Episode 36: Real Client Interview: From pandemic survival mode to prediabetes in 6 years (here's how she turned it around)

What if the survival habits that got you through the pandemic are now putting your long-term health at risk? 

That's exactly what happened to my client Christine. Like so many of us, she leaned into comfort foods, wine, and whatever got her through those stressful times. But six years later, at 50, those habits had caught up with her — and her recent bloodwork showed she was prediabetic. 

Despite going back to eating clean and taking care of herself in recent years, Christine was still waking up exhausted, dealing with constant brain fog, and fighting inflammation so intense that even stretching hurt. 

She'd tried cutting sugar, adding more protein, drinking more water, but nothing was giving her back the energy and control she desperately wanted. 

In this conversation, Christine opens up about how she went from prediabetic and defeated to energized and confident in just weeks. 

You'll hear the real life challenges she faced, the moments she wanted to give up, and the game-changer she didn't know she needed that finally turned everything around. 

If you're dealing with prediabetes, stubborn weight, or energy crashes that have you no longer recognizing your body, this episode will show you exactly what's possible when you stop following one-size-fits-all strategies and trying to figure it out alone. 

Ready to get clarity on what's going on inside you? Book your Complimentary Health Audit with Joanne Here. We'll look at your unique situation, identify where your key metabolic imbalances might be and create a roadmap for reclaiming your energy and health — naturally and sustainably. No obligation. Just real answers.

Want to learn more about The Metabolic Balance Program - the program I use in my practice to get my client real results that last? 

Discover what everyone is talking about! The world's leading personalized nutrition and hormone-balancing system with the highest global success rate for sustainable weight loss and health transformation without pills, shakes or expensive proprietary foods.

One nutrition plan based on YOUR bloodwork. No deprivation. No one-size-fits-all diet. Just real food matched to your own biochemistry for real, lasting results.

Watch the information video here.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hey there! If you're exhausted, foggy, or stuck in a body that just does not feel or look like yours anymore, you are in the right place, my friend. My name is Joanne Willis. I am a registered holistic nutritionist, cancer survivor, and fellow parametopause warrior. And I am here to help you understand what's really going on inside that body of yours so you can finally figure it all out, put the pieces together, and feel better again naturally. Every week on the Midlife Vitality Project, we'll dig into the real reasons behind midlife weight gain, fatigue, mood swings, and all those other weird and wacky symptoms of perimetopause, and all the things your doctor might have told you are just aging. We'll explore how to rebalance your metabolism, support those hormones, and bring your blood chemistry back into alignment so you can feel vibrant, clear, and confident in your body once again. Because midlife isn't the end, my friend. It's the beginning of your strongest, healthiest, most powerful chapter yet. Are you ready? Let's go. Hey there, welcome back to the podcast, and you are gonna love this one, especially if you've been wondering yourself whether it's actually possible in midlife to feel like that old version of you, you know, the one that seems to have just taken off on vacation without giving you notice. If you have been wondering whether it is possible to get that youthful vitality back and start to recognize who you are again after years of low energy, broken sleep, brain fog, and that constant feeling that your body just doesn't respond anymore, today's episode is going to give you so much hope. I'm talking in this episode with a client of mine, and her story is going to blow you away. This is my client Christine, who just six weeks ago she was waking up exhausted, and I mean bottom of the tank, exhausted every morning, dealing with blood sugar crashes that left her shaky and desperate for the nearest snack, and feeling so inflamed and achy that even stretching was painful. She tried everything she could think of cutting out sugar, adding more protein, drinking more water, but nothing was giving her the energy and the balance that she so desperately wanted back. She was starting to wonder if this was just what life looked like now that she was at 50 years old. But here's what's incredible about Christine's story. Within five days of starting her personalized nutrition plan, one that we created specifically from her blood work, Christine had more energy than she had felt since before the pandemic. Yes, so where is that? Almost six years now. By three weeks in, she was sleeping through the night, her cravings were completely gone, and she had released 15 pounds without even focusing on weight loss. In fact, weight loss just became a nice side effect of everything else that she was experiencing. So, what I want you to listen for today isn't just Christine's amazing results, but it's how she approached the process. You're going to hear how she stayed committed even when things got challenging, how she embraced support instead of trying to go it alone and why that made so much of a difference, and how being completely honest and transparent with me as her coach also made the difference in how she felt throughout the process and ultimately in her success at this point. If you have been feeling defeated or wondering if real change is even possible anymore, then Christine is going to show you exactly what becomes available when you stop guessing and start working with your body's actual needs. You ready? We're going to jump into our conversation, and here is Christine. Okay, hi Christine. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode. I'm so excited to have you here. I know our listeners are going to take so much from this. So I want to dive in and I first want you to take us back to what life felt like before we started working together.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Well, Joanne, first, thank you for having me on this podcast episode with you. I'm super excited to be here. And yeah, if I was to describe how I was feeling prior to doing the metabolic balance with you, I would say I was not feeling at all like myself and hasn't hadn't felt like myself in a really long time. Um what was that? I hear that a lot. Yep. Yeah, yeah. And so I'm not exactly sure when it started, but I know that for the last several years, I just have been slowly feeling less like myself, tired all the time, not sleeping well, not sleeping through the night, um, having crazy cravings for like sugar and things that I normally don't include on my diet. Um, putting on weight when being mindful about what I'm putting into my body, which seems crazy to me. Um I definitely had lots of brain fog, uh, inability to focus. Um, my energy was really low, which for me is really hard to admit because I've often been like I've always been a high energy person. And so I was really finding that my energy was really low all the time. And um, I've also been having some like physical challenges. Like I've thrown my back out like three times in the last year, and have been so inflamed and like holding on to so much water in my body that it's like it's hard to stretch. Like just everything was feeling really difficult. And like I said, everything really comes back down to that energy piece. It's like I was putting on weight, I wasn't having my normal energy, I wasn't sleeping well, brain fog all the time, achy joints, and just overall just not feeling like myself. Is that enough to say?

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Absolutely. I think that's a great place to start. So, how would you say that this was affecting your life in the day-to-day? Like, what were mornings like for you? And work like trying to get through a work day with your energy and your mood crashing the way it was.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah, my energy crashed a lot. And actually, often I felt like I was already crashed when I woke up. So I wasn't feeling really revived and rejuvenated from sleep. So it was like getting my butt out of bed was like, you know, the six alarm hit snooze, constantly doing it. Sounds familiar. Yeah. And I would eventually get myself up, have my coffee, and like get myself going. And I felt okay for the first little bit, but like just found myself really drained about halfway through the day. And then when I would have lunch, like I'm very commonly for me, um, you know, I tend to not really think about the food until I need the food. So it's like all of a sudden I'd be through six or seven hours of my workday and be like, oh my God, I'm starving. Like, I need something to eat. And so I would go for either the first thing I could find, or I, you know, just was that wasn't feeling prepared these last number of months. And so um was, I think that's partly why my energy was crashing a lot, but certainly was not consistent, or I was snacking a lot, which just had me snacking more. And I just couldn't, you know, I don't know if this is answering your question. I maybe I'm going off the rails here.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

But yeah, no, no, this is this is great because I think there's a lot of women that can resonate with how you're feeling or how you were feeling, I should say.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Yeah, and it just took a lot to show up fully every day. And then by the end of my workday, I was just crashed out. Like, like I said, I had thrown my back out three times last year and was still in recovery over the last few months. So that was partially for that, like due to that. But I just had so much inflammation in my body and was so low on energy that it I just I felt like I was, I felt like I was removing myself from life, you know, like I've always been very vibrant and full of energy. And all of a sudden I didn't have time or didn't feel like I had the time or energy to actually, you know, go out and do social things, put myself back out in the world. It just didn't feel like something I wanted to do anymore, which isn't normal for me.

SPEAKER_00 8:09

And this all started to come about for you in your 40s, right? This was when you noticed that perimenopause was definitely at play. Like you were going through it, you had a lot of those other types of symptoms, if I recall. And so was there a point where you thought at one point maybe this is just how it's gotta be from this point on? Like this is midlife. Everybody talks about perimenopause and menopause, and it's the hormones. Maybe there's nothing I can do. Like, did that ever cross your mind? And if so, what did you try before you and I connected to to try and turn things around? Yeah, that's a great question.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Cause I would say I definitely had that on my mind a lot. Like maybe this is just it. Like I hit 50 last summer, and it's like as soon as I hit 50, everything started really going downhill. And um, I mean, I think that was just the place that I was in, but also yeah, I've been feeling I I don't think I realized that I actually started perimenopause in my 30s, probably mid to late 30s.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

And it happens more than we think, right? It's not always a 40s thing.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

No, and I was like shocked to learn that and definitely um often felt like, okay, well, maybe this is just it. Like I'm just gonna be achy all the time. And like I'd get out of bed in the morning and my my joints would hurt so bad that it was like hard to move for the first hour of the day, you know, just thinking, well, maybe this is aging, you know? And um I I just I also knew there was a part of me that was like, this can't be it, you know. Like, and I think too, you know, you and I have talked about this, but that there's there's been for a long the longest time there's been no information about perimenopause or menopause. And now all of a sudden there's so much information, right? So it's like oh now we have so much, yeah. So now we have so much information. So I kept trying, like I was trying to do things. So I would hear something and it'd be like, oh, okay, just drink more water, maybe that's all I need to do. Great, I'll do that. And then I I just tried different things, tried taking out like sugar, not adding sugar to my meals, tried like, you know, um having more protein in my in my meals versus having a more carbohydrate, like sort of like forward um, you know, parts of my of my meals. So I started doing little things, but like it just felt like nothing was really, really working. Like I definitely found that more protein was better, but my energy still wasn't being elevated. I still wasn't sleeping through the night. Like I still had those struggles.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

And you are, I think it's important that we clarify this too, because you are somebody that has paid a lot of very close attention to how you eat for many, many years. Like you are not somebody that always ate junk food and could potentially put it down to an unhealthy diet. You are somebody that has been very in tune with your body for many years. You've already done a lot of work to cut out wheat, to cut out um dairy, if I remember. And so you are you're aware, like you don't eat junk. It's not kind of in your nature to do so. You do try to make healthy choices and eat clean. So I think it's interesting, I think it's important to point that out because there's a lot of women I know out there that already feel like they're making positive changes and they are eating healthy, but why isn't it working now? It maybe did help before. So can you talk a little to a bit to that? Like why you think that it wasn't quite enough anymore?

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Hmm, that's interesting. And it's funny because I'm nodding along, and then I'm also realizing, you know, during that time of our lives where like the world shut down, you know. I mean, I think like many people, I went into survival mode, I was running a business, and everything was very stressful because I wasn't able to, you know, actually do my business in the way that I had created my business. So it created a lot of stress, it created financial stress, it created like just stress in the world. What do I know? What do I don't? What do I not know? Right. Like just so much unknowns at that time. And I know for sure, you know, at the beginning it was like, okay, well, I'm just gonna have a little snack attack and have some wine throughout the day because this is fun. You know, we're not working. And at first it was kind of like that, but then that just carried on for me. And then it felt like I actually didn't have control to like let go of the vices that were getting me through that point of survival. And and I kind of held on to some of those habits for a while, right? So to your point, yes, I did eat clean foods and whole foods, and I was very much like I've always been for many years of my life, I've been somebody who makes most of my foods from scratch, you know, using, you know, the the everything from the external aisles of the of the grocery store. Um but during that time, yeah, but during that time, I definitely started leaning into more of, you know, um like the survival foods, you know, just anything to give myself a boost to energy and to feel better. And I pandemic survival kit, as I call it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Like a six being there. Yes. Yeah, right. Or 12 bottles of wine in a box, ordering at a time, like that was me at that time, right? Um, and it's interesting that although in the last couple of years, I've I've pulled a lot of those things out, trying to, you know, uh shift those habits back into my pre-pandemic habits, which are Whole Foods and not snacking like on that stuff all the time or drinking alcohol. In fact, I gave up alcohol well over a year ago, like have maybe had a couple alcoholic beverages in the last like two years. Um, and I found that again, that helped a little bit, but it's like I was still experiencing all these things, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:39

There's other things that you still couldn't put your finger on. It it was moving the needle a little bit, each thing that you tried, but it wasn't, it still wasn't solving. There was clearly something bigger going on. You really like it.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Yeah, and like all the hacks that I had for myself before, like didn't like stopped working, you know. Yeah, and I think you can get so far and you like are doing the thing that you know to do, but when you're not seeing any results, you're just like, you know what, forget it. Like, I'm not seeing results anyway. What's the point? And you know, you kind of want to give up on yourself. So I think a part of me for a while there, I guess, gave up on myself a little bit, but then kind of hit that point where I was like, okay, like I can't not sleep every night. I I am a total monster when I don't sleep well. You know, I don't want my body to hurt like this. Like, even stretching, which I've been pretty committed to doing since I threw my back out the last time, and it's an every morning thing for me. It was difficult for me to get down on the ground and to actually do the stretches. It was like causing me pain while also bringing relief, right? And so I think it was like about that time that you and I started having this conversation about this thing you were doing, and I was like, tell me more because I really want to start feeling like more like myself. It's almost like I'd been feeling not like myself for so long that I forgot what it could feel like to be like myself. And then you started talking about this thing, and I was like, oh my God, like I need this thing because I want to feel like that's right.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

And I remember because we started talking about it, because I have myself have been following the program and I've lost 30 pounds, and you were noticing this, and you're like, okay, tell me, what are you doing that I'm not? And I remember just having that conversation. And so I explained to that a big part of how I help clients with my methodology is that we want to identify what that underlying issue is that you clearly knew was there. You knew there was a bigger issue going on, and that's what I work with my clients to help identify, and we do it through blood work. So that was the part, if I remember, that really kind of clicked for you. And you thought, you know what, that makes so much sense. I remember you saying because there's obviously underlying issues, underlying imbalances going on with me that I'm not quite hitting the mark on. And blood work doesn't lie, right? I remember us talking about that. So tell me a little bit about kind of this was the point where you decided, you know what, you were almost at the point where you were ready to give up. You felt like you tried so many different things and nothing was working like it used to, but then this program sounded different. You could see the results in me. You liked the idea of the blood work. What was it that clicked that made you want to say, okay, one more attempt, this is it. I'm going all in.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

I think um, if I'm honest, I think when I saw your face, like you were deflated, like deflated in a positive way. What I mean is like you, it's like I didn't notice that you had also been inflamed previously, right? Retaining water in your face, for example. And then when I saw you after so many weeks and I saw your face, I was like, oh my gosh, like you just look like you feel better, like you don't have like and you showed me your before and after, and I was like, holy shit, like that's exactly um, like I feel like you're before. Yeah, and I can see the difference in your face. And like there was there was so that made the connection for me. The second one is like you had told me about your weight loss, and I was like, well, that's cool. And I know my body needs to release weight, but I can't focus on weight loss anymore. That can't be the only thing and the only reason I'm doing this thing, right? Because I've been probably like just about probably every woman that you talk to, you know, for so much of my life, it's like I have gone on different diets and done different things to try to make my body smaller. And I just knew that that was not going to be the focus for me anymore, right? Like I am not a better human. I am not a better woman because I am smaller in size. You know, I am now 50, right? I love myself now. I actually give a shit about the intention I put out into the world. And I know that my weight is the last of my concerns, really in the big scheme of things. But but when you talk, when you started talking about how you were sleeping through the night, how you didn't have brain fog anymore, how you felt like you could actually get through conversations and not be paused all the time about what the hell was I just saying, you know? And it's like those were some of the energy. Like I remember when that one of the nights that we were talking about this, I mean, we were up past my bedtime, which I was already falling asleep on. I know exactly what you mean. You were like you just would keep you could have kept going all night. And I was like, oh my God, I can't keep up. And then I was like, well, wait, if she is if she's feeling like this and I has this energy, holy, like that's gotta be possible for me too. So I think that was the that the energy and the sleeping through the night and then not having the brain fog and the less achy joints and the you know, just feeling like more in control of your life, like choosing something different, yeah, you know, than what we were accepting before. I was like, oh my gosh, like that's it. Like I just wanna, I want my face to be deflated, like you're and I'm saying deflated, that's not the right word, but you understand what I'm saying. You actually look 100% deep loaded, that'd be a good word. I don't know. Less puffy, less puffy, less puffy, yes. There you go. Yeah, I didn't notice it until you pointed it out like your before and after picture, and I was like, holy moly, like I feel that in my body, you know. Every time I pull my leg up to my chest while I'm lying down to stretch, I I am tight. And I could see that because you didn't have that water retention in your body anymore, you probably weren't gonna feel that kind of pain. And I was like, I want that.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

You know, yeah, I do. I remember that night very well. So no, and they are I'm so glad that you chose to to move along in the program with me. So a quick little caveat here, because I want to talk about the experience and how it actually well, like what parts came easier, maybe than you expected, and also what challenged you. Because I think I spend a lot of time trying to explain to women that it's important you understand when you're making a true long-term sustainable health transformation and you're going about it the right way, it's not going to be linear. You're going to, your body's having to adapt to new ways of doing things if you want to see different results and to be able to sustain them. So I talk to women a lot about that. And so expecting that there will be challenges along the way is something that I believe should be expected right up front and is part of the journey, but it's also an exciting learning part of the journey. So a quick um little caveat about what happened here. So how when we got you started on the program, and this is obviously all anybody that uh follows the metabolic balance program, you start with a personalized food list, a personalized blueprint, and that is derived from your blood work. We take 36 blood markers, and from there, you you then have your own meal plan essentially created for you. Now you get foods to choose from from all the necessary proteins and vegetables that we must have in our day, and you get to kind of play and experiment with putting the meals together, but in a very strategic way. So when you got your personalized food list and you saw it for the first time after we'd had your blood taken and analyzed, what was it that surprised you the most? Was there any surprises in there first?

SPEAKER_01 21:08

Um I would say, well, there was nothing, basically, there were no carbohydrates of any kind on my list.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Like that in the ground right now. Well, we say that, but if you remember, and I remember this conversation, carbohydrates you were looking for like the the ones that most people assume are carbohydrates, the starchies, the the uh like the starchy types of carbohydrates, the the grains and the pastes or that type of thing. Whereas I had to point out that your vegetable list is your carbohydrates, right? Because they are your healthy, complex carbohydrates. And we often don't a lot of people don't consider that they are carbohydrates, but they're the ones we should be eating more of and less of the ones that typically people think about. And there's a a strategic reason to that. But I remember that was an eye opener for you.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

Yeah, well, and and you know, since even Starting because you know, you're our the meals are so well balanced, and the the the vegetables is a predominant amount of your you know balance on your plate essentially every time you're having a meal. That the first thing I noticed when I got started was how how I had not been eating enough vegetables in my life for a while. Like I was definitely eating vegetables, but I wasn't eating a whole lot of variety, and I certainly wasn't eating enough vegetables. Number one, that's absolute. Right. The second was the amount of water that I needed to consume because of the weight that I was at and the the journey that we're on in trying to reduce that uh that that the ret had the water retention in our bodies and to flesh out a lot of what was going on. I have to drink a lot, or I still have to drink a lot of water. And so I was like, oh my God, how am I gonna possibly drink that amount of water? And really, I think um I think I think less threw me off, more just kind of I had to get my brain around. I'd been, you know, making meals for a while that always had, for example, you know, rice vegetable protein. Rice vegetable protein. And so I had to get my head away from the idea that I was going to be eating carbohydrates in the way that I had before, because I thought that that's what was sustaining my energy, but actually it wasn't because I was snacking in between meals. And I I actually one of the things I I don't know if I can go off the rails here a little bit, but one of the things I noticed one of the things I noticed almost right away was how much less I was consuming, but yes, but how much more I was getting out of it. And so it's like I looked at my plate, I remember the first couple of times and I was like, that's it. Like I was like, that can't be enough food. But then I but then I ate it and I was like, oh, actually, it it was it was giving me energy, it was sustaining me. And I I certainly, certainly at first, and I'm sure we're gonna get to it, but certainly at first, I wasn't having any cravings for anything else. It was just like I was just eating the meals that I was meant to eat. I it was simple enough for me to put things together. There were lots of ideas on recipes and stuff through like the Facebook group, et cetera. So I loved that I could go in there and kind of be inspired by what people were already doing and how I could have more fun with my food.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

Yeah, you were having lots of fun in there. I remember seeing you sharing, sharing recipes and getting lots of other motivating motivation and recipes from others. Yeah, you were loving it in there.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Yeah, and I think I I think what I liked the most is I'm also somebody who I found out in my adult years uh that I have an ADHD. And so sometimes putting foods together is difficult for me because I'm not a planner by nature. I don't plan that way. I respond to the world and I'd respond to when I'm hungry and I just go and get the food and eat it. So what I loved about the plan is that it tells you like exactly what you need to eat and how much of what you need to eat. So it's like, even though I don't like structure, I need structure to be able to color outside the lines in a little bit. And that really helped make everything so much simpler for me. It was like, I need lunch. Okay, what do I have? I would pre-cook some proteins in the week, so I would have them ready. And then I would just be like, I need this much chicken and I need this much vegetable and I need this much of whatever else. So it actually was really simple and easy to follow in that sense. And it made it really easy for me to know exactly what to eat. So I liked that part about it a lot.

SPEAKER_00 25:06

That's awesome. And you actually, I was going to ask you about that because I remember you mentioning that discovering you had ADHD was a relatively recent discovery for you. It wasn't something you've known since childhood, for example. It was something that's popped up in recent years. So I was curious how the structure, but not just like how the structure actually helped you. And it's it's it I'm it's great to hear that it did. Now, along the lines of that, what about the coaching aspect? I know again, when I I've been I've been a registered nutritionist for over 18 years, and I have ran into many situations where I will be talking to somebody and they they're not entirely sure they need the coaching. And they think as long as you give me the plan and you tell me what I need to eat, they think they can go it alone. And there are some people that can, but a lot of people are okay for a while and then they start to kind of fall off track and they may or may not reach out. And it's unfortunate when that happens, and I, you know, I come across that from time to time because I I want to hold them accountable, but they may struggle with that. So how did you find, did you find the coaching element, I guess I should say, where you and I worked very, very closely together, certainly in those early days, and it's a 12-week, very structured program that we go through. How did you find the coaching element of the program? Was it more useful and supportive and needed, I guess you could say, than you thought initially?

SPEAKER_01 26:38

Oh my gosh, it was absolutely needed. I mean, I'm a pretty independent roller, like I can just roll with the punches and make things work for me. But what I loved is that literally uh you have so many questions at the beginning, right? Because you're adapting to this new lifestyle, you're adapting to sometimes new foods that are in your life. Like I don't, I mean, I enjoy fish, but I don't regularly cook fish. And now I cook fish every single week. I have fish for like three meals at least of a week, right? So it's it's a it's a transition. And even though I've done things similar to it, nothing ever has been quite like this. And I've never been in this mindset before in really wanting what I wanted again. Sure, weight release, amazing, but the rest of the things is really where I was focused, right? And still am focused. But you really helped me to identify, like when I was running into struggles or challenges, or I was in my head about something, or I was all like angry about the fact that I had to drink four liters of water today.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

I remember those days.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

You know, like you were able to, like, first of all, you're able to answer all of my questions and and then some, right? Like you not only answered my question to give me the the answer that, you know, maybe you were required to give, but then you also helped me understand the why and behind what was going on. And I find that when I understand why I'm doing something, right? It's not like just do this thing, just eat these foods, and you'll be good. It's like you helped me understand why each component was so important. And um, you helped me to really just keep going, like keep trying to get that four liters of water in every day. Um, you know, how important it was to have those five hours between meals. And there were some days where that was more hard than others, right? So just having you in my back pocket, literally, I could message you and you would respond and just remind me why I was doing this thing. You would help support me and what I needed to know. And, you know, I think that for the clients that are maybe coming to you and thinking they don't need the coaching is because they don't know that they need it yet. Like sometimes we don't know what we need, right? And how how often, like we've been living in this culture of diet culture our entire lives, right? And I think that the part the part of us that doesn't want that coaching piece is probably the shame of being held accountable because if we didn't lose those two pounds, we didn't lose those five pounds, then somehow we've done something wrong, right? And the thing is, that's not where you're holding us accountable. The accountability piece where you're holding is like, okay, Christine, I hear you that you're struggling. You acknowledge the struggle that I'm going through. And then you're like, how can we work around? There's always a way. Like I'm right. I remember there was there was like there was uh filet mignon was one of was like my beef uh option. Yes, yeah. My and then I had chicken breast and and um and I forget what else. And then but uh everything on my list was like salmon, for example. I love salmon, but it's like all of these items were like the highest priced possible proteins on the planet. And I was like, okay, I love this, and I can I can support this, but but it's gonna be really expensive if I just keep eating filet mignon and freaking, you know, whatever every day.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

Exactly. I remember that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:42

Right. And so, like you every step of the way, you have helped me to find alternatives. You have helped me understand why my body is responding the way that it is, and on days where I did want to give up, because as you remember, like I hit a point where the first like week went amazing. The second week, I really ran into trouble and my blood sugar was like dropping really fast. I'd go like a couple of hours after a meal, and all of a sudden, my blood sugar and I was like super hangry and I was shaky, and I was like, I can't get through meetings like this. Like, I can't think because my brain has no food left. And I remember us deciphering, you could probably speak to this better, but you know, you asked me some questions and it was around like, what are the proteins that you're consuming this week? And how are they different? What's what's different from this week than it was last week? And we realized that the week before I was eating like my fish, chicken, steak, like I was doing all of the proteins that have the high density proteins, right? That have some natural fat in them, right? Because and they're more dense. And that second week, I started eating more of like tofu, mushrooms, things that didn't have that density. And therefore it just wasn't any.

SPEAKER_00 30:49

That's right. Because I remember they they were all foods that were chosen for you based on your blood work to be the most nutrient dense and give you essentially the biggest bang for your buck and as far as restoring balance. But in that beginning stage, that was a deep conversation that I remember us having, is it was explaining that in those early days where your body you're essentially retraining your body to no longer use immediate sugar and glucose that's in your bloodstream from all the snacking that you were doing in between and eating quite regularly, your body could no longer rely on that for its quick energy source. And that's what it was so used to that it was like a spoiled little child initially. It's saying, What what do you mean? Like I have to wait five hours, and what do you mean I have to go find my energy from somewhere else, which is the stored fat? And that's the strategy, right? Behind that initial beginning phase, the first two phases of the program is to optimize your body's fat burning potential, but it takes time for your body to recalibrate. So it did, it was fighting back, it was fighting back initially, and so we needed to until your body got to a point where it felt more comfortable going after that stored fat, we wanted to make you as comfortable as possible. So we had to kind of revert back to those high density proteins at least for another week or so until you felt that you could get through those five-hour gaps between meals, and then you could have go and start trying some of those other more low density proteins that you'd inadvertently move to with probably a little too soon, right? But again, because we were working so closely together at the time, and you were so open, and I think it's important to point that out as well, Chris, is that you yes, I appreciate everything you've said about how I was always there to support you and hold you accountable and coach you through and answer your questions, but you've heard the old adage, you can lead a horse to water, right? And I think it's absolutely you get out of this what you put into it. And you came to this fully committed and willing to acknowledge that change was necessary, and you were willing to do something that you have never done before in order to shift and get results you have never seen before. And so that says a lot about you as well, and that's why you're doing so fantastic on this program. So I realize I digressed there a little bit, but I think it's so important to point that out is that if you are truly committed, then um there it's a it's a a wealth of possibility of if you know where you can get to.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

Well, and I was gonna say too, like, I know that for me, I don't think that there's anything wrong with anybody who wants to do like hormone replacement therapy or anything like that, if that's the stage that they're at in their life.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

100%.

SPEAKER_01 33:51

But for me, I was like, you know what? I have always been somebody who, you know, I wait to take the advilitanol, you know, like I don't take it right away when I have a headache. I drink water first and try to do whatever I can naturally to support myself. And then if I really need something, then I'll then I'll take it. If I really need the doctor and I need some medicine, I will take it, right? But um I I just couldn't see myself doing um, you know, hormone replacement therapy forever. And it's not cheap either, right? So it's like when I started to do the math on, I would rather get back to some basics for myself and get my body back to a place like internally balanced so that I'm not leaning into all the snacks and the sugar, which I knew that I was doing, right? Because I was constantly needing to have a snack. And and I just wanted to balance things more naturally as opposed to going that direction. And I've always said, if I did this and I still needed to supplement myself with something else, then okay, then then I'm willing to do that, right? Yeah. I certainly don't want to shame or say anything negative about you know anything that is related to hormone replacement therapy because I think every so different things work for different people, right? But for me, I really wanted to do something that I know that food can heal and I know that food is a great place to start. And when we've done everything that we can, then then I can bring in something else and support later. But what I'm finding already, and even just like what has it been? Six weeks, I think, since I've done this.

SPEAKER_00 35:14

Yep, about six weeks now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

Like all of the things that I was really challenged by have dissipated. Like I'm sleeping through the night. I I don't have brain fog. I don't have the same challenge with my joints. I can stretch a whole lot easier. I've dropped, you know, about 18 pounds in total since we started. And so, and in that, not only again, I'm not focused on the weight and the number of that, but as a result of that, it's been like water retention and inflammation that has left my body. So I'm feeling a little more limber. I'm able to move easier. I have way more energy. Like, you know, when it's like time for bed, it's time for bed. But like otherwise, I have more energy to get through the day. And I am feeling now what I haven't been feeling. I thought I said this to you earlier. I haven't been feeling this much energy since pre-pandemic.

SPEAKER_03 36:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Like you found the pre-pandemic Christine again. Seriously, I found the energy again. Yeah, you know, and so you thought it was gone.

SPEAKER_00 36:12

And you were really starting to be, you were concerned that was it ever going to come back, right? Which is so, so common a thought for women going through perimenopause and menopause.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

Yeah. But like your support has been, uh, I think it's critical and it's been so pivotal in this experience for me because, like I said, you've helped me understand what's going on. You've, you've aligned with, you see and acknowledge. You don't shame me. You're not asking like, how come you only lost like whatever, what, two pounds this week? Like, you're like, that's great, you're going in the right direction, right? And our focus isn't just weight, our focus is all these other things.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

Absolutely. The non-scale victories that we call them. Typically, they seem to be the ones that surprise people the most, right? And the the weight loss is this positive side effect almost, regardless of the fact that it might have been what initially spurred them on in the first place, right? Because that was kind of where you came from initially, but you've noticed so many other non-scale victories as a result.

SPEAKER_01 37:11

Yeah, and like I even I know that we haven't spoken to them, so I'm sorry if I'm going off the rails on you again. No, no, I love it, I love it. Real conversation. Yeah, it's true. Even from when we started and I got my blood work done, and I learned that I was pre-diabetic. Yes, this was a shock for you. You did not see this one coming. I did not. I mean, I knew that something was off, but I knew that the things that I was trying weren't really working, like nothing was really having an effect like this.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:41

And, you know, when I found out, like I was already committed to doing this, but as soon as I found out I was pre-diabetic, I was like, oh damn. Like I don't want to be, I don't want to be a diabetic, right? I know that that's gonna be challenging. And I know I'm gonna have to rely on medicine to support and balance me. And I don't want that. And so I just I'm I've only gotten started. I'm just scratching the surface, and I feel like such a version of myself that I haven't felt in such a long time. And I feel like I've taken control over my life again. I feel like I'm making better choices, even when I go out to eat. Like I went out to celebrate my son getting his driver's license the other day. And even though I I considered it like my cheap meal of the week, right? Yeah, I still had like a good piece of meat. I had a vegetable, right? And I didn't actually end up eating the starches because I didn't really feel that good eating all the starches all the time anymore, right? So it's like I've noticed happening.

SPEAKER_00 38:34

Yes, people's taste buds change so often. And I think that you've just hit on something there that happens so much, and it's again one of those other positive side effects is that in the beginning, a lot of women think, oh, you I you know, I can't imagine a life without me ever being able to have this treat food or that treat food. Well, the good news is on this program, you are able to have a treat meal at least once a week, relatively early on, right? Once we finish the metabolic reset stage, but then the whole intention of the program it goes beyond the 12 weeks. We are working to help you bring back foods one at a time in a very strategic way that your body is happy to accept again. And a lot of people find that foods they could not tolerate before, all of a sudden they're able to, and they have a more varied diet than they probably even started with. But their taste buds have changed, and the high sugary foods often aren't the ones that make them happy anymore. And even when they have the option to go and have it, it's their weekly treat meal, they choose not to. And this is what you discovered too.

SPEAKER_01 39:43

Yeah, like definitely even after, even after the first, like, because I've done sheet meals for a couple weeks now or a few weeks now, and I even had a trip to New York and I was gone for a whole week with work, and I was still mindful about the choices that I was making, you know, and I was still able to meet the the needs of this program and still be able to support myself while being, you know, uh not fully in charge of my schedule, not being able to just, you know, go and get food when I needed it, but I could I could plan to a certain some certain degree and I could make choices that were supporting me. And actually, I felt great all week. Like I had energy the whole week when normally by the end of that work week I would have been like completely flattened and I wasn't, you know, which was Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:27

I love your check-ins. Your weekly check-ins infuse me with energy because I can feel it in you, I can see it in you, and you truly have been an absolute pleasure to this point, and I know it's only gonna get better for you. So I think so. We've talked a lot about the results of where you're at right now. You're six weeks in. You've talked about the first signs of progress that you notice, we've talked about some of the challenges that you face, which again are very much to be expected, right? Nothing is linear when something is worth it. We've talked about how your weight loss was um a nice, a nice benefit. It was like a healthy side effect. There was just so many other improvements to your health and your mood that just were more than you anticipated. How would you say this is now changing your daily life already at this point, as far as just your confidence? And you mentioned before that you were checking out socially, you were struggling professionally. So, how are you already noticing these changes are impacting your day-to-day?

SPEAKER_01 41:35

Well, I definitely have more in the battery, more in the tank to be able to make those plans and have those social experiences now, which I had kind of been depriving myself of for a while. I just didn't have the space for it anymore because my energy wouldn't allow it. And now I am kind of getting back to like not pre-pandemic normal because actually I think it was too much, right? Like I didn't have any boundaries back then either. So now, paired with wisdom, paired with boundaries that I've been putting in place for myself to, you know, better take care of myself in every situation. But also now having this energy, um, it's allowing me to choose more fun. Like I think I said to you, and I know I've said to some people, like, I just feel like I haven't been having as much fun in my life in these last few years. There's been a lot going on. The world has changed a lot. There's still a lot. The world is a bit of a shit show right now, right? And so, unfortunately. Yeah. Right? So there's a lot going on out there, and there's been a lot of impact in my life with how these last few years have kind of rolled out. And I think that that the biggest thing is that we can't change what's happened. We can just change how we're responding to it. And I think that the biggest piece for me has been now I have um can like now I'm I'm I'm being thoughtful about what I'm putting into my body again, which I've been sort of on autopilot of just, you know, getting back into eating whatever was available because I wasn't planning for it. I didn't have anything ready. So I was eating things that maybe just weren't the best choices for me. But also, you know, just getting back to oh, it just feels so good to have that energy. Getting back to foods that fuel me.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

I know.

SPEAKER_01 43:15

Yeah, has been really uh that's what keeps me coming back to it. And now, like I said, even just after doing a couple of different cheat meal weeks, like once a week doing a cheat meal, um, I am making better choices in my cheat meals moving forward because you just yeah. And I I can now, it's like literally direct, like it's a direct, I can see the impact of the foods that I'm eating when I eat them. So when I eat this way that I'm meant to during this process with you, I feel great. And as soon as I put the things in my body, like high sodium meal that's like available to a restaurant, right? Eating the French fries or having the potatoes and like whatever, yeah, I notice the impact on my body in the next couple of days. I feel it in my body, I can see it. My face, and like I'm a little puffier, right? Whereas I want to go back to I I always like the last couple of times I've done that, I'm like, oh, okay, you know what? Yeah, it actually we think that food is worth it. It's like, oh, it just it tastes so good, I can't give that up. But the truth is that how I feel every day now is far more worth me paying attention to what I'm putting in my body.

SPEAKER_00 44:24

That's amazing. That's amazing. Now I remember too, it you one of the things you said in the beginning, which again is something I hear so, so many times. And truth be told, even in my own life, like when I realized I put on 30 pounds slowly at the beginning of my paramenopause journey, I knew I needed to lose it, but I wasn't going to sacrifice everything that I loved. There had to be a balance. And I hear that so many times from people who say, How rigid is this going to be? I I travel a lot for my job. Um, how how realistic is this program? You know, even and so I explained that, of course, is an adjustment period in the beginning where you do very much need to be committed to making some probably very significant changes depending on where you're starting, but the intention is just to get that work-life balance so it is sustainable. You are one of those women that does have to travel. And you just recently had to go away for a week for work. And I remember you saying at the beginning, it was already making you nervous. We the at the very beginning of the program, you knew this trip was coming up. How realistic was it going to be for you to be able to maintain results that you'd already started to achieve at this point? And you were a little skeptical. And I just said, trust the process, we'll get you to a point where you will be able to deal with something that's going to throw you outside of your normal structure that you're going to create for yourself, and you're still going to be able to maintain results. Tell us a little bit about what happened last week.

SPEAKER_01 46:01

Yeah, it was actually pretty amazing. Um, I I I definitely wasn't perfect, right? Because our travel day, I think I told you I was like, could be, yep.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

Right?

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Like our first travel day, it was like I was awake for like 32 or 34 hours or something crazy like that, and like nothing was consistent that day. Um, but what I did do is I listened to a couple of the like all the there's like so many rules that you're like or guidelines that you're following. So like I had my water and I kept making sure I was drinking my water and I had some almonds in my purse, just like on the in-case that I wasn't able to eat or have a meal at the time. I had my almonds in my purse that were preparing me for being on the way to that meal, right? So I had certain things set up for myself. Um, and I made the choices. So, like when I was looking for food, like we mostly did like Uber Eats for meals because I was in basically like a three-day conference. I wasn't actually able to leave and go out for dinner or like those kinds of things. So, but I just made the best choices that I could. I chose the salad with the protein and some fats, right? And then just didn't eat the whole portion kind of thing. Like I actually found it a lot easier than I thought I would because there's actually a lot available out there. And I think too, because my body is now used to eating every five hours and being sustained on that, I'm not hitting the point where I'm so hungry I could eat my arm. And so I'm just grabbing anything. Right. Because that really, that really motivates our decisions, is like, how hungry are we? Like no one makes a good choice on what to buy at the grocery store when you're starving, right? Like you're gonna buy anything that's like a quick hit of sugar. And so I found, right? So I found that I was already in that place where my body was more stabilized. And as long as I had my meals in a relative window that was close enough, and I had those almonds that were leading to that meal, I was good. Like I definitely colored outside the lines. I had some foods that are technically on my list, but I still came home and dropped to, I think, a pound and a half after a week of being away and not being able to right and not being able to like. So again, my my focus wasn't on the weight, but it was like when you see that when you're just paying attention to the things that are uh set out to keep you aligned in the goals that you have for yourself, that you can still be imperfect, you can still do things.

SPEAKER_00 48:08

Absolutely, right?

SPEAKER_01 48:09

Take the pressure off ourselves, exactly. And I think that's it. It's like there was no, oh shit, I didn't follow all the rules today, and now I'm gonna give myself a hard time. You were like, No, good job. Like you're you're in New York, you're not in your regular schedule, and you're doing the best that you can, and you're making great choices. And that that proved to me over and over again that week. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_00 48:30

That it was a great, a great uh story to hear when you got back for sure. Um, you should be very proud of yourself. So I think going back to how we started this, and we were talking about how you, like many other women, myself even at one point, with all of my years of nutrition knowledge at the beginning of my journey, thought, is this really what midlife is all about? Is this the point where I start to lose control over my body because the hormones are gonna take over now, or the lack thereof, I should say? What would you say now to women who are listening who feel like midlife is taking over? Their good years are behind them. Nothing has worked so far, so likely nothing will ever work again. They're in a different body. What would you say to them? I would say don't give up and talk to you.

SPEAKER_01 49:22

You know, my when I came into 2026, my word for the year is vitality. I knew I wanted to feel energetic and vital. And I want so many more adventures planned for myself. You know, age is just a number, and that comes from my own personal perspective. But now having watched you go through this experience and then doing this experience myself, I am convinced that we have more control and power than we think. And that sometimes we just need to fall into the right hands and the right kind of support to get us to where we want to go. And it's not over. Like age is literally just a number. And I think the longer that we feel bad, right? The longer that we're not feeling great, right? The longer that we stay in that place, we really just start to accept that this is it. And I think those words to the women are actually, you don't have to stay there at all. You have a choice, you can shift this experience for yourself. And going through this has been an incredible experience with you. Like, I would recommend this to any woman that I know that's experiencing these challenges because in such a short time, like I said to you, I couldn't believe that like by like day five, I was like, holy moly, I have so much energy.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

Your energy, yeah. Yeah, that was the first thing that came out of nowhere. I remember you were stunned already.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

Right? So it's like, I think we think, you know, we well, we've been conditioned so much in our lives to again be smaller, go on the diet, only eat these things, be restricted, say no to ourselves. And actually, that's done more harm than good. And so, what I love about this is this is like, let's teach you how to feel yourself well so that you feel good. So your body's gonna respond. And it's not about just getting on a scale and losing weight, it's about rebalancing the things that have kind of gone awry during the last number of years and really getting that control back in your life and feeling like yourself again. And I'll tell you, like, I did almost give up on myself. And if it wasn't for listening right to the conversation that we were having and you sharing about your experience, I mean, at first I thought I'm sorry, I'm using a lot of words to describe this, but it's like at first my head was like, oh my God, this is gonna be so much work. I've done diets before, I've done these things before. This is gonna be hard. Like that's what my brain was saying. And then I remember sitting with it and then seeing you again or talking to you again about it. And I was like, you know what, Christine, get out of your own way. Because it actually doesn't have to be that hard. It's it's me getting in my own way making it hard.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

And so we expect it needs to be hard, right? I think that's the problem. We expect that it has to be hard for us to get results at this stage, and it doesn't. We just need to be, we work smarter, we don't work harder.

SPEAKER_01 52:04

Right. And I'm not starving, and I have enough food and I feel good in the food that I eat, and I've made it taste good, right? Like, so it's it's it's just it's just about getting out of our own way and knowing that yeah, we're gonna have to shift some things to make something different work for us, but that's change. Change is change feels overwhelming, but I can say that in five days, if I got that kind of energy back, I was like, where else can this take me?

SPEAKER_00 52:29

Like, yeah, I remember, yeah, yeah. So that's fantastic. This has been such an amazing talk, Christine. I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to come and join me on this podcast. Your story is so inspiring to me, and I know it's gonna be inspiring to others. And I just want to say thank you. And uh I can't wait to see where else this takes you. Like I said, you're still in the grand scheme of things, six weeks in. I mean, we're we're still we're still seeing improvements by the day, right? And how you're feeling, and it's but it's important to note that you have your days where you might feel like it didn't go according to plan, and that's okay because that's life too. But you now have the tools. You already are at a point where you have the tools to be confident in the process, and it works, and you are feeling the rewards, you're reaping the benefits. And as long as you stay focused on what works and focused on the process as your foundation, you can allow yourself to trip up here and there, and it's not gonna undo all of your work. And I think when I saw that that clicked for you, that's exactly what I hope other women that are listening, I hope that's what clicks for them as well. Because without truly believing that something like this is possible and sustainable, so easy to give up. And we don't need to often we give up right before the big change happens.

SPEAKER_01 54:00

Yeah, well, and I think that's the biggest benefit about having you on board while we're going through this process, because like like I said, there were a couple moments there where I was like, oh, maybe this isn't for me, right? Because it it there are gonna be moments that it gets tougher. And every everybody needs to be encouraged. And I think that you know, generally we don't expect that. We haven't been willing, or there haven't been people in our life that are supportive. And so it's like, yeah, the idea of accepting support and help and receiving that is hard for a lot of us as women, but I want to say, you know what? Soak that shit up because it is hopefully I can say that here. Sorry about that. Um that's okay. We're open for in here. Like your vitality is worth it, your your life is worth it. The things that you have been planning on doing that have given up on, it's worth getting back to. And we can do them. It's just a matter of refining how we're treating ourselves. And I think you've really just brought that back into my life. So thank you, Joanne. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 54:56

Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, there you have it. Christine's transformation is such a beautiful example of what becomes possible when you combine three key things. Number one, the right personalized approach for you, for your body, for your biochemistry, nobody else's. Number two, genuine commitment. And number three, the willingness to accept support along the way instead of trying to go it alone. This is why so many women decide to quit, and often the quitting happens right before the magic happens. What I love most about Christine's story is how she didn't just follow a plan. She fully engaged in the process. When challenges came up, she reached out instead of suffering in silence. When her blood sugar was dropping too fast in week two, she was transparent about what was happening so that we could adjust her protein choices together, and this made all the difference. When she felt overwhelmed about drinking four liters of water a day, she didn't quit. She asked for help understanding why it mattered. That partnership approach, that's exactly what made the difference. Christine's results didn't come from perfection, they came from showing up consistently, staying curious instead of giving up and trusting that her body could feel amazing again if we gave it exactly what it needed. So if you're listening to this today thinking, oh my gosh, I want to feel like Christine and how she feels right now, the most important thing to know is this. You absolutely can. But it starts with making the same choice that Christine made, and that is to stop going it alone and start working with someone who can help you understand what your body is actually asking for. If you're ready to have a conversation about your health goals and see if we'd be a great fit to work together, I would love to connect. You can reach out through the link in the show notes below and we'll explore what your own personalized path to feeling amazing again just might look like. I can't wait to meet you and see what life looks like for you on the other side. Bye for now. Thanks so much for listening to the Midlife Vitality Project Podcast. If today's episode spoke to you and you're ready to take the next step in transforming your midlife experience, I would love to connect with you. Click the link in the notes below this episode to book a free discovery call and learn more about how I help women just like you to redefine midlife with clarity, balance, and confidence. And let's see if we're a good fit to work together. Or if you'd like to learn more about the metabolic balance, the personalized nutrition program I use in my practice to create nutrition plans based on your unique blood work, you'll find the second link below with all the details. Now remember, your body is not betraying you, it's simply asking for balance in a new way for this stage of life. You have so much more control over your health than you think. And this next chapter truly can be your most vibrant one yet. Until next time, take care of yourself, be kind to your body, and trust that change will begin from within. Bye for now, but I'm not sure.