Client Success Story: Madeline S.
Madeline S.
Laurinburg, NC
Began Individual Meal Plan service in October 2018
“I have always considered myself to be fairly fit. I was a competitive gymnast in high school, and during that time I could “eat whatever I wanted” and still be at the top of my game. But, my inconsistency with eating a healthy diet through my teen years led to a very unhealthy cycle of eating through college and then into my adult life – eating “healthy” for a few weeks, and then eating all the treats and tasty foods with the mentality, “I earned this,” followed by guilt.
Over the past year, I accepted a great job that ended up being more stressful than expected, and I found myself totally losing control (if I ever really had any) of my nutrition with no source of accountability. After hearing great things about Madison from so many people at my gym, I decided to ask for her help. My mentality was, “Someone is looking at all the food I’m eating, so now I’m definitely going to eat better.”
Well, my first week of logging included eating half a pizza and almost an entire Marbled Cookie Brownie from Dominos in one sitting, all out of stress. I felt so guilty and out of control. But, Madison didn’t ever make me feel guilty. Instead, over the next few months she asked me every week via my daily logs to make certain changes to my diet – nothing huge! Just small tweaks in the hopes they would become healthy habits. Being so caught up in my work circumstances, it was a slow slow (slow slow slow) process for me to put into practice the habits she was asking me to make. But, truly Madison was the accountability, reminder, and encouragement I needed every week that I could make these changes. After three months, my thoughts about food were starting to change – and that had never happened before! I was seeing food more as fuel rather than a reward or a treat, which in turn helped me lower my stress levels and be more mindful of eating.
About three months into our time working together, I finally started to take “progress pictures,” and I watched my body composition change for the better! But, most importantly for me, the way I look at food has completely changed (and not just for a couple of weeks).
Madison didn’t simply create a meal plan for me – she helped me create healthy eating habits that are tailored to my tastes. Now I move through each day fully satisfied and properly fueled while truly enjoying all of the foods I’m eating. She kept it real, she encouraged me (even when I was making the same mistakes over and over there for the first few months), and she celebrated with me over the smallest of victories! Because they actually matter to her. Madison is a blessing!.”
Looking at Madeline’s athletic build and obvious level of fitness, you might be surprised that she works with a dietitian. This goes to show that there are so many nutrition-related goals BESIDES weight loss! While Madeline does work towards attaining a leaner physique, our bigger focus has been on improving her relationship with food. And boy, have we made some serious progress of this nature!! Madeline’s respectable muscle mass carries with it an elevated resting metabolism. This often causes her to feel an insatiable appetite. In the past, such a raging appetite has lead to later-in-the-day food choices/portion sizes that left her feeling sick, sluggish and not happy with herself- feelings I never want anyone to experience as a result of food choices! Together, Madeline and I have worked to address this pattern. We have increased her food intake earlier in the day to help curb the stimulated appetite she often feels later on, but have also refined a few nutritious, filling food choices to which she turns during such incidences (which are now less frequent and far less severe).
We have also worked on minimizing feelings in deprivation. Madeline describes here dietary history as a cycle of perfect eating for a few weeks, followed by a period of binge eating. This vicious cycle is common amongst many! Madeline and I have worked together to achieve a balance that enables us to avoid this pattern of “yo-yo dieting”. A carb-lover for life, Madeline has been successful in adding foods such as pasta, pizza, etc. into her diet in a way that a) fuels her workouts b) enables her to enjoy these foods in moderation and c) prevents feelings of deprivation due to efforts to eliminate such foods completely.
Madeline’s self-awareness and dietary decisions have improved so much over the course of our time together. Each week, I look so forward to our phone calls where she offers her assessment of dietary performance over the past week- which is often spot-on with the feedback I plan to share! She has become very in-tune with her body and is now able to separate emotional cravings from physical ones. This can be very difficult to do!
I am beyond thrilled with the vast improvement and growth in Madeline’s relationship with food and feel confident that she will be able to maintain this healthy relationship beyond our time working together. Madeline, what a privilege it has been to work with you! 😊 Y’all- make sure to look at her pics and check out her awesome MUSCLES!!