TRUE STORY (name changed for privacy) Amy struggled with weight gain her whole life. As a child, she grew up in a middle-class American suburbia, where her parents were more concerned about getting the best deals on groceries for the week, rather than focusing on buying “organic” or “non-GMO” foods, which was just picking up speed in the 90’s. She was an outdoorsy-type tomboy, but never really ‘worked out’. When Amy became a teenager, her weight and insecurity in herself went up as much as her self-confidence went down. Growing yp during the age of the South Beach diet, Atkin’s, Weight Watchers and the even more extreme “Lemon Juice, Cayenne and Maple Syrup Water Cleanse” she became convinced (like many of us) that the only way to lose weight was to deprive herself.
INFO INJECTION: Why Fad Diets DON’T Work The Way You THINK They Do
It sounds mathematically correct; less calories in = more weight lost. Though this does work in the short term, the ‘weight’ you are losing, isn’t the good type. Fad diets such as keto and cleanses work in pretty much the same way, depleting the easily available weight such as carbs (i.e. ENERGY) and water from your body.
First off, let’s break down this ‘weight loss’ into three different categories: skeletal muscle, visceral fat and water weight. Skeletal muscle is what burns calories, which is why having MORE muscle is beneficial in a weight loss fitness program, since you’ll have more muscle to burn more calories, therefore increasing your metabolism. Visceral fat is frankly, not terrible. In it’s simplest form, fat is just stored energy to be used for later. It doesn’t cost anything to your body’s systems to store it for a rainy day. Water weight fluctuates daily, depending on how much sodium you’ve ingested, hormonal fluctuations, and how much you sweat in a day.
When your body undergoes an extreme diet change, the EASIEST weight to lose is 1. water 2. stored carbs (i.e. glycogen). This is why when you fast or switch to a low carb diet, your body quickly eats up the stored carbs in your muscles and liver over the next couple days, leaving you energetically depleted and fatigued. Some people will even feel the “keto flu” which is headache, extreme fatigue, insomnia, and brain fog associated with not eating enough carbohydrates. Did you know your body’s FAVORITE energy source comes from carbs? Also, in order to store 1 molecule of carbs, your body needs 2 molecules of water! Guess what happens when you get rid of the stored carbs? You get rid of the stored water weight as well!
THIS is why people drop 10lb+ in a couple days of fasting or being on the keto diet! Notice, this weight isn’t fat – its ENERGY. This is comparable to weighing a car with a full tank of gas vs an empty tank. Once you eat carbs again, that weight on the scale goes right back up…
Back to Amy…
Amy’s body was stuck in starvation mode, a natural response to constant undereating. She thought that the low energy and constant injuries were just a ‘part of getting older’, not a direct reflection on her nutrition choices.
Eventually, she stumbled upon Untamed Fitness.
After sitting down with her and getting her nutritional history, we didn’t just give her a meal plan, but an entirely new way of thinking about food! Food wasn’t the enemy, it was a means to get your body fuel for the things she wanted to do in her life. It was an integral part of supplying energy to her muscles, her digestive system and even her brain!
In just 6 weeks of personalized nutrition coaching, she learned:
🔹 What her body’s cravings were telling her —not what the latest diet trend told her to eat.
Your body doesn’t just have cravings to mess with you or make you feel guilty about eating pizza – your cravings tell you what your body is nutritionally missing!
Craving sugar late at night? –> a good sign you didn’t eat enough (good) calories that day
Want chocolate? –> hormonal fluctuations and low magnesium may be the culprit
Can’t seem to stop snacking? –> You may just need to increase your water intake
🔹 When to eat different macros to keep her energy balanced and increase her metabolism naturally
Just did a cardio workout? You need carbs!
Just did a strength workout? You need protein!
About to workout in the next 90 minutes? Avoid fats and fiber!
🔹 How to nourish herself first so she could show up as her best self in every part of her life.
- Plan your meal prep days on days you have light workouts or recovery days.
- Get into bed 30 min earlier than normal to allow time to journal and calm down from the day.
- Drink about 3/4 – 1 gallon a day to ensure full hydration! Add electrolyte drinks if you are a heavy sweater or it’s an abnormally hot day.
Amy doubled her results by pairing her nutrition program with 3x a week personal training sessions. These didn’t just change her body, but recalibrated her entire relationship with food and her health.
It took 2 years of eating well and working out to fix 20 years of metabolic abuse and neglect, but she was finally able to break free from decades of malnutrition, rediscover her strength, and learned that food wasn’t the problem—it was the solution.
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