Transforming from Overwhelmed to Overachiever: Ariana’s Journey

How do you drop 16lbs in your mid to late 30s while juggling a full time job that has you on 7-8 hours of zoom calls each day, raising two daughters with extracurricular activities, and during the most stressful work season of the year?

Ask my client, Ariana.

I first spoke with Ariana about 5 months ago. She was mentally ready to make a change but was extremely adamant that she simply did not have the time or energy to fit workouts into her life or the bandwidth to think about food each day.

Prior to that, she had tried almost every fad diet you can think of and was very quick to throw in the towel when weight didn’t drop quick enough.

Ariana swore that her workload and lifestyle simply did not allow for her to get in shape.

She didn’t feel broken. She didn’t feel lazy. And yet, she couldn’t make progress no matter how many times she tried.

Like most working adults, she has a phenomenal work ethic, and is a great caretaker. She fell into the habit though of putting everyone and everything ahead of herself.

Ariana didn’t feel great daily. Had no energy. Reliant on caffeine and snacks to make it through the work day. Was admittedly a bit stressed and irritable. And losing weight was a regular topic of conversation amongst her and fellow co workers.

Underneath all of that, she also knew that she wasn’t setting a positive example for her daughters. And that was something she just could not accept anymore.

Ariana found my Instagram, and that also led her to my podcast.

She told me that she resonated with my content and had a sliver of hope when she listened and applied some of the tips I gave.

She scheduled a consultation call about 5 months ago and told me about her situation.

I remember every detail of this conversation because I genuinely pay attention on my consult calls, and we dug into some personal stuff that she didn’t even realize was contributing to her mindset toward her health.

She asked if I even felt like she was someone who could be helped.

I said, absolutely. I coach clients all the time that have been successful in similar scenarios.

She was excited but still hesitant. After taking some time to think about it she decided to sign on.

Ariana was officially down over 16lbs after 4 months of coaching. Keep in mind, the first month was mostly learning, and she was only doing 2 workouts per week and a 10 min walk.

Here’s the crazier part.

Her kids’ schedules haven’t changed.

Her work schedule has gotten busier.

Her work life has gotten more stressful.

BUT she has been working out 4x per week and getting 8-10k steps per day and nailing her nutrition 80-90% of the time.

She went from 0 workouts to 4.

She went from under 4k steps to 8-10k steps.

She went from 0 nutrition consistency to 80-90%.

She’s able to make it to all of her daughters’ events.

She’s able to go on vacations.

She’s able to crush it as a leader at work.

She’s able to go on dates with her husband and out to dinner with friends.

All while breaking her self limiting beliefs and dropping almost 20lbs.

She said recently that she wants to drop another 20lbs this year but is in no rush to do so because she is confident in her habits and knows it’ll happen .

She’s happy. She’s loving the process.

She even mentioned that her husband said that he notices a huge difference in her overall mood and happiness. Like she has a renewed zest for life.

So how did we do it?

How did we get her results when nothing else worked?

Simple. I listened and learned.

I listened to her situation and what she’s dealing with. And I learned what her body and mind respond best to.

For Ariana, it was never an issue to do the work.

As a Type A, she is a chronic overachiever (we have worked on that too though and she is much more graceful to herself now)

She just needed the right plan for her lifestyle and accountability.

We built her daily nutrition habits to help repair some of the damage that was done from the yo yo diets of the past. We focused on increasing protein and focusing on easy balanced meals instead of snacks.

I had her focus on short full body strength workouts that got her in and out of the gym in 30 minutes.

We watched as her stamina, and mood dramatically improved as we removed stress from her system. She noticed more energy, less digestive issues, more mental clarity, better hunger cues, and improved body composition.

She was a little upset in the beginning that the scale wasn’t moving fast but stuck with it because she felt so great. I tried to explain to her that the scale drop was not far off.

And I was right.

After we knew her metabolism was primed and we had a plan that suited her schedule well, we did our first calorie deficit with her.

This is what led to her 16+ pound weight loss in a few months.

Then it was simply a matter of rinse and repeating that process.

The key was that we continued to build her foundation of habits. If you think about every other program she tried, none of them focus on sustainability. They’re so focused on the short-term change. But not the long-term behaviors.

So we upgraded or instilled better habits over time (what I called peeling the layers of the onion) and after a while, Ariana was like, “I feel like this has gotten automatic, like I don’t need to think about it anymore.”

Yes, because quality habits serve you for life.

The peace of mind and mental freedom she’s feeling is because she knows her results are here to stay. And she knows she can keep going.

It’s a beautiful thing.

I was thinking about Ariana’s journey because of her check in last week. She was able to go away on a week long vacation with her family, eat freely, and get right back to her normal habits with ease and without any feelings of guilt.

I always remind her that this is simply the results of the work she has put in and the consistency she has built.

Her only regret is not finding this lifestyle earlier!

Even as recent as last week I had someone message me and say that every single month she thinks about enrolling in my program and doesn’t. And I said, “imagine how many months of progress we’ve missed out on.”

It sucks to think about.

You have the exact same opportunity as Ariana. This is someone who had every reason to not start. Who legitimately believed she had no extra time and was “not a fitness person.”

She even scoffed at the idea of a desk treadmill….now she has one. Hi Ariana if you are reading this.

And here she is, a healthy, fit mom with a newfound confidence.

If she can do it, you can too.

The only difference is that she made the decision that fundamentally changed her life.

So if you want the results that she has, you simply need to do what she did…

Which is reach out and have a conversation to see if our coaching is the right fit for you.

On average, our clients drop 15-20lbs in 90-120 days while enjoying the process and improving their habits.
The only regret you’ll have is that you didn’t do it sooner.