she felt.
I explained to her the difference between a beautiful person & person who was simply beautiful.
Yeah, it’s nice to be told you’re beautiful or hot or whatever, but I’d much rather hear someone say that I made things easier.
That they’re happy because I exist.
That I’m strong, & smart, & able.
That their life is better with me in it.
That they’re proud of me.
That they value what I bring to the table.
Be a person who is complimented on more than just appearance.
I’ve disclosed to close friends & coaching clients that I battled bulimia & body dysmorphia since the age of 8.
It started with a scarcity mindset around food. I was the “fat” girl in class & “bigger” than my brothers. Kids in my class were cruel & mean.
As I got into middle school & adulthood it exacerbated into full blown bulimia with bouts of anorexia.
Life was bleak & I KNEW I was 50 shades of F*cked up. I knew I had to stop or I was gonna die because of my disorder &/or my Crohn’s disease complications.
With this blog post, I’d rather focus on the healing part than rehashing the past. Grateful it made me who I am so I can now help you.
In a way, I’ve purposely avoided sharing TOO much about my pre-recovery story because it can horribly backfire.
Those in the pre-contemplation or contemplation stages of change can hear these stories & think, “I’m not sick enough to get help,” “I don’t have a problem,” or “She was far worse than I am.” or even get ideas to further deepen the dark relationship with food, exercise, & self hate.
But when carefully crafted, these stories can be the very propellant that pushes someone into taking action.
The reality is, millions of people, right now, are living the secret life I once was as they battle disordered eating & body dysmorphia.
May my story instill the hope that you, too, cannot only recover but take back your power!
The Beginning
My relationship with disordered eating & poor body image started when I was just 8.
I spent the majority of my childhood & early adulthood overweight & unhealthy. Had a middle school teacher tell me I was too big to be a cheerleader at tryouts.
Kids were cruel, calling me names like lambchop because I had big 80’s hair & even thicker thighs.
My disorder began with overeating & then restricting to punish myself. I’d skip breakfast & barely eat lunch which I’d “allow” myself sugar free jello, a small travel size cottage cheese & 5 Ritz crackers.
My stomach would growl. I remember being embarrassed if the classroom was quiet enough for others to hear. Inevitably, I’d return home in the afternoon absolutely ravenous & binge on cookies, candy, cereal, chips, & junk food.
These episodes got more & more out of control. I continued eating less during the day, binging at night & sometimes I’d take cold medicine to make me sleep to keep from eating.
Years passed, & my eating habits fluctuated. I had never considered throwing up until I saw a Lifetime movie about a girl who had bulimia.
The process seemed easy. Eat whatever you want, throw up. The first time I purged was in middle school after eating a tub of ice cream.
Bulimia became a sort of coping mechanism for me. I told myself my obsession with diets & exercise were normal. It was about control. I was dealing with increased stress: school, college, & later on, relationships, a failed marriage on top of debt & drinking too much.
There were many things in my life I felt I wasn’t able to manage. I’d binge & get a rush. Then I’d get an even bigger, better rush after getting rid of it all.
12 Years Old: Barely Average
In so many ways, I guess I was an average midwest farmer’s daughter, pre-teen girl growing up in the 90s.
I played catcher, 3rd base & outfield in softball & threw shot put in track. After being criticized for going out for cheerleading being “my size,” I was mortified & self hate thickened.
I idolized Britney Spears & wished I was liked enough to be invited to the popular girls’ parties. I had boy crushes & a very small circle of friends. I was the smart girl & quiet & extremely insecure. I didn’t dress “cool” like all the pretty girls or athletes. I was awkward af. (hell I’m still awkward af 😂)
Then, one day, I did something not so average. Something I’d never done or known anyone who had but recently learned about from a boy at school.
I wish I could say I went home & masturbated, but that would be an untruth. Instead, I did something that felt extra perverse. I made myself vomit after eating.
Yes, I thought. This would make me skinnier faster & then I’d be liked.
I swore it would just be this one time. I’d just try it.
See, for about a year up to that point, I’d struggled with binge eating and fantasized about food because I allowed myself so little. My body starving, I’d gorge.
I just needed a single “fix” of ice cream or cake or cookies, and then I’d be good to go.
But then it happened again. And again. And again.
In no time at all, I met the diagnostic criteria for bulimia nervosa.
We always had junk food & snacks at home, so despite eating large quantities, my mom or siblings never grew suspicious. I also purged when no one was home to eliminate any risk of them finding out.
Bulimia had become my dirty little secret. A secret, unbeknownst to me at the time, I would carry for another 20+ years.
12–17 Years Old: Popularity and Pleading
Part of what fueled my eating disorder was my insatiable need to have something most every kid my age wanted: popularity.
My theory went as such: restrict food > be thin > get more friends/a boyfriend.
I went through many school days with only nibbles of food in my belly. If I had gym or farm chores in the evening, I ate a little extra so I could basically not pass out.
I wound up bingeing and purging when I got home because starving myself intensified the urge to eat uncontrollably. I could smash whole boxes of cereal, cheese nips, & goldfish.
All the while, I portrayed myself as the nice girl, the smart girl. I never reached Homecoming Queen nominee status, but I did bounce around between multiple friend groups. I got along with everyone.
I was in the honors society, president of the FFA & 4H, top part of my graduating class & received numerous scholarships to Purdue University.
I had duped everyone — even myself, at times — into thinking I was “normal.”
But no one saw me crying in the shower because I was so sick and scared or throwing up my food after every social gathering.
No one saw me looking at my reflection in the mirror and telling myself how hideous, fat, and worthless I was.
No one saw me keeled over after purging, pleading with God to forgive me for my gluttonous, grotesque behavior.
After every episode, I swore to higher power that it would be the last. Tears streaming down my face, I begged for God to not to give up on me. But week after week, month after month, year after year, the scene kept replaying.
18–22 Years Old: A Not So New Chapter
In August of 2000 I moved into my dorm freshman year & then participated in sorority rush.
I joined as a sister of Delta Gamma at Purdue University. Perhaps this — and my new life in college, in general — could be a chance to begin again.
Unfortunately, my keenness outweighed my hopefulness. I quickly learned my roommates’ schedules and when I could be alone with my behaviors.
But after a couple instances of them arriving home early or not leaving at their normal times, I realized I wasn’t guaranteed any solitude.
I secretly ate in my bedroom, blarring music to conceal the purging. They overheard on more than one occasion, and I either blamed it on being sick or hungover.
Swollen lymph nodes, puffy cheeks, and blood-shot eyes. A broken-out chin and sores on my lips from the stomach acid that often coated them.
WTF was I doing?
Still, I carried on as a social butterfly. Like my friends, I went to parties, took shots of God awful cheap tequila & vodka, and ate fourth meal at 1 a.m.
Unlike my friends, I made myself pay for it. I could easily down a super size fry & 20 piece chicken nugget meal from McDonalds. I could eat a whole box of Mad Mushroom Cheese sticks.
To make matters worse, at 22, I married my college sweetheart, not even knowing myself. I couldn’t love myself, How could I love another? My first marriage lasted 6 years, we were together 11 total. That post divorce hoe phase is real y’all 😂 let me tell ya. Added fuel to the fire.
In retrospect, my life hadn’t changed much at all in college. It was still an endless stream of lies, deception, self-hatred, and suffering.
What’s more, I’d completely lost sight of who the real me even was anymore & that continued well into my late 20’s & early 30’s.
41 Year Old: Current Flexible Carnivore Me
“My Fitness Journey” started at the age of 8. I started my Instagram over 10 years ago & that has been one helluva transformation story all on its own. I don’t even know how it happened but I feel it’s important for you guys to know the person behind the Instagram handle.
I wanted to share my fitness, health, & healing journey with y’all because it’s similar to many of yours. I want you guys to know you’re not alone, you’re seen, & you’re heard.
Before I started sharing my story, meals, fitness tips or acting like I know “everything” about “healthy” living, it’s important to share I am not a therapist, a doctor, or the best trainer of any sorts, yet, I am a person who lost a significant amount of weight, kept it off & has dedicated her life to living a healthy lifestyle & forgiving herself of her mistakes.
I’ve overcome decades of gut issues. Physical & mental hurdles. ⁃ Crohn’s disease ⁃ cervical cancer & infertility ⁃ numerous other health issues including renal stones & having my gallbladder out ⁃ decades of disordered eating, bulimia, orthorexia, & food addiction ⁃ managing Crohn’s & being a Crossfit athlete ⁃ managing social pressures of being told I needed to eat, workout, live, & BE a certain way to be “significant” & fit in a certain box
Some of you have watched & have been there for my journey since the beginning, while others are reading about this for the first time.
To put it out there plain & simple though, I’ve lost 60 lbs over my lifetime & transformed my body to all different shapes & sizes.
While that may not seem like a huge or significant feat to some, on my petite 5’1 frame – the transformations have been huge, mentally, physically, relationally, & spiritually.
Throughout my whole journey, my heaviest was 160 lbs at barely 5ft tall & my lowest in my adult life has been 97 lbs.
I’ve had ups, downs, I’ve gained, I’ve lost & learned a whole lotta life lessons along the way. My journey started at 8 years old, I’m 41 years young now, will be 42 in July, & the best is yet to come!
Everyone’s journey is different & this is mine… I hope it can help you in any way possible & know my door is always open.
Join my Newsletter Community! I’d love to share & grow with you! It’s a weekly newsletter full of ideas to help you become the most EXTRAordinary version of you!
Age [Whatever You Are, Doesn’t Matter]: YOUR Moment
Whether you’ve been secretly battling an eating disorder for a few months or 50 years, I want to make 3 things very clear:
You are sick enough You deserve help You can’t do it alone Sadly, there are thousands upon thousands of eating disorder stories like mine, but each one is still different. Some cases are more severe, some less. But that’s all irrelevant.
What matters is knowing, at your core, you have an unnatural or undesirable relationship with food. That realization, alone, warrants getting help.
It doesn’t matter how much you’re restricting, what you weigh, how often you’re purging, or how much you’re bingeing. Yes, certain factors will determine the level of treatment you need, but you deserve help, regardless.
The first step is saying something. Is there someone who’s been there for you when you confided in them about other personal matters? Someone who exudes kindness & compassion?
I hope you can also learn from my experience and not hold out for a wake-up call or a feeling of readiness to tell someone. If you do, you may never get the chance.
As long as a piece of you recognizes there is a problem and wants something different, you are ready to start your new life & begin again! Who you are with your eating disorder is not who you are destined to be.
You can heal yourself.
You can find yourself.
You can be the version of yourself you wish for you and the rest of the world to see!
So you tried low carb, keto, maybe dabbled in some carnivore too & now you’re ready to add some carbs back in…
Yikes, right?!
It’s normal to be a little scared & anxious after seeing results on a low carb approach to your nutrition, but feeling you need to switch things up.
I’ve felt that too! But after pushing through the fear & embracing more vibrational, functional eating, you’ll strengthen your trust muscle with each experience & season of experimentation! It’ll help you find your sustainable lifestyle approach to look & feel your best!
Y’all know I’m an advocate for meat-based, protein-focused nutrition for my Crohn’s & health preferences if you’ve been here a while. If you’re new, WELCOME! Pumped to have you here in this safe space of love, wellness, & learning!
I’ve lost 60lbs & put my bulimia & Crohn’s disease in med-free remission via a flexible carnivore diet approach & kept it off for over 4 years!
Tap photo for a blog guide I documented just for you on how I lose the weight & gained health!
Y’all should also embrace that nutrition isn’t one size fits all! I fully support a no diet dogma approach & support trying new things to find YOUR WAY.
So say low carb worked short term, maybe you lost a few lbs, maybe you tried it for a reset, a medical condition — whatever.
For most, yes, you’ll lose weight initially, primarily because of water loss & more food awareness (quality & quantity). Most don’t stick with the low carb/keto/carnivore diet long-term unless they’re on it for a specific reason or it fits their lifestyle/preferences appropriately. That’s ok too!
The most common reason people fail to stick to any diet regimen: “real life” & social situations ends up “getting in the way.” Adherence & consistency are the keys to any success plan. 🤷♀️You ultimately make the decision to stick to your commitments to yourself or not.
You can incorporate carb cycling just like you incorporate fat cycling, it’s the same concept just utilizing a different macro as a fuel source. I have a blogs on resetting your insulin & leptin resistancehere and specifically how to carb & fat cyclehere.
Regardless of why you stop, there are things to know to help ease your transition.
You can save this post on Instagram here!
MAIN POINTS
1.) Have a plan
2.) Get familiar with portion sizes
3.) The order you eat your food matters
4.) Focus on whole foods over processed
5.) Go slow
6.) Expect fluctuations
Things I believe in no matter what diet:
NO diet dogma & eating for HEALTH
Cyclical, seasonal eating
Quality, Quantity, When, & What you eat matter
Variety & nutrient density
Eating for efficient digestion & absorption
Experimentation & fun = learning & results!
Optimal protein centric meals
Eating for strength, health, & functionality
Loving your life & being kind to others!
Self love living + an abundance mindset!
Take it slow, you got this! No need to exclude or be dogmatic about any food choices or diet as long as they help you be your best!
Here are some more gut friendly, gluten free, low fiber, low fodmap options that worked for me.
Great options for pre or post workout carbs. I keep mine post workout in the form of plain rice cakes mainly if I feel I need a carb refuel after heavy training or high intensity cross training or cardio. These tend to be easy on the stomach with minimal bloating & gut issues for most.
Let’s dive in further!
Regardless of why, there are some things to know to help ease your transition.
1.) Have a realistic plan
One of the biggest problems with dieting altogether — lack of clarity/planning. Most people end up falling back into bad habits. What’s your why? What’s sustainable & realistic for you? What’s your relationship with food, self-awareness, and your body image? Your story matters & your results hinge on all of these details.
2.) Assess portion sizes
Quantity, quality, when & what you eat all matter. With any form of restriction, especially carbs, once you allow them, you’re more likely to go ham. Make sure you’re a moderator (not an abstainer) & comfortable & ready to add them back in. Measure & weigh your portions! Check nutrition labels for anything you’re sensitive to.
It’s all about balancing blood sugar. Food order & when you eat matter. Sugar & carbs spike your blood sugar more than any other macro (protein & fats are the other 2 macros).
Tips:
Don’t eat your carbs naked (by themselves): pair them with a protein like ground beef or grilled chicken or a fat of your choosing like bacon fat, butter, or a nut butter if you aren’t sensitive to those. It acts as a buffer & slows your blood sugar spike. If you can eat fiber & non starchy veggies, these will help buffer the spike as well, but not as efficiently as protein & fats.
Examples: white rice & butter & ground beef, rice cake & peanut butter, grilled chicken and sweet potato, etc.
When eating a meal, eat your protein & fat first, veggies if you eat them next, then your starchy carbs. You’re less likely to overeat as well because protein & fats are more satiating.
I time my carbs if I’m going to eat them after my workouts. That’s when I refuel my body & it uses the carbs more efficiently vs storing them as body fat. Also reduces your cortisol levels & helps with recovery. Choose sources that serve you best mentally & physically. I personally avoid anything treat-like or sugary, including fruit to prevent binge eating tendencies & gut issues. High fiber, fruits & veggies, & sugar are huge gut irritants for me. You may be able to eat them and that’s ok! Do you!
3.) Quality Matters
Rather than going straight for processed options like chips, pasta, doughnuts, & cupcakes, go for whole-food, non-starchy vegetables first like your greens, then white rice, potatoes, gf oats, fruit, etc. Again, choose things that are not physical or mental triggers for you.
4.) Go Slow
Keep it easy on your GI system: choose gluten free, cook food thoroughly, & go low fodmap if you’re one that struggles with any G.I. distress. Start with adding carbs in at 1 meal/d for a few weeks & assess how you respond. If you’re good, add a serving into another meal. White rice is usually a safer, gut friendly option.
5.) Expect Fluctuations
You might have weight & blood sugar fluctuations — it depends on how your body metabolizes carbs, your diet, exercise, etc. Much of the weight changes are water weight initially. Pair carbs with protein & fat to help control those blood sugar spikes. With every gram of carb, you get 4g of water. Bloating & constipation could happen because of the re-introduction of fibrous foods, drink your water! You may have more energy or less. You might feel hungrier. Again, we’re all bio individually different. Have patience.
Supplements to Help With Carb + Nutrient Utilization & Body Goals
I was tired of struggling with post-meal blood sugar spikes when eating carbs and grappling with insulin sensitivity issues. NuEthix Formulations has a wonderful profuct, Slin-Trol™, the glucose disposal agent designed to assist your approach to managing blood sugar levels.
Slin-Trol™ enhances your body’s ability to efficiently utilize glucose, ensuring it is directed towards muscle cells rather than being stored as fat.
DIRECTIONS: As A Dietary Supplement, Take 1 Tablet With Carb Containing Meals To Improve The Nutrient Partitioning Of The Meal And To Possibly Minimize Fat Storage.
I take mine prior to my largest meals & walk 10-15 minutes after eating for better digestion.
Utilyze is a dietary supplement designed to support digestive wellness and nutrient absorption.
It contains a blend of digestive enzymes that target the breakdown of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates in the body, which can improve overall digestive function and help with nutrient absorption.
Utilyze comes in convenient travel packets and aims to support overall health and wellness through improved digestion. This supplement is gluten-free, non-GMO, and suitable for adults of all ages.
DIRECTIONS: As A Dietary Supplement Take 1 Packet With Larger Meals 2 To 3 Times A Day.
Cort-Eaze is a natural supplement designed to help with stress and anxiety relief. It contains a blend of herbs and nutrients that work together to promote a healthy stress response and support adrenal function. I use it for recovery & cortisol balance, which can affect your sleep, digestion & ability to build muscle & lose fat.
Some of the key ingredients in Cort-Eaze include ashwagandha, rhodiola, holy basil, and magnesium, all of which have been shown to help reduce cortisol levels and support overall mental and physical well-being.
DIRECTIONS: Take Two Capsules Daily. I take mine post workout & before bed. One post workout & one before bed.
Helpful Educational Resources
Fabulous book on protein focused, anti-aging nutrition!
EXCELLENT article on food sequencing and balancing blood sugar here
Take-Home Message
Watching glucose spikes is particularly important if you have diabetes or a handful of other medical conditions. Your treating doctor or dietitian will advise how to modify your meals or food intake to avoid glucose spikes. Food ordering & timing may be part of that advice.
For anyone wanting to live a healthier, leaner, stronger life, consider removing sugary beverages & foods, processed food, & focusing on protein/meat-based foods as the foundation of your meals. Add fiber, proteins or fats to carbohydrates to slow gastric emptying and flatten glucose spikes. Walk 10-15 after meals & shoot for 10k steps per day. Lift 3-4x per week and watch your body & well being change!
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One mindshift allowed me to finally lose weight after 3 decades of trying & failing…
In the last 30+ years, I quit binging on carbs & sugar so many times, but I always went back to it. Sometimes it took 1 week. Sometimes I resisted for as long as 3 months. But I always broke my promise. I ended up getting bigger & bigger & sicker & sicker every year. Veggies & fruit & even foods I thought were “healthy” killed my gut & caused my Crohn’s to flare.
Losing weight can be a daunting task, especially when we think about the sacrifices we have to make to reach our goal weight. However, making tiny changes in our daily routine can result in significant weight loss without having to make drastic changes to our lifestyle.
The mindshift that helped me: “You need to be okay with failure to succeed”
I’ve heard this many times but it didn’t click with me until my healing & fat loss journey “plan” finally worked.
This is not just about weight loss. When you expect results right away & get dependent on them, failure to reach them in a certain time frame frustrates you & throws you off your goal.
The solution to this problem is to be okay with the possibility of not reaching the goal. It is to be invested in the process & the other benefits of doing the work.
When you stop obsessing about the result, it magically appears!
How I’ve been able to build muscle & maintain my weight loss working 40+ hours a week at 40+
I maintain the same habits & commitments to myself as when I was losing weight because I want to be the healthiest, happiest, & strongest version I can be. I’ve made fitness my lifestyle.
I don’t let the scale determine my success or worth. I know it will fluctuate naturally with sleep, stress, food intake, hydration, workouts, etc. I do not cut food & punish myself when it goes up. I stay consistent with my plan & take it simply as data to help me.
I prioritize health & how I feel with food, workouts, & movement. My mindset determines my reality. I know I cannot hate myself thin, happy, strong, successful, & fulfilled. You have to diet & live from the inside out. Being active & strength training are always priorities no matter what age or season I’m in.
I am patient & consistent af. I know body change & healing take time. I leave room for flexibility. I do not cheat, earn, or burn my food. It is fuel, not a treat. I don’t do rules, I do what feels right.
What I eat about every day!
Your Super Simple 5 Step Blueprint
1. Prioritize Walking: you can make a lot of progress by simply walking more. Aim to take at least 10,000 steps each day.
2. Prioritize Protein: eating is where most people struggle when trying to lose weight. You can simplify your nutrition strategy. In every meal, prioritize protein. I shoot for at least 40-60g per meal.
3. Prioritize Whole Foods: building on the last point, eat nourishing, whole foods 80-90% of the time. These are foods that aren’t processed & don’t come in a package. READ YOUR LABELS! The less ingredients the better.
4. Lift Weights at least 3 x Per Week: lifting weights is crucial whether your goal is muscle gain or fat loss. Lifting weights increases metabolic efficiency and muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn on a daily basis. Lifting weights also increases excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which means you keep burning calories even after you’re done exercising.
5. Prioritize Sleep: there’s no shortage of research showing a lack of sleep can lead to fat gain and hinder our ability to increase our muscle mass. Ways to improve your sleep quality: morning light exposure, keep caffeine in the am, avoid eating late, keep a consistent sleep schedule, create a calm, dark, cool environment, limit electronics
Strength Training as a Newbie Tips
As a beginner, you’re obviously not going to be pushing as much weight as someone more advanced. When I started CrossFit, my coaches started me of with less reps & lighter weights, focusing on the basics & proper form first.
I had to drop down to much lower weights than when I was at the peak of my more competitive CrossFit days & times when I took a break from heavier/more frequent training due to work & life stuff.
Devoting 20 minutes 3 x per week — or 10-15 minutes a couple times a day works too. Start somewhere & build from there in terms of weights, frequency & intensity.
Pro Tip: invest in a quality trainer or group fitness program. They will show you how to use equipment & movement with proper form as well as workout routines. Utilize YouTube for workout videos & education at home. Tons of home workouts programs are available nowadays with minimal equipment & cost.
Best Time To Workout?
Choose a time you’ll actually get yo ass to the gym. There’s no magic time. Some days you may need to be flexible, it’s called life. Being a creature of habit & routine will help with consistency.
Once afternoon strikes, my motivation to get to the gym is next to nothing. I prefer 5am or 10am depending on work.
This obviously varies from person to person as all of our lifestyles are different. But as I tell clients, “workout time is sacred time”. If you’re committed to it, you need to find a way to get it done.
Pro Tip: Start every morning with movement. Go for a walk, do mobility — something. Set out your workout clothes or sleep in them. You literally just have to roll out of bed & go. Split up your workouts into 2-3 mini sessions if you dread long sessions. Instead of doing 1 long workout, do 3, 10 minute workouts. It’s easier to make small simple commitments to yourself.
Realize Lack of Fitness Is An Emotional Issue
My job as a coach & mentor is to get my clients to “feel” like improving. To “feel” like doing the things they need to do to be their best. That might be working out in the morning, eating more protein, eating MORE, staying off the scales, working out less, nixing the negative self talk, etc. Binge eating especially comes from restriction with food & self worth – body, mind, & spirit.
It’s why people continue smoking when they know the risks. Why people overeat when they know it’s taking years off their life, why people would rather binge Netflix all day than go walk.
Humans seek short-term pleasures over long-term rewards. Most things worth doing take time to pay off. Most things that get you into trouble feel comfortable in the short-term. But until you “feel” like changing, long-term progress won’t happen.
Goals are great. They’re like the north star on a map. But the whole point of goal setting is to develop the habits & routines along the way to create a lifestyle.
Adherence & Consistency Are More Important Than The Details of the Training or Nutrition Plan.
I remember my first few years of work as a nutrition & CrossFit coach vividly. We could have the most “perfect” program, I could give the best advice I could. Then…the clients didn’t show up. They didn’t do the work. And they continually fell off the wagon. It doesn’t matter how good the plan is, if you don’t do it, you’re not going to improve.
Or as Joe Defranco says “a poor program done perfectly, is better than a perfect program done poorly.”
Dan John, a favorite of mine in the strength & conditioning world, has a catchphrase “Little & often over the long haul.” It’s not about how hard you can train today, how many times you train for the week, or even the month. It’s about showing up today & again tomorrow & the next day & repeat this lifestyle for years on end.
Movement, The Power of Words, & Accountability Are Important
Very few people wouldn’t benefit by taking more steps. Get up to 10,000 as a goal. I prefer to break this up into 2–3 smaller walks during the day. You might prefer one long one. It doesn’t matter, just get those steps in.
Take the word “might” out of your vocab & switch “have to” to “get to.” My pet peeve is when clients say “I might get to the gym tomorrow.” Or “I’ll try & eat good today.” They’re giving themselves an out, not committing. Don’t give yourself the option. Do you have to train at the gym or do you get to?
Group training & accountability make exercise more enjoyable, more efficient & produce greater results for most. Gyms like CrossFit, Spin, Orange Theory, & F45 have nailed what makes fitness more enjoyable.
Go through hell together & laugh about it afterwards. Or more simply: train, laugh & repeat.
Aesthetics are the By-Product of Quality Training, Nutrition, & Health.
The physical follows the physiological, target health first. Aesthetics shouldn’t be your focus. Yes, looking better naked makes us feel good. But that shouldn’t be the focus of your training/diet unless you’re an elite bodybuilder. Longevity & a sustainable lifestyle lean should be placed at the pentacle.
I’ve also seen far more “aesthetically-minded” clients get burned out, fall to binge eating, & stop training altogether than I do with “performance & longevity-minded” clients.
When your sole focus is on how you look in the mirror or the reading on the bathroom scales. You lose hope when it doesn’t change & often develop an unhealthy relationship with food and fitness.
Pick some performance goals. Let’s say a 2-mile run, max pull-ups & increasing your back squat. If you improve your performance on these 3, your body will look better, I promise you that.
Final Thoughts
Create your own framework & system for success! With all habits, developing them often comes down to mental hurdles.
Your body is the reflection of inputs & outputs. If you fuel your body with healthy, balanced nutrition & stress it with strength training, it will adapt appropriately.
Before we dive into fat & carb cycling for fat loss on any diet (especially a carnivore/keto/low carb approach) lets reiterate WHY your story & food/dieting/health history matter when it comes to experiences & results.
There’s no shame in the main reason most people choose the Carnivore Diet & a low carb approach because they want fat loss. That’s fine, we all wanna look good nekkid. The difference lies in our starting point: calorically, metabolically, hormonally, physiologically, mentally, emotionally – HOLISTICALLY. This stands for any diet.
We should approach any diet from a health & healing perspective, first, aesthetic perspective, second.
Your Story & Starting Point MatterSignificantly When It Comes To Results.
You’ll hear me say it time and time again, we are all coming from 50 shades of our own dieting f*cked upness. LOL!
Some of us come from eating the SAD (Standard American Diet), some have been dieting basically our entire lives & still think 1200 calories is the magic number for weight loss.
Some fear fat, some fear carbs, some are binge eating &/or suffering from disordered eating & still in denial.
Some come from Keto (High Fat Diet), some have been struggling with gut issues/autoimmune stuff for decades & really have no idea what they can eat.
All of these different stories & starting points impact the transition & adaptation to a diet. Some will lose fat immediately, some will gain.
I gained 15lbs when I started the carnivore diet! I needed to heal, I needed more calories, & the weight gained was most likely weight restoration to repair & recharge.
Was it uncomfortable? Absolutely.
Was it necessary for fat loss & progress? Absolutely. Have patience. Put in the time & work.
Things I need as a coach to help you figure out appropriate macros/diet/fitness approaches:Click for Coaching FAQ’s
Age, Current Weight, Height
Training modalities (how you prefer to workout. CrossFit vs running vs yoga vs Orange Theory vs walking vs Barre vs Bodybuilding vs power lifting etc)
That’s a LOT of stuff, right? It’s not as simple as simply picking a set of macros numbers, or calories, or a magic diet camp. You are not a template or calculator, you’re a human.
Usually I see two different stories, & thus experiences, when working with clients. We’ll call them Peter & Patty:
1. Peter
Peter is male, used to over consuming the typical SAD, dad bod (aka looks like he might lick something deemed “healthy” & work out occasionally but really loves tacos & would much rather smash a 6 pack vs have a 6 pack). Simply eating meat & cutting out all the other crap significantly reduces his caloric intake & the fat just falls off.
2. Patty
Patty is female, lets say 30-40yrs old, habitual yo-yo dieter, excessive exerciser, wants to lose fat & build muscle but doesn’t wanna be “bulky” (sigh smdh), scared to eat more than 1200-1500 calories & gaining weight is one of her biggest fears.
She’s tried every diet in the book. Had some success with “Keto” (doesn’t really know what keto means but she’s eating less carbs right?!) but always falls off the wagon, stressful home life/ job, struggled with bloating & gut issues for years. Her neighbor, Peter, looks great since carnivore, so she decides it’s gonna be the magic quick fix to all her issues.
Sooo Patty stops tracking food (because she was told it didn’t matter on the carnivore diet) & starts smashin all the bacon, ribeyes, cheese, ribs, & chicken wings. Her gut issues get better, the first week she dropped 3lbs, but now shes about 6 weeks in & hungry, tired, & the scale is going up! So she decided to start fasting more, & ups her steps to 20k/d. (Further stressing her body out more btw).
She gives it another month with more weight gain. She wants to quit after a couple months despite her gut issues resolving. It doesn’t work she says, “I didn’t lose weight.”
Reasons You May Be Gaining Weight or Bingeing on Carnivore/Low Carb Approach
You’re eating in a surplus. As with ANY diet you choose if you are eating in a surplus chances are you will put on body fat. It’s part of it. This is when you should be focusing on muscle gain & strength.
You’ve been eating in a chronic deficit & your body is finally getting the nutrients it needs to function & grow muscle. You WANT muscle growth. More muscle=more food=more badass. You can’t have the athletic body without building the muscle underneath FIRST. This weight gain is actually weight restoration.
You’re snacking too much on things like pork rinds, fat bombs, or fake keto sugar free junk like Atkins bars. They’re easy to overeat & nutrient deficient. Even no cal artificial sweeteners can trigger hunger, water retention, & over eating for many. Go back to the basics for a while & experiment. Simplify. Meat, eggs, water, coffee, electrolytes, minimal sweeteners. Get rid of the extra butter, creams, & oils on food & in coffee.
You’re choosing highly palatable meats & foods like ribeyes, bacon, cheese, butter, processed meats, brisket, etc. They are delicious, YES, but can trigger over eating when you’re not really hungry. It’s like when you’re not hungry but then they bring out dessert. Most of us will want that extra piece of cake. Choose foods that are satisfying & get the job done. My choice (FOR ME) is ground beef & ground chicken cooked in the air fryer. Delicious & satiating, but not so much I’m triggered to eat more for pleasure & not true hunger.
You’re overly fasting, overly training, not sleeping, still eating foods you don’t digest well, over caffeinating, &/or consuming excess alcohol. All these things are stressors which increases our blood glucose & cortisol level. Chronically high cortisol & hormone imbalances affect your weight, recovery, energy, & fat loss. Reduce your workout intensity & volume, SLEEP, reduce caffeine/alcohol, cut out foods & habits that hinder your digestion, shorten your fasting window or STOP fasting. Get a @nutrisenseio continuous glucose monitor to track blood sugar levels. It’s a wealth of information & will help you more accurately make adjustments! Code: lilbitoffitCGM10
This is what biofeedback means
You’re eating too much protein, throwing hormones & your biofeedback off. Try increasing your fats & start with protein around 1g per lb of body weight or goal weight if you have more to lose. Everyone’s ratio preferences/needs will be different. Remember our optimal energy sources come from fats & carbs, so if you’re experiencing low energy, play around with different kinds of meats & macro ratios. There’s no one-size-fits-all. If in doubt, invest in a coach or practitioner to help! Coaching FAQ’s are HERE
Left I gained 15lbs and got up to 125lbs, Right is more my aesthetic now, sitting around 105lbs at 5’1. 20lb weight loss, which didn’t start till around month 8 after starting a meat based diet. Have patience & learn as much as you can!
My story was similar to Patty’s.
I gained 15lbs when I started carnivore, gut issues completely went away, energy was all over the place the first 3-6 months, I didn’t track initially until about month 5 & was eating hyper-palatable meats & foods like chuck roasts, ribeyes, ribs, pork, bacon, & pork rinds. But I kept going and experimenting.
I started tracking. I noticed I was eating WAY MORE than I thought. I also noticed I was swelling & not digesting pork well so I eliminated it. I noticed I digested ground beef & chicken best & it was easier to track. I also noticed my fat threshold was lower, so I stopped adding butter & bacon grease to my already high fat meats, I stopped consuming cheese & only eat pork rinds on occasion.
Slowly my performance in the gym started getting better, about month 8 my weight started dropping, I was able to fast longer & was able to really feel & understand what true carnivore satiety felt like, I knew what meats worked best for me, I figured out what calories & macro ratios worked for me, & I discovered the airfryer was my best friend & meat bars were born! I have now lost 20lbs & feel better than I ever have 2 years carnivore!
SO HAVE PATIENCE! Adapt, gain confidence, & self awareness first before trying to mess around with fat loss cuts. Now, I experiment with fat cycling with fabulous results! It comes naturally & I listen to what my body is craving & how I’m feeling.
Fat & Carb Cycling
Before we get started, though, let’s get one thing out of the way, no diet dogma here, we’re neither pro-fat/carb cycling nor anti-fat/carb cycling.
We’re pro-sustainable & realistic results.
This is also my experience, I am not a physician & learning right along side of you! We’ll learn about:
What fat/carb cycling is
How cycling works
Who should try cycling
What is a common cycling strategy
Protein & Fat Cheat Sheets to help
What is Fat & Carb Cycling?
Fat & carb cycling is when you fluctuate days between eating lower fat meats & animal products & higher fat meats & animal products. For carbs, you simply eat more carbs one day & fewer other days. People who fat/carb cycle usually end up calorie cycling, too. This simply means they eat fewer calories on their “low fat or carb days” and more calories on their “high fat or carb days.”
For example, a typical fat cycling schedule might look like this:
Non-workout days: low fat, lower calorie
Workout days: high fat, higher calorie
Examples of how you can calorie cycle via changing your fat macros per day.
So you ask, “Why don’t we just eat low fat or lower our protein?” Well, to be frank, some “not so great” stuff can happen when you don’t get enough protein or fat.
For example, if your fat intake stays too low (& too low calorie), you may lose your menstrual cycle & your sex drive. And if your protein intake stays too low, you can lose muscle, be less satiated at meals, hungrier, & experience mood swings.
What Does Calorie Cycling Do? A Couple of the Big Rocks
Fat & carb cycling may help keep your metabolism functioning more optimally during fat loss. When you eat less, your body responds in a variety of ways. For example:
Your daily activity outside of workouts tends to decrease because you have less energy. You’ll find you move around less.
So as you lose weight, you have to continue reducing how much you eat in order to keep seeing results. You can only reduce calories so much.
Example: Let’s say you start a 2,000 calorie a day diet & lose weight steadily for a while. Over time, you might find that stops working. So you cut back to 1,800 calories to kickstart weight loss again, then you plateau, then you have to reduce to 1,600 & so on…
This is called metabolic adaptation. So all you chronic dieters out there that can’t lose weight & gain anytime you eat above 1200-1500 calories, this is what has happened. You must reverse diet to fix this.
2. Calorie cycling may help regulate hormones affected by fat loss.
Intense dieting messes with your hormones. Specifically: Leptin, Thyroid hormones, & Reproductive hormones (testosterone & estrogen)
If you’re trying to lose fat, leptin’s a particular concern. Leptin is released by fat tissue, & plays a key role in hunger & metabolic adaptation.
The more body fat you have, the more leptin in your blood. Your brain uses leptin levels to make decisions about hunger, calorie intake, nutrient absorption, & energy use. When you reduce calorie intake, even just for a few days, leptin levels drop. This tells your brain you need to eat to prevent starvation.
The kicker: Leptin is one of the reasons you feel so hungry & binge when you consistently eat less. It is also considered the “master controller” of other hormones, meaning that when leptin drops, so do thyroid & reproductive hormones.
So by periodically eating more calories from fats (known as a “refeed”), our leptin levels will temporarily rise, telling your brain that you’re safe & well-fed, causing a temporary decrease in hunger & appetite. The extra calories & energy will also help with performance.
This higher calorie break, might also make it feel easier to adhere to a lower calorie intake. As with any diet, consistency & adherence are key!
Optimizing hormone & metabolic health is essential for any body goal. Learn to work WITH your body not against it!
Who Should Try Fat CyclingSpecifically?
Fat cycling isn’t right for everyone, nor is it necessary of any kind of diet. But it can work for specific types of people.
Try it if:
You have your big rock habits nailed down & have ADAPTED FULLY to the carnivore /keto/low carb lifestyle
You eat nourishing meats & animal products, you’re eating at your maintenance calories, your gut health is good, sleep is great, exercise habits are routine, your relationship with food is great, you eat mindfully, no disordered eating or bingeing, etc.
You want to get leaner& have plateaued
As you diet & get leaner, your body will start to fight every last bit of fat loss. Cycling calorie & fat intake could help minimize the metabolic adaptation that often occurs with a chronic, ongoing calorie deficit. Plus, refeed days & cycling more food can make dieting suck less & easier to adhere to. Carb cycling can do the same thing for those of you who consume carbs & a more “balanced” plate approach.
Common Fat Loss & Dieting Strategies
Common Fat Cycling Strategies & What Has Worked For Me
There is no one size fits all here, again, you can choose any number of days to reduce your fat & calories depending on your needs.
There are many of us in the carnivore & low carb community experimenting with fat cycling. Which, as explained above, simply means cycling periods of days during the week that are leaner (eating lower fat proteins) with days of higher fats (more around your grams for maintenance calories). This naturally will lower your calories when you do this.
I feel its beneficial as a whole to cycle any kind of diet/fitness regimen. Our bodies are smart, they adapt to the same foods, workouts, & stressors.
I’ve found fat cycling to be helpful if you’ve plateaued on your fat loss journey or not seen any progress (again, your definition of progress will be different depending on your goal & needs) for several weeks.
This is very similar to carb cycling for those of you who follow a traditional diet which includes carbohydrates.
Red light therapy significantly helped my energy, sleep, digestion, & skin! It’s one of my favorite biohacking routines. Read all about it here!
I use an EMR TEK FIREWAVE red light. Discount code at checkout: lilbitoffit20
**As always, I am not a physician, always consult with your doctors before changing any kind of protocol, this is simply my experience.
My physique is leaner than it has ever been, weight has only fluctuated a couple lbs here & there but I find I wake around 100-105 lbs the majority of the time. I’m 41 yrs old, 5’1, 15k steps/d, active job in radiology, workout 5d/week doing a mix of Orange Theory, lifting, & occasional CrossFit. Protein stays ~130- 175gish (for ME), low fat day ~85-90g, high fat day ~135-150g. Calories range from ~1,550-2100+/d. Surplus/Refeed ~2,200. I always listen to my body and eat what I’m craving. I eat when I’m hungry and fast when I’m not.
For supplement support I Take GDA-Max, Utilyze, & Cort-Eaze from @nuethix_formulations to help with stressors for hormone balance. Discount Code: lilbitoffit
I’m happy with my physique where it is, so I know I need to make sure to cycle in more higher fat days (which means higher calories) if I find I’m too lean or losing too much weight/strength. Naturally I typically cycle 3-4 lower fat days, 2-3 maintenance days, & if I feel like I need more, I’ll throw in 1 surplus (refeed) day. It varies. I don’t have a set program & live vibrationally honoring my energy.
Favorite lower fat foods: 90% ground beef, Perdue ground chicken, shrimp, cod, & swai. My crispy airfryer meat bars are life & easy to track. Track. Your. Food. It will help with adjustments. I use MyfitnessPal.
Happy cycling y’all!! I hope this helped! You can always slide into my DM’s on Instagram!
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of healthcare, fitness, & personal development.
You can find her personal weight loss & healing story here.
She’s been involved in travel nursing & radiography for 20 years! She’s a writer, connection maker, nutritionist, & entrepreneur who loves helping others & squeezing every drop out of life!
Katie grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture & healthcare were her first loves.
She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation with weight loss & Crohn’s disease.
She competed as a competitive CrossFit athlete in her early 30’s. After decades of struggling with her own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, & hormonal imbalances, she is passionate about helping others find self-love, achieve their health & business goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!
You asked the questions, here are your answers! Documenting my story & weight loss journey on the carnivore diet!
Chronic bloating, constipation, weight gain, feeling like your body is fighting against you – all the feels, right?!
That is what I lived for 3 decades. Hopefully my story can help shed light for you!
Without further adieu, let’s dive into your questions!
1.) Introduce Yourself
Anyone else get anxiety when asked this question? Like where do I start? 🙂
Indiana farm girl & Purdue University grad, I like to say that I’m a multifaceted human!
I have many loves, interests, & hats.
So who is this awesome chick? 😃 My name is Katie Kelly. Professionally, I’m a multi-modal travel clinician 🩺💀 with Aureus Medical & functional nutritionist with over 20 years experience.
I specialize in improving your health & fitness goals utilizing a flexible, non-dogmatic carnivore nutrition approach while providing high performance coaching.
On social I’m better known as Coach K & want you to know I have struggled just like you! I created this safe space over 10 years ago & welcome you to this amazing community!
More importantly, I want you to believe in yourself, your health, your voice, & your ability to live your best life!
I believe in vibrational living in life, fitness, money, health, & relationships. Intuition is one of our greatest gifts! I’m here to help you discover & follow yours to a more abundant, joyful life!
Vibrational living is being in alignment with your true self—choosing thoughts, behaviors, habits, & environments that nurture, expand & empower you. Living with an awareness of your energy vibration & understanding of yourself completely change your reality, creating your heaven every single day.
I mentor to help you find your power & solutions to create the body, career, finances, relationships, purpose & fulfillment you’re seeking.
I’m just a sweary, Indiana farmer’s daughter who went from a sick (Crohn’s Disease & bulimia), overweight (lost 60lbs via the carnivore diet, CrossFit & Orange Theory), broke bish (was 50k+ in debt) to a thriving, self loving human here to inspire, educate, & mentor!
Welcome to my digital diary & wellness blogs full of life lessons learned the hard way🫶
I post content about self improvement anywhere from fat loss, budget beauty, decorating, disordered eating, feng shui, Crohn’s, self love, entrepreneurship, healthcare, food, fitness, finance, laughs & everything in between to a social media audience of 47K+!
Thank you for allowing me to add value to your lives! Grateful to have you part of my digital family ❤️
As far as nutrition, I specialize in gut health, sports & performance, disordered eating, low carb/carnivore approaches to healing. I help you to optimize life by creating a success routine.
All preferences & skill levels are welcome with a no diet dogma or one size-size-fits-all approach to health, wellness, fitness, & nutrition.
I appreciate everyone who allows me to add value to your lives!
2.) How Did You Eat Before Carnivore?
I grew up as an overweight kid. I was told to lose weight & tried to diet before I was 10 years old. My self-esteem & body image issues started at 8. Standard American Diet, being a “farm kid” we ate the home cooked stuff. I had no portion control whatsoever.
Kids were mean, & I couldn’t tell you how many times I was told, “If you’d just lose weight you’d be pretty like the other girls.” This translated into, “You won’t be successful, loved or worthy unless you’re thin & look the part.”
Following came the years of disordered eating & orthorexia — binging and purging with intermittent phases of anorexia. I would gorge & then hide Reese’s wrappers, tubs of ice cream, bags of chips, crackers, cookies – anything I had denied myself.
Then the guilt-restrict cycle would kick in as I layed there with puffy cheeks & bloodshot eyes from throwing up food. I had a food addiction and carbs were not only a big autoimmune & gut trigger, but they were like giving an alcoholic a drink.
I found CrossFit in 2013, was a competitive athlete & then beat my body down into a hole of metabolic adaptation, exacerbated gut issues, & hormonal imbalances due to over exercising & under eating.
It took 4 years for me to reverse diet up to my true maintenance calories so know this is a long journey. Have patience.
I was misdiagnosed with IBS, as many are. Went through tons of testing & doctors.
Honestly, I feel the only diet I haven’t done is a vegetarian diet. I’ve done’em all.
As a CrossFit athlete fueling for my sport, I leaned more towards a high carb diet. (Knowing I had a poor relationship with them.)
3.) Why Did You Try Carnivore to Begin With?
All the deets here!!
My last Crohn’s flare was about 4+ years ago, which was when I started the Carnivore diet approach. I knew I needed a reset. I was stressed out, eating out more, sleep was terrible, and I felt horrible. I had put on 10lbs of inflammation & felt I was insulin resistant. So I thought, this is my time. I’m gonna commit, cut the carbs & clean my shxt up.
As for my relationship with carbs, I am an abstainer. I am not a moderator when it comes to food. You need to determine which one you are too, an abstainer or a moderator? I do better with food rules and an all or none approach. I cannot have just 1 cookie, that leads to wanting the whole pan!
My own personal experimentation, data keeping via tracking food, journaling symptoms & triggers were my best “doctors.” Figuring out my trigger foods took YEARS. Years of getting to know myself, my needs, and how my body responded to food and stressors.
As far as my specific needs, I don’t digest veggies, fruits, fiber, gluten, dairy, lectins, high oxalate, or high fodmap foods well. That’s a lot, right?!
I noticed when I finally got my gallbladder out, I could eat meat just fine. My digestive symptoms went away.
I suggest for anyone else out there struggling with chronic bloating, constipation, diarrhea, reflux, heartburn, feeling like your food just sits there and you’re bloated and look 6 months pregnant every night, etc — these are warning sings. They are not normal and sign of an imbalance. An elimination diet like the carnivore diet is a great first step. Seek help from a qualified coach, dietitian, or practitioner. Coaching options & services are available here.
Tap photo for full post
Often we don’t realize the ‘healthy’ food we’re eating are the culprits because we cannot properly digest and absorb them. Often the plants, pre-packaged frozen meals, diet bars and shakes are the culprits. That’s what happened to me. The fiber, fruit, and veggies were causing me more harm because of my compromised digestive system. I’m grateful for these experiences because now I’m able to help clients pinpoint their trigger foods too and start the healing process.
Repeat after me, “We are what we DIGEST and ABSORB.”
My safe foods when having a gut flare were always soft meats like fish, ground meat, rice Chex cereal, eggs, plain rice cakes, & white rice. Basically a low residue diet & absolutely no fruits or vegetables. I could not break them down, they caused bloating & agony.
Nutrition is not a one size fits all. Reason we need to track, experiment, & realize templates or cookie cutter meal plans rarely work long term.
I created a whole Biohacking guide with my favorite products and supplements HERE. Fitness over 40, I look and feel better than I ever did at 20.
4.) How Do You Personally Approach the Carnivore Diet?
People are more familiar with the term “Carnivore Diet.” I prefer to reference it as a meat-based diet. That’s because there are 50+ shades of the Carnivore Diet. I feel you have free will and choice to eat the meats & foods that make you feel your best. You don’t have to be strict carnivore (beef & water). We all have different trigger foods, preferences, and individualized needs. I like to use the flexible & functional meat based approach to nutrition.
I call my myself a “Liberal Carnivore.” I believe in flexibility. The majority of my meals are ground meats such as ground beef & ground turkey/chicken, pork, eggs, steak, ribs, ground lamb & veal. I personally don’t like organ meat after experimentation.
Tap for two of my favorite recipes here!
If I feel I need a refeed day of higher carbs, I would choose white rice or plain rice cakes around workouts. They don’t typically bother my digestion in moderation. Rarely do I go over 50g of carbs, my average is around 20g daily. I don’t deny myself or feel guilty if I need to consume them for my health, gym performance, & recovery. All carefully portioned, of course. Now I find I don’t need or crave them any more.
Another common question I get is, “Do you drink?” Not much anymore. If I do choose to enjoy socially, I set boundaries to no more than 1-2 beverages. Usual choices are an occasional craft cocktail like an old fashioned or tequila.
**Disclaimer: This is what works for ME. I am not a medical doctor giving advice, simply sharing my experiences.
As far as macros and ratios, again, we are all different. I prefer a higher protein approach for my needs. As far as my activity & physical stats for comparison, I’m currently 41 years old, 5’1, 100 lbs , cross train via Orange Theory, lifting, & occasional CrossFit. I train 5 days a week, average 13-15k steps/day.
Just to clarify what a macro is if you’re a beginner.
My “sweet spot” for maintenance seems to be around 1850-2100 calories per day, ratios around 65% Fat, 30% Protein, 5% Carbs. I eat when I’m hungry, fast when I’m not. Fasting window is around 16-20hrs. I prefer to work out fasted most mornings during the week. Largest meal post workout with another meal around 1-3pm. I don’t force fasting and I don’t do extended fasts. Average 2lbs of meat daily.
I do track occasionally with food & macros via My Fitness Pal. I track weight, sleep, & steps via my Fit Bit Sense 2. I’ve also teamed up with NutriSense utilizing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). What gets tracked gets managed. Not necessary, but I’m a data girl 😉 It helps me make more educated decisions and adjustments.
My fitness routine is outlined here👇 This varies with travel assignment & my life season. It’ll give you a good sense of what a typical day is like.
5.) What Benefits Have You Seen Since Starting the Carnivore Diet?
A TON! The biggest benefits have been no gut issues or flares, increased, steady energy (once adapted, it took me about 8 months), no carb cravings or binge eating urges, no more constipation, normal appetite and satiety, no more inflammation, and eventually, fat loss.
I didn’t go into the Carnivore Diet chasing fat loss or weight loss, I went into it chasing better health. I preach this to my clients, chase health and healing first, everything else will fall into line. The problem with yo-yo dieting is chasing unrealistic goals and expectations with an unsustainable diet &/or training approach.
I outlined all my food, macros, weight transitions and experiences here in this IG post. Tap photo!
6.) What Negatives Have You Found With the Carnivore Diet?
I’m gonna be real, I gained 15lbs total when I started the Carnivore Diet. After 1 year, I lost that 20lbs, however. I wanted to quit many times and felt like shxt early on trying to adapt. I listened to the veterans and my own intuition, kept going.
Your appetite does correct and level out. Performance in the gym does suffer, initially. Depends on what modality of training you prefer. Take it easy. I significantly reduced my workout volume and intensity with no HIIT for about 6 months. Did a lot of walking and lifting simple weights, keeping my heart rate in a lower range.
About month 8/9, I noticed I was able to hit it harder in the gym and everything else was falling into line. That’s about when my weight started dropping as well.
Meal timing is important, especially when timing appropriately for your workouts. If you eat larger meals, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to digest them. Meat and fat are naturally “heavy” and the body has to work hard to break them down for digestion, affecting your energy levels. Again, everyone is different.
7.) Do You Exercise on the Carnivore Diet? What Do You Do?
Yes, absolutely! The gym is my sanctuary. I found CrossFit in 2013, drank the Kool-aid. My love affair has been ever since the first sound of a barbell dropping. My weights, intensity, and volume have changed with my seasons. I no longer train like a competitive CrossFit athlete. Yes, its hard to beat the competitiveness out of me, but is absolutely necessary for longevity.
I modify weights and movements to my needs. I listen to my body and rest when needed. Workout 5 days a week, rest 2. I get in about 13-15k steps a day. Also enjoy body building and orange theory!
I feel the term “CrossFit” gets an unfair bad rap. It’s simply a term and just another modality of exercise. I love it because it combines strength and conditioning made up of functional movements performed at a your desired intensity level. The intensity and approach are up to you. Anyone can do it and you determine the pace and modifications of your workouts. Invest in a quality gym with quality coaches. Three Kings Athletics in Noblesville, IN is my second home and family! Owned by Bryn Jafri.
8.) What Piece of Advice Would You Give Someone Who Is Interested in Trying This Diet, But Hasn’t Taken the Leap Yet?
Thinking about carnivore in terms of 3 phases is helpful starting:
1.) Just get adapted – eat meat, find the low carb sources you love, cut the junk, find what eating windows work for your schedule, track to make sure you’re eating enough food.
2.) Focus on healing any G.I. issues & give it time. Be patient & consistent. You don’t feel good all the time, as with any diet it takes time to find your groove. Most hit a slump around 2 weeks. You didn’t develop gut issues overnight and you didn’t put on 30lbs overnight.
3.) Thrive & THEN play around with fat loss or muscle gain goals. You’ll be more self aware & educated once your reach this point.
Not until someone is adapted & healed do I recommend any kind of playing around with fat loss cuts. For some it may take 3-6 months or it can take years depending on what kind of healing (gut, hormonal, metabolic etc) you have to do. Honor your biofeedback. Biofeedback means my quality of sleep, energy level, recovery, performance, mental clarity, menstrual cycle, sex drive, hunger & satiety cues, etc.
Tips for tracking more accurately:
Pick meats that are easier to track. Ex: ground meats like beef/turkey/lamb/pork. The protein & fat grams are not as variable as say a ribeye or chuck roast.
Weigh your meat raw before you cook. Meat shrinks down something like 20-30% when you cook it. It can account for a big difference in protein/fat grams & calories if you’re logging the oz or grams of cooked meat vs the actual raw weight. Fat will differ as well, especially if you’re draining or dabbing the fat off your meat after cooking. Here’s a good resource explaining what happens.
Measure out your fats (butter, bacon fat, tallow, etc) Don’t guess. Weigh it out on a scale for most accuracy. Most of us use teaspoons or tablespoons but I don’t recommend eyeballing until you master accurately weighing food.
Reasons you may be gaining weight on low carb:
You’re eating in a surplus. As with ANY diet you choose if you are eating in a surplus chances are you will put on body fat. It’s part of it. This is when you should be focusing on muscle gain & strength.
You’ve been eating in a chronic deficit & your body is finally getting the nutrients it needs to function & grow muscle. You WANT muscle growth. More muscle=more food=more badass.
You’re snacking too much on things like pork rinds, fat bombs, or fake keto junk like Atkins bars. Guilty 🖐🏻 They’re easy to overeat & nutrient deficient. Go back to the basics. Simplify. Meat, water, coffee, no sweeteners, no supplements.
You’re choosing highly palatable low carb foods like ribeyes, bacon, & cheese & eating when you’re not really hungry. It’s like when you’re not hungry but then they bring out dessert. Most of us will have that extra piece of cake. Choose foods that are satisfying & get the job done. I find ground beef to be most satisfying.
You’re overly fasting &/or overly training. Chronically high cortisol & hormone imbalances affect your weight, recovery, energy, & fat loss. Reduce your intensity & workout volume. Walking & simply just moving does wonders. Don’t over complicate your workouts. SLEEP. Shorten your fasting window or STOP fasting.
You’re eating too much protein, throwing hormones & your biofeedback off. Try increasing your fats & start with protein around 1g per lb of lean body mass, your goal weight, or 20-30% of your daily calories. Our energy sources come from fats & carbs. Take away your carbs & what do you have left? Fat. Don’t fear it. Play around with it you’ll find your threshold.
9.) Do You Think the Carnivore Diet Will Ever Be Accepted Mainstream?
Never say never, but I doubt it. Carnivore is just like being a vegetarian only we prefer meat. No one bats an eye when you say you’re a vegetarian, but you say you only eat meat? They look at you like 4 eyes. The awareness, research, and education is spreading, however, so that is promising!
Is any diet really mainstream?
There’s hundreds of ways to eat. All that matters is you pick the one that suits YOU.
10.) Where Can People Follow You?
Everyone is welcome to become part of my digital family here, lilbitoffit.com and Instagram, @lil_bit_of_fit If you’d like to be added to our email list, click here!
Thank you all for reading and allowing me to add value to your lives! I hope my experiences on this journey can allow you to find your authentic puzzle pieces to life!
Today’s theme for self/life improvement/optimization: UPLEVEL & UPCYCLE
⭐️Uplevel: Having greater capabilities. To transform & grow in an area previously stagnant. To make progress or improve in a specific skill or area of one’s life.
⭐️Upcycle: form of recycling where instead of turning waste into new materials, you can take a product that you would otherwise throw away & give it a new use in life.
Being frugal & living as a minimalist aren’t about restriction &/or living a life less than…it’s about freedom & living MORE with LESS.
Moi
Photo dump of my morning loves & the simple things!
Found this dropped on my floor. Somehow it was attached to my clothes. Happy angel blessings & reminders. Mom left this before I left for my new travel xray job in Omaha, Nebraska.
Spending is massively influenced by advertising & marketing. Don’t fall to consumerism. I did in my 20s & 30s, resulting in $50,000 of debt which I payed off 3 years ago👉an achievement I’ve most proud of to have overcome & continually evolve to improve.
Learning about health & money haven’t been easy or natural for me either. I simply do the best I can every single day to live my best life as my best self, physically, mentally, spiritually, & financially.
It’s not about perfection or feeling guilty every time your spend money, it’s about investing in what is important to you & detoxing the clutter. That’s it. You determine your rules.
I sat down & wrote out how I wanted to feel in life. Where was my resistance? Fear? Frustrations? Most orbited around having too much clutter. Having too many unnecessary decisions. Saying yes, when I should say no.
Freedom, ease, & joy. Bingo 🎯
Enjoy all these tips, tricks, & #lifehacks I’ve learned about #lifeoptimization & #minimalism . Lots of brain vomit here, but I promise they’re worth their weight in gold + time reading.
I’ll continue to add to & improve these✨
One of my favorite go to books! Lifts your vibe & improves your perspective about money! I listen to it on Audible!
Blueprint on how I optimize a simple, more peaceful, successful, & abundant af life!
Lessons learned the hard way. Anyone else belong to this club? 💁🏼♀️work smarter, creating more flow.
** These are recorded for me & from pages of my story book. They’re things I’ve learned. These are from my perspective & my experiences. I am in no way telling you exactly what’s gonna work for you, but these have worked for me. Enjoy. Take what you need, leave what you don’t **
➡️ @instacart & @amazon prime delivery. Saves time, money, stress, & energy. Allows you to get other sh*t done during your day without having to run errands. prevents impulse shopping.
**I noticed if I shopped in store i bought tons of crap I didn’t need. I’m an emotional buyer. I reduce this as much as possible. All comes down to self awareness. I ask myself before I make a purchase if it will make me feel amazing in my soul & is NOT AN EGO OR NUMBING BUY. (Like making me feel “better” like a dopamine hit. These are short term & usually don’t last & make you happy long term.) if I don’t love & use something consistently I have to take it back, another reason I like Amazon, easy returns. If I buy something I also have to get rid of something. Reduced clutter & attachment to things.
➡️ Workout 1st thing in the morning & get sunlight. Get up early & have an easily adaptable success routine nailed down. Works wherever you go. Walk after meals, set an alarm every 20-30 minutes to get up & walk around at work, take stairs, park further in parking lots, take the stairs, walk hallways. Easy changes to get more movement.
➡️Bought a cheap treadmill off Amazon & simple set of dumbbells (15, 10, 5, 3 lbs weights) I workout at home with to save on excess gym memberships & keep fitness at the forefront. You can google & YouTube free workout ideas. Luckily, the treadmill fits in the back of my car, as well as the dumbbells, and I take these with me on travel assignments, which eases my mind not finding a convenient gym.
➡️ Get easy tasks & must do‘s done 1st. Work 1st, play later. Creates energy of achievement & peace vs anxiety & procrastination.
➡️ I have multiple income streams (both active & passive) & do travel healthcare (I understand this isn’t for everyone or does everyone have the lifestyle to allow it). Transparently, I make 3x as much working less as a travel healthcare worker vs a staff healthcare worker. I also get insurance & benefits through my company.
**I view ME as a business. I know I am my product. I have coaching & Xray as active income sources, meaning I trade my time for money. My passive income comes from e-books, courses, & partnering with other aligned people/businesses for the greater good. Social media is also viewed as a business. I use it wisely + with intention.
**I do my research on travel Xray contracts that I take, I’m smart about cost of living, location, & expenses. I don’t take time off much, I don’t go out excessively & I save as much love-earned money as I can to invest where I please& pay off any debt that I have. This gives me peace of mind, freedom, happiness, and everything I’ve ever wanted. I also feel free and easy vsdown the road I go. It’s help me live simple and actually with Wess. It’s made me a more well rounded person as well as healthcare, professional, and has allowed me to travel while making really good money!
➡️ I use clear storage bins & containers to help organize closets, shelves, cabinets, pantry’s & drawers when I plant roots somewhere longer term & aren’t traveling. Creates peace of mind & order.
➡️I purge & clean every week unnecessary items & any items attached to old energy no longer serving me. I take old clothes to stores like Plato’s Closet or Clothes Mentor. They give you money for old clothes to resale. Learn to live unattached to things. They weigh you down. This also means social media & media on your phone. I clean my car completely out once a month.
➡️ Organize shelves, cabinets, drawers, pantry’s, & closets by color. It creates a beautiful aesthetic look & you know exactly where to find things. this make me so happy 😀 which helps user more abundance into my life because I feel good. Manifesting what you desire is all about feeling. Feel good juju, get good juju.
➡️ Clean 1 area of my home every day. No dirty dishes in the sink. Declutter. Simplicity & detachment are bliss.
➡️ Get movement & steps in while your food cooks. Sometimes I do a mini workout with bodyweight or dumbbells while my meat Airfry‘s or meal is cooking.
➡️ If you’re 1 that travels often, have pre-packed bags with essentials ready to grab & go. I have an overnight bag with me at all times, I keep it in my car & closet. I also invested in an Anytime fitness membership because wherever I travel, I always have a gym for low cost.
➡️ I lay clothes out for the next day, brush my teeth in the shower, set my coffee on auto brew. It speeds up the process. I bring my own coffee & maker when I travel. Saves money & energy. I also utilize hotels free breakfasts/coffee/& amenities to save money. Research hotel beforehand. Book this with the amenities you need like free breakfast & fitness center.
➡️ I delegate things I don’t like to do or hire it done. saves energy & frustration in the long run which again, make me happy & user more good energy & wealth into my life.
**I have people drop me off when i don’t wanna drive or get an Uber or Lyft. I get to meet new people & have a more peaceful life not living in stress when I don’t wanna do something. I also feel good paying someone for their services & allowing them to have abundance in their life too. I call it gifting the universe. I find if I drive or do something I don’t wanna do, negative shiz like getting a ticket or having to pay for parking or car trouble is more likely to happen therefore costing me more in terms of money, time & energy.
➡️ Have ready to go or go to meals or snacks. I keep a freezer full of sale & budget buy meat (like steak or rib sales & ground meat. They’re cheaper). Go to snacks are deli meat, @applegate brand sausages, string cheese, & packets of tuna just in case I don’t have time to go to the store. I grab rotisserie chickens at the store & keep pork rinds in my car to carnivore on the go. Most hotels also have free breakfast with eggs/sausage/bacon. Also travel with an air fryer & grab my meats when I get to a destination.
**Cheapest low carb, carnivore foods I love: eggs, chicken drumsticks, stew meat, & fattier ground meats. Chicken/Turkey/pork is cheaper than beef/bison/lamb/seafood
➡️ I save & fill up my water bottles in natural springs or filtered water fountains at the gym. Reduces trash, helps with detox, & saves a TON on money on a budget.
➡️ I do my own nails. I order press on nails + glue from Amazon. I also do my own toenails. Have days I wear no make up & only wash my hair once a week. Saves time & money.
➡️ I don’t use much makeup. Again, simple is best & less is more. Reduces toxic products, your hormones and body will thank you. I use tallow lotion on my face & natural lotions, beauty products, deodorant, shampoo etc. as much as I can. Shop sales, places I have coupons or discounts for cleaning, beauty products & groceries. Love Aldi, amazon, TJ Maxx, thrift stores, goodwill, garage sales. Just do the best you can.
➡️ Pay your bills on time! I have credit cards that are cash back, I use these for purchases, shop sales, & then pay them directly off vs use my debit card. I also keep cash on hand, this will help reduce charging things. Set a loving boundary to only buy what your cash will purchase.
➡️ Shop at second hand stores like thrift stores, goodwill, & the Salvation Army. Most of my favorite clothes have come from thrift stores! I also love to buy kids clothes & shoes, one benefit of being a petite person 😂 saves a ton of money! Some of my favorite budget buy stores are Walmart, Marshall’s, tj maxx, old navy, kohl’s, meijer, & shoe carnival.
➡️ I don’t go out excessively. A benefit of being an introvert, I save a ton of money not going out. I also don’t drink alcohol or fancy coffee drinks much. I go out like once every couple weeks & set a 1- no more than 2 drink limit.
➡️ If you get a large sum of money, like a promotion or inheritance, or a happy surprise, put that towards your debt or something you really really want/need like a vacation or hair extensions or whatever the hell you want here.
➡️Set YOUR nonnegotiables & services/products you LOVE. Mine are my hair extensions & lash extensions. They help me feel incredible and save me money on make up, time, and energy. That is worth it to me. Don’t spend it all frivolously. Remember, love and respect your money. Give it a good/quality purpose.
➡️ Close any “leaky faucets” like services/subscriptions/memberships/products I don’t need or use. Motto: saving & investing are sexy. Travel & experiences are wealth, don’t be afraid to invest on self care & things that bring you expansion, joy, freedom, fulfillment, & help you vibrate at your highest. This helps me attract fulfillment in the ways I need.
➡️ Be open to accept income from endless opportunities available. Create opportunities to welcome income for your unique abilities & gifts. Do shit you love & get paid for it. Mindset is everything. I Repeat, “Whatever I spend comes back to me x10!” And I treat $1 like 1 million. Money has ears, loves love, & loves purpose👉give it purpose.
✨Remember, your energy allows you to attract what you want, but your aligned action allows you to claim what you want. You still have to act. Simply wishing & creating a vision board won’t magically make it happen.
✨Outer order, inner calm. An organized clean environment welcomes & attracts more abundance. Think less & simple, not more & complicated.
✨The most successful people are organized, honest, frugal, invest wisely, service driven, prioritize health & education, & communicate effectively. Above all they KNOW THEMSELVES & are KIND TO EVERYONE no matter who they are. They know people remember how you made them feel. And how you make them feel ultimately determines how you’re remembered & treated. Remember that thing called the Golden Rule? It’s like the Universal Laws & Karma. They aren’t bullsh*t.
✨I vow to spend my time working on improving my health, environment, attracting wealth, educating myself & others, & embracing different ways to utilize my gifts to better other peoples lives. I live by a personal creed & set of values I’ve written down. You should do this too.
Now go get sh*t done ✅
Oxox
Coach K
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Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of healthcare, fitness, & personal development.
You can find her personal weight loss & healing story here.
She’s been involved in travel nursing & radiography for 20 years! She’s a writer, connection maker, nutritionist, branding consultant & entrepreneur who loves helping others & squeezing every drop out of life!
Katie grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture & healthcare were her first loves.
She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation with weight loss & Crohn’s disease.
She competed as a competitive CrossFit athlete in her early 30’s. After decades of struggling with her own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, & hormonal imbalances, she is passionate about helping others find self-love, achieve their health & business goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!
I got to a point in my fitness & health journey where whatever I did, even if I bought expensive appetite suppressants, I couldn’t stop eating.
With Crohn’s, hell there were days I didn’t know what to eat because everything seemed to irritate my gut & I was still gaining weight, despite fasting all the time.
The inflammation & weight gain made me want to eat less & workout more, further exacerbating my terrible relationship with food & exercise. I empathize with y’all struggling.
When I was younger, I was following a low-fat, high-carb diet. Fat was the devil. I also observed this undesirable situation happening to friends, family, coworkers, & fellow athletes.
The reasons we couldn’t shed the body fat were ultimately malfunctioning or unbalanced hormonal issues. More explicitly 👉 leptin resistance, insulin resistance, & imbalanced cortisol.
Symptoms of leptin resistance, for example, might include:
The inability to lose weight even with calorie restriction & extreme exercise
Extreme cravings for food even if you’ve recently eaten
Persistent weight gain despite attempts at weight loss
Lower than normal body temperature & resting heart rate
Presence of other hormone imbalances (including hypothyroidism, estrogen dominance, low progesterone, low testosterone, or high cortisol)
In this story, my story, & maybe it rings true for your story, I explain why leptin resistance, blood sugar control & cortisol balance matter for fat loss & metabolic health.
Here’s how I fixed mine & created a healthy lifestyle I love!
Keep in mind, some people with underlying health conditions might need medical intervention & support. Therefore, just adjusting our lifestyle might not work for some of us. This is not medical advice or a prescription, simply things I’ve learned & how I improved my health!
BONUS: I created a guide of biohacking products & services {+ discount codes 😉 } that changed my life here!
Here’s How I Fixed My Leptin Resistance & Helped Balance Blood Sugar & Cortisol
What is leptin, and why does leptin resistance matter?
Like other hormones, leptin is also highly complex. However, I feel we don’t need to know the details unless we work as medical specialists in a field. Lets keep this as simple as possible but still have a solid understanding of the what, why, & how behind it. It is easy for us to manage & optimize with healthy lifestyle changes. Its implications can be invaluable for appetite management & preventing undesirable fat gain leading to metabolic disorders.
Leptin is a hormone that signals the brain we consume enough food. In addition to being a signaling hormone, leptin also regulates energy balance & counteracts the hunger hormone called ghrelin.
Unfortunately, if leptin does not function correctly, we will continue eating & consuming excess calories, which turns into visceral fat. Consequently, this condition can imbalance other hormones & lead to metabolic disorders.
Excess calories might be from carbs, fats, or proteins. However, the ones from carbs can much more quickly turn into fat molecules, & they accumulate, leading to obesity.
When leptin signals work properly, we stop eating naturally as the brain triggers feelings of satiety. Having a leptin-sensitive body prevents us from overeating.
However, leptin resistance is an agonizing health condition if it persists. It prevents the brain from receiving satiety signals causing emotional food consumption of more than what we need.
A leptin-resistant body might lead to binge eating due to the constantly activated hunger hormone ghrelin.
When the body is leptin resistant, the ghrelin hormone creates hunger feelings so strong that we might feel like starving even though the body has adequate stored energy.
This awful & paradoxical feeling encourages us to eat emotionally even if we physically have more energy than needed to survive.
Overeating, unfortunately, causes weight gain, might lead to obesity, & cause metabolic disorders such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, & even some cancers.
Based on my past experiences of struggling with weight gain, Crohn’s disease, gut & inflammatory issues, here are shifts that helped me improve leptin sensitivity, lose body fat, & gain my health back!
**My points are not prescriptive, as they might not apply to everyone. However, I emphasize the critical principles here so y’all can learn & can customize these protocols based on your needs.**
Optimized blood sugar via a meat based “carnivore” diet approach
My first step was to optimize blood sugar & prevent frequent & prolonged insulin spikes. When my blood sugar suddenly dropped, I faced an extreme sense of hunger & craved unhealthy foods like processed foods. I want y’all to understand this process, so dietary changes make sense.
Our bloodstream needs glucose to cater to the energy requirements of cells, tissues, & organs. If the amount passes the threshold, the body perceives the glucose as “toxic” & quickly acts to eliminate it. The pancreas releases insulin hormone & causes the glucose to be quickly removed from the bloodstream.
The first preference is muscles, as they are critical for survival. If muscles don’t need glucose, the body sends the excess glucose to fat cells by converting glucose to fat molecules.
Consequently, our fat cells grow by accumulating visceral fat, especially in the abdominal area. Muffin top ring a bell?
Optimized blood sugar & prevented insulin spikes by reducing carbs
When muscles and other organ cells stop responding to insulin signals to utilize glucose, a condition called “insulin resistance” occurs. The pancreas creates more insulin to manage elevated glucose. One of the causes of insulin resistance is hyperinsulinemia.
The culprit to raise blood glucose & cause sudden insulin spikes is the overconsumption of refined carbs. Too much protein can also cause more insulin spikes but not as much as refined carbs.
So my dietary solution to optimize my blood glucose & reverse insulin resistance was to cut all refined carbs, particularly bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, candy, & any sugary beverages.
This step primed my body to optimize glucose & make it more insulin sensitive. However, the 2nd step sustainably contributed to making it more leptin sensitive after having an insulin-sensitive body.
Increased healthy fats and bioavailable proteins via a meat based “carnivore” diet
When doing my research, I learned that there were 2 critical factors determining the relationships between dietary fats & leptin.
The 1st factor is leptin is made up of fat molecules. The 2nd is that leptin informs satiety in the brain when we consume food containing fat in each meal. It keeps us fuller, faster. Leptin also relates to the overall body fat percentage.
Those with higher fat should have more leptin, however, we need to understand the issue of leptin resistance in obese people. Leptin resistance means that the body & brain become unable to respond to this critical hormone so we keep eating more than we need.
One of the root causes of leptin resistance is not consuming enough healthy fats, optimal protein, & too many carbs. Therefore, when I started eating more healthy fats & more bioavailable proteins, my satiety increased, cravings & inflammation decreased, & hormones started balancing out. I no longer binged or craved carbs.
This solution stopped my hunger pangs. I felt great satiety after each meal. I understood more fully my poor emotional relationship with carbs & sugar. I relate it to being an alcoholic. I can’t have one cookie or cake, I’m an addict. You don’t tell an alcoholic it’s ok, just have a drink. Understood?
Nowadays, even if I eat OMAD (one meal a day) for several days, I don’t feel any cravings & don’t consume food emotionally. I only eat when I physically feel hungry.
My diet consists of primarily red ruminant meats like beef & lamb, occasional chicken, turkey, & pork, seafood, eggs, occasional daily (butter/cheese/milk), organic coffee, water, electrolytes, & occasional social alcohol in the form of bourbon or vodka.
The next step focused on reducing oxidative stress & chronic inflammation. With Crohn’s disease these are CRITICAL!
Improved sleep quality, lowered stress, prioritized self care & “biohacking“
During my research of metabolic hormones causing weight gain, I discovered that the 3rd cause of leptin resistance was sleep deprivation & stress – basically a f*cked up sleep routine & not being able to chill out. They caused both increased cortisol & blood sugar. This was an eye-opener for me.
The solution to balance insulin & cortisol was restorative sleep, self care, & whatever the hell I had to do to chill out, detox, & slow down to lower oxidative stress & chronic inflammation. When I got restorative sleep, my chronic stress & inflammation all but disappeared. As a result, my hunger pangs & food cravings diminished & gradually ended too. Which is why I say NO to going out when I don’t have the energy. My health suffers.
I now incorporate infrared sauna, red light therapy, grounding (earthing) mats, blue blocking glasses, get outside in nature & the sunlight as much as possible, & reduce toxins in my beauty, food, & home products as much as possible too. Biohacking products all posted in my IG highlights & codes in link in IG bio!
Why Stress & Cortisol are Making You Fat
What is Cortisol & why does it matter?
Cortisol is a hormone, which as levels rise in response to stressors, not only affects our blood glucose, but influences our physical & psychological processes including fat loss.
Stressors can include things like:
Under eating
Over exercising
Relationship stress, kids
Job stress
Trigger foods, gut issues
Lack of quality sleep
Over caffeinating, Alcohol
Fasting too long
The direct effect cortisol has on insulin is a big contributing factor to weight & fat gain.
For example:
Elevated cortisol levels stimulate gluconeogenesis, the breakdown of non-carbohydrate sources like protein into glucose. This will increase our blood glucose even on low carb diets. If prolonged, this can lead to changes in appetite regulating hormones like leptin & ghrelin, causing us to eat more than we need.
How can we minimize stressors?
Eat enough food for optimal body function & activity. Typically called our true maintenance calories. You can use the TDEEcalculator.net to find yours.
No chronic dieting or yo-yo dieting. Periodize nutrition. Eat meat & healthy fats. Minimize processed food.
Get to sleep! 7-9 hrs of quality per night.
Limit caffeine intake to mornings only.
Cultivate a positive environment & monitor what you consume from social media, to food, people, tv, books, podcasts, etc. GRATITUDE.
Take time for self care. No excessive fasting, find an optimal fasting window for you. Most do well 12-16 hrs overnight.
Recover from workouts efficiently, take rest days, walk.
Here’s my daily routine. I created a guide for you!
The best pre-workout: sleep, proper hydration & electrolytes
The best fat burner: sleep, stress management, & a calorie deficit
The best workout & training plan: The one that you’ll do & stick with longer than 2 weeks.
The best diet: The one that you’ll do & stick with longer than 2 weeks. (Meat-based for people with gut issues, autoimmune needs, & emotional issues with food addiction & carbs imo.)
The best protein & multivitamins: meat, eggs, & healthy fats from animal sources.
Realize the body you want requires you to eat more & lift heavy stuff, not living in a constant state of restriction & extremes. Your weight & what you look like are the least most interesting things about you. You can look good nekkid at any weight, it’s about perception & confidence. Health looks good on everyone.
Why Your Blood Sugar May Be Affecting Your Fat Loss
Tools I’ve Used To Check Mine
Keto Mojo: checks both ketones & blood glucose. Has app, blue tooth, syncs with phone, got mine off Amazon.
Nutrisense Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM): my top pick. Painless application, has app, syncs with phone, no pricking your finger, continuous monitoring, access to their nutritionists. Discount Code: lilbitoffitCGM10
Times to Check Blood Glucose
Fasted 1st thing when you wake before any food or drink: to gain data & a biomarker of metabolic & hormonal health. This is when I weigh myself too.
2 hours after eating combo meals: to see how they interact with one another & affect your digestion & blood glucose. Quality & quantity matter. Ex: combos like carbs + protein +fat, high protein + low fat, high fat + lower protein, carbs + protein, carbs +fat, etc.
After eating singular foods: to see what spikes your blood sugar more than the other. Ex: like testing after eating carbs, diet pop, chewing gum, using sweetener, eating dairy, after a larger high protein meal, after a bolus of fat, etc.
After periods of stress: to see how your body handles stress. Ex: after a hard workout, a poor nights sleep, after a stressful life experience, etc.
FAQ’s & Tips To Help
What can I use to track? I’ve used a keto mojo & my top pick is a NutriSense CGM. You can get a simple glucometer from your local drugstore too. Discount Code: lilbitoffitCGM10
What range should my blood sugar be for optimal body fat loss? I like MINE in that 70-90/dL range fasting. Normal fasting ranges will vary but for most are in the 70-100 range. Mine tends to run higher, around 85-100 while others may be lower around 65-80. Lifestyle, genetics, & environmental factors all matter & can affect ranges.
How long should I wait after meals to check my glucose? I recommend checking prior to your meal then 1-2 hours after eating for your “peak” levels.
What diet works best for food/sugar addiction? Low carb & meat-based hands down in my opinion.
What are normal blood sugar levels?
They’re less than 100 mg/dL after not eating (fasting) for at least 8 hours. And they’re less than 140 mg/dL 2 hours after eating. During the day, levels tend to be at their lowest just before meals. For most people without diabetes, blood sugar levels before meals hover around 70 to 80 mg/dL. For some people, 60 is normal; for others, 90. Again, we’re all different.
Why does it matter if my blood sugar is high, like around 120-200ish sometimes?
It is very important to keep your blood sugar level under control. It affects everything really, mood, fat loss, weight gain, hunger, satiety, energy, performance, sleep, etc. When your blood sugar level is high, it can cause damage in your veins & arteries. This damage could lead to complications later such as heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease, neuropathies, vision problems, etc.
What foods spike my sugar most? What food has carbohydrates? Carbs typically spike blood sugar the most, then protein, then fat. Fruits, starchy veggies, milk, dairy, yogurt, rice, cereals, bread, grains, basically think anything sweet all have carbs. High glycemic foods affect glucose the most, ex: bread, cereal, candy, baked goods, fruit, honey, rice, crackers, cookies, rice cakes, sugar, pancakes, waffles, potatoes, corn, most processed foods.
If it is sugar free, I can eat as much as I want, right? SF foods can be part of your diet in moderation. Abstainers typically do better abstaining from any carbs, sugar, or SF substitutes. Many cause gut issues like bloating, constipation, & pain due to added fibers, fillers, gums, sugar alcohols & artificial sweeteners. Some of these foods still have carbs (in the form of other sweeteners such as sorbitol, isomalt, & mannitol) & may affect your glucose levels.
Things That Elevate Blood Sugar You May Be Overlooking
Coffee: Increases adrenaline, cortisol (stress hormones) & blood sugar which can cause a release from our liver glycogen even when fasting. This was one thing I tested, luckily black coffee only affected my blood sugar like 2-5 points. Best to drink with food 90 minutes after waking for more optimal hormone balance.
Fasting too long: Again, increases body stress which increases your cortisol level which will cause liver glycogen to be released & your blood sugar to rise. Are you waking up in the middle of the night? Is your fasting AM blood sugar high (>95)? Try eating more, shorten fasting windows
Dehydration: Less blood volume=higher concentrations of glucose in the blood. Shoot for 1/2 your body weight in Oz of water daily.
Over exercising, under eating, &/or eating trigger foods: All huge stressors on the body which increase cortisol & thus blood glucose.
Carbs: No they’re not the devil. Typically it’s our relationships with them & our habits that are. Carbs do keep us calm by serotonin & cortisol. Our tolerances vary bioindividually. Typically in a healthy individual the more active the more carbs we require & tolerate. Carbs do spike your insulin higher than protein or fats. Carbs obviously spiked my blood sugar higher than any other food even experimenting consuming 2lbs of a high-protein meal. 3 rice cakes spiked my insulin to 160. The 2lbs of beef #meatbars spiked my insulin to 130.
Artificial sweeteners & sweet beverages: If it tastes sweet typically it will cause a reaction in your body & spike your blood sugar to some degree. I’m all about moderation but don’t have the majority of your diet full of diet foods & Splenda just to save a few calories & carbs. They lack in micronutrients which your body needs to function properly. In my experience with the CGM, they did elevate my blood glucose slightly but not very much, maybe 5 to 10 points max.
Alcohol: I’m just leaving this one there, y’all this is common sense. The higher the calorie, the higher the sugar, the higher the carbs the more it is going to spike your blood glucose. The “worst” options are beer, wine, sugary cocktails like White Russians, margaritas, Mojito‘s, Long Island iced teas, etc. I know it’s heartbreaking right ?!
Sleep: Not only does this disrupt your satiety & hunger hormones like a leptin & Ghrelin which can cause you to crave carbs & feel like a bottomless pit, it also spikes your blood sugar, & your performance, fitness goals & recovery suffer. I found lack of sleep, not getting sunlight, & high intensity workouts especially fasting were the biggest culprits that spiked my blood sugar & made me feel like trash. Get outside at sunrise, take sun breaks midday. Use blue blocking glasses. Reduce caffeine. Utilize red light therapy. I have an @emrtekinc Firewave light. Discount Code: lilbitoffit20
Helpful Charts
Conclusions and Takeaways
In summary, I owe a healthier, leaner body to 3 simple lifestyle habits:
The 1st was to refrain from refined carbs & sugar.
The 2nd was to increase healthy fats & consume adequate bioavailable proteins via a meat “carnivore” based woe.
And the 3rd was to get restorative sleep, reduce stress, & increase self care via “biohacking.”
However, I also incorporated a 4th solution, which was time-restricted eating or intermittent fasting. It indirectly contributed to making my body more leptin sensitive because it made it insulin sensitive & fat-adapted, too. No excessive fasting, I am intentional & follow my body’s natural hunger cues. I fast 14-20 hrs overnight on avg. Just wanted to create awareness. It’s optional as it might not be feasible for everyone & might not be needed if the 3 mentioned steps are in place.
When we make the body insulin & leptin sensitive, keeping a healthy weight can be a breeze. Therefore, we might not need expensive supplements, fad diets, or excessive exercise. Thank you for reading my perspectives & experiences! I wish y’all the healthiest, happiest, & most badass life ever!
Like this blog? Find it helpful? Interested in trying carnivore & fasting with me? Join my coaching community & book a coaching call!
{I also provide you with a recipe book, Meat & Macros Guide & 2 workout plans!}
oxox Coach K
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of healthcare, fitness, & personal development.
You can find her personal weight loss & healing story here.
She’s been involved in travel nursing & radiography for 20 years! She’s a writer, connection maker, nutritionist, & entrepreneur who loves helping others & squeezing every drop out of life!
Katie grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture & healthcare were her first loves.
She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation with weight loss & Crohn’s disease.
She competed as a competitive CrossFit athlete in her early 30’s. After decades of struggling with her own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, & hormonal imbalances, she is passionate about helping others find self-love, achieve their health & business goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!
This will probably trigger you… It triggers me everytime someone asks me. “How do I learn to love myself?”
Straight up, I’ll tell you, you are the reason you’re not where you wanna be. And it’s because of fear.
I tell you this as your coach & fellow human that understands.
For the majority of you following along my fitness journey via the interwebs, I feel confident saying we have many things in common, including this painful topic.
You see I realize now, as my 41 year old self, fear of gaining weight totally stifled my potential, controlled, & basically wrecking balled my life in every facet.
Every facet of life is connected. I categorize mine as health, self, wealth, & relationships.
My disordered eating & self love journey started at the age of 8.
Fear of gaining weight & self loathing caused me to live decades in agony & struggle.
I ate all the wrong things for me. All the “healthy” sugar free food & crazy diets that tore up my gut, hormones, & metabolism.
I starved, binged, purged, & over exercised myself to exhaustion, inflammation, & imbalances.
I didn’t have many friends & missed out on SOOO many memories because I feared eating food, both because I didn’t wanna go over my calories & be “fat” & I feared being judged for not being able to eat “normal” due to my Crohn’s.
I didn’t ask guys out, I doubted myself. I was never athletic enough, skinny enough, lean enough, strong enough, pretty enough, smart enough…
I never reached a body goal I was happy with no matter how thin I got or how strong I got. Not because I wasn’t a hard worker, I worked my ass off, but because my relationship with myself, my negative mindset, & fear of gaining weight controlled ME.
I had a DM from a woman desperate for me to give her magic macros & all the answers to get a lean physique.
First thing she said, “I’m afraid to gain the weight back, but what I’m doing isn’t working.”She was eating tons of lean protein, little fat, stated she was hungry all the time, fasting, working out like a fiend…sound familiar?
I said you’re right, it’s not working. The main issue isn’t not having the perfect macros or workout regime, it’s because you’re letting your fear of gaining weight block your doors of abundance & success.
It’s preventing you mentally & physically from making the correct decisions & courses of action. Your body also responds to your thoughts & feelings, if all you think & feel is self hate, despair, & poor health – that’s what you’re gonna get.
She said, “I never thought of it that way.”
I said, “Exactly.”
So I wrote a list of simple things I did to help me learn to love myself for you to refer back to. Make these yours however they fit & resonate.
I hope they give you HOPE that you can learn to love yourself too.
Simple Ways I Learned to Love Myself
Self awareness means to know & accept yourself. It’s impossible to love yourself if you don’t even know who you are. Invest in discovering what you believe, value, & like. And yes, this will mean making mistakes, but you’ll learn & discover what you do like.
I asked myself these questions: What are my strengths? How do I want to feel in my body, relationships, & finances? Who matters most to me? Who are my people? What am I ashamed of? What do I like to do for fun? What am I worried about that consumes my thoughts? What are my values? What do I believe in? If I could have one wish, it would be… Where do I feel safest? What or who gives me comfort? What or who do I numb with? If I wasn’t afraid, I would… What is my proudest accomplishment? What is my biggest failure? Am I a night owl or an early bird? How can I arrange my life to better suit this part of me? What do I like about my job(s)? Does it bring me joy & fulfillment? What do I do to show myself love & self-care? Am I an introvert or an extrovert? Am I energized being around others or being by myself? What is/are my happiest memory/memories? What am I grateful for?
Say “no” when you need to. It doesn’t make you a bad person, it makes you smart & more able to fully yourself & those around you. Boundaries are one HUGE form of self-care because they let others know that you are deserving of respect.
Comparison is the thief of Joy -Stop. Others aren’t better or worse, more or less than you; we’re all just different. You are worthy simply because you exist. Period. The reason we struggle is because we compare everyone’s highlight reels to our behind the scenes.
The reason we struggle is because we compare everyone’s highlight reels to our behind the scenes.
Know and own your strengths. We all have tremendous gifts. refer back to those questions in number 1. And again, stop comparing. When you’re busy, distracted, & always stuck in comparison “whoa is me” mode, it’s hard to acknowledge & access these vibrant qualities. Focusing on your strengths will increase your positive feelings for yourself & inner & outer vibration.
Let go of the past. Your past mistakes and imperfections don’t need you anymore. Cut the cords physically & energetically. Embrace your humanness. Mistakes are normal. Imperfections are part of what makes you, YOU. Everything is an experience. That’s it. You can choose & begin again every day.
Accept that some people won’t like you no matter what you do. All that matters is you love YOU. People view you from their own lens of life experience & trauma. We do this to others too. So think about that before you go to judge someone. Don’t waste your time trying to please people who are impossible to please or people who just aren’t that important to you. Being yourself means you have to give up your people-pleasing ways and embrace your authentic self. People pleasing leads to you losing yourself & ultimately building resentment.
Make JOY & fun unapologetic priorities. We were meant to live this life in Joy. Put something you love & look forward to on your agenda every week. Anticipation is a key stage in helping you feel happiness; by having something to look forward to, no matter what your circumstances, you bring happiness into your life well before the event actually takes place. That’s you vibrating those happy feelings we all want which helps us attract abundance into all areas of our lives.
Practice gratitude. Gratitude is one of the simplest ways to focus on the good in yourself and in your life. Name at least 3 things you’re grateful for when you wake up every morning. Flood your mind & morning with positive quotes, images, intentions for your day. This is an enormous part of my morning routine. I speak out everything I’m grateful for no matter how silly they seem. I can’t tell you how many times I say, “Thank you God & Universe” during my days. And it has made all the positive difference. Even for small things like a light turning green, or a parking space, or bills or expenses that enable me to live a life of comfort & joy.
Here are some things I like to do that help me live in positivity & gratitude:
Waiting in a checkout line, compliment someone. Acknowledge people & say good morning. Buy someone’s groceries or coffee. Be kind to the homeless & less fortunate.
Leave sweet notes for your partner, spouse, kids, roommates, coworkers, etc telling them how much you appreciate them. Send a kind text.
Send people gifts on Amazon. OMG, one of my favorite things to do! Get their address & send them something to brighten their day! You can do this anywhere & anytime without even leaving home or getting out of your pj’s!
Tip well & express gratitude for exceptional service. Give well deserved reviews. I do this at restaurants, bars, on instacart & amazon, surveys about services.
Thank the Universe, God, Collective- whatever & whoever you believe in for letting you live another day.
Thank Mother Earth & farmers for our food.
Express your appreciation for the weather.
Daily, write down at least 3 things you feel grateful for.
Look in the mirror & appreciate all the miraculous things your body does for you. What do you love about yourself?
Open the door for people. Help the elderly. Talk to everyone no matter who they are. Tell people who serve you THANK YOU!
Take nurturing, loving care of your body! Y’all, health is truly priceless & your greatest wealth. Give yourself the gift of feeling physically strong & thriving – move, exercise regularly, eat healthfully, hydrate, get 7-8 hours of sleep most nights, say no to gluttony, & minimize alcohol &/or other numbing mechanisms. The most successful, happy people are those with daily success habits & a routine that helps them thrive!
Write yourself a love letter. Get it out, you’re amazing! This puts all the wonderful intentions out there & that’s what you’ll attract back to you. We attract what we ARE. Attraction also includes the words ACTION. Do the things that embody the person you desire to be. Repeat this list in the mirror every morning. Write them out on post it notes & put them where you can see them.
Surround yourself with a nurturing, up leveling environment. This includes everything you consume: people, books, movies, social media, food, drink, jobs, where you live, where you hang out, etc. Who you spend time with reflects how you feel about yourself. People who feel worthy surround themselves with positive people. Sometimes loving yourself means you have to end relationships & things & let them go. Let them go with LOVE.
Things that keep me HIGH VIBE⚡️✨:
Pinterest scripting (saving photos I wanna manifest & those that make me feel AMAZING, LUSCIOUS, VIBRANT, EMPOWERED, etc)
High vibe music
Exercise, walking, nature
Infrared sauna, red light therapy
Positive podcasts & audiobooks
Coloring & Canva design
Talking to my people, writing
Smiling at someone, hugging
Doing something kind for someone
Gratitude shower
Putting on makeup, hair/wardrobe accessories
Dressing in sparkly vibrant clothes/jewelry
Massage, Doing my nails, lash & hair extensions
Organizing & cleaning my space
Wearing certain colors #colortherapy
Start with the ones that feel easiest for you & work on something new every week. A reminder you can do hard things, especially when the hardest thing feels like loving YOU.
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of healthcare, fitness, & personal development.
You can find her personal weight loss & healing story here.
She’s been involved in travel nursing & radiography for 20 years! She’s a writer, connection maker, nutritionist, & entrepreneur who loves helping others & squeezing every drop out of life!
Katie grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture & healthcare were her first loves.
She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation with weight loss & Crohn’s disease.
She competed as a competitive CrossFit athlete in her early 30’s. After decades of struggling with her own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, & hormonal imbalances, she is passionate about helping others find self-love, achieve their health & business goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!
The biggest struggle as far as macros with the majority of people I work with is getting in enough protein.
Most often I see women eating in the ranges of 50-70g per day wondering why they’re not seeing tone=lean muscle, why they hungry af all the time, & not seeing results in the gym.
If there’s one thing that can help you feel satisfied & increase the chance you’ll lose body fat & gain muscle in turn, it’s eating more protein. Enjoy this guide!! Swipe!
Protein has been shown to help keep you fuller longer, speed up your metabolism, & help build muscle more efficiently. I call it the master Macro.
I realize choking down a plethora of the same ol dishes isn’t for everyone, here are some tips to help you pimp up your protein game:
HELPFUL TIPS
▫️Increase meat portions at meals
▫️Add a protein source to every meal
▫️Add protein powder or collagen to shakes, oatmeal, & pancakes if you eat carbs
I use @nuethix_formulations protein powder & greens powder (LINKS IN BIO/send me a dm with questions) link:
▫️Protein oatmeal, overnight oats (if you eat carbs)
▫️Protein shakes
▫️Mozzarella string cheese & Greek Yogurt (if no dairy intolerance)
▫️Eggs, hard boiled eggs
▫️Jerky bars & sticks
▫️All natural deli meat, Rotisserie chicken
PIMP YOUR PROTEIN! MEAL PREP TIPS + GROCERY HAUL WITH COACH K!
Questions over & over again when it comes to meal prepping, protein, & macros👉”What’s something quick & easy I can make?” &, “How can I get in more protein without the fat?”
Hailing from Fishers, Indiana, Katie is an aficionado of healthcare, fitness, & personal development. Travel Radiographer, motivational writer, nutritionist, Medium — gifts of many things, she grew up on her family’s beef cattle & crop farm where agriculture & healthcare were her first loves.
She is a Purdue University graduate well known for her storytelling of life lessons & personal transformation through Crohn’s disease & life as a radiologic technologist with 18 years experience!
After decades of struggling with her own health issues from Crohn’s, obesity, disordered eating, infertility, hormonal imbalances, & being a competitive CrossFit athlete, she is passionate about helping others find self love, embrace their gifts, achieve their goals, & create sustainable success habits for an EXTRAordinary life!
Join my coaching community & 
