Latest / Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40 / 44. Client Transformation Story - Through Divorce Into Sustainable Nutrition Habits

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44. Client Transformation Story - Through Divorce Into Sustainable Nutrition Habits · Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Today, I want to introduce you to one of my most dedicated one-on-one clients that I have had the privilege of working with.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to call her AM.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: And she came to me through a referral from Stephanie Elder, who I had on a couple weeks ago on the podcast.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: She is a menopause clinician here in our area.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it just means the world to me that she trusts me with her patients.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's been really cool to be able to refer clients and patients back and forth to each other.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: So AM was walking through one of the biggest transitions in her life because she had recently gone through a divorce and she was learning to cook for one for the very first time in her adult life.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are newly divorced or you've recently become an empty nester, or maybe you've gone from cooking for a full house and everybody's friends to cooking for just yourself or you, yourself, and your partner, then listen up because I think the story is probably going to resonate with you.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: AM made a powerful decision in a chaotic time.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: She made the important decision that she was not going to let her health slip through the cracks while she dealt with all the other things that come with divorce and transition and all the things.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really excited to share her story with you today.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I have never never done a full client transformation story as a podcast episode, but I really wanted this story to be the one because it's probably not what you're imagining when you hear the words fitness and nutrition transformation.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm excited for you to stick around and hear all about her story, her journey.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Midlife Glow Up Podcast, where we simplify fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits for women over 40.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Joan Dandano, your midlife health and wellness coach.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are ready to feel strong, consistent, and confident in this season of life, then you're in the right place, my friend.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: She had actually put on a decent amount of weight during COVID, as I know most of us can relate to that.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: But she had already done the work and lost a good amount of that weight on her own and then also with some help from some GLP1 support.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So you might be sitting here thinking, then why did she hire a coach?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people assume that the only reason you might hire a health coach is to lose weight.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: But there is so much more to it than just a number on the scale.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's about how much mental energy food takes up in your day, whether you feel confident or overwhelmed when you open your fridge, and whether your habits can actually hold up once life gets fizzy and messy instead of just when everything is calm.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: AM had already hit a number on the scale that she was proud of.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: What she wanted from me was a different approach to nutrition, one that would help her stay healthy for the long term and take the stress out of answering that same question, morning, noon, and night.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: What's for breakfast?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: What's for lunch?
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: What's for dinner?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: What she wanted was to simplify nutrition and stop feeling stressed out by it.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: She was tired of buying beautiful fresh produce and good meat, only to watch half of it go to waste before she could get to it.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And she dreaded going to the grocery store all the time.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: So she didn't need a diet or a weight loss program.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I knew what she did need was a system.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what we built together.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: I helped her figure out in her life, with her schedule and her lifestyle, how she could cook, how she could shop once a week, prep once or twice a week, make a big mess of her kitchen, and then reap the benefits of fresh, yummy, healthy meals ready to go all week long.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we started with breakfast, as I do.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Breakfast is so important, and so many women are leaving it as an afterthought or skipping it altogether.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we planned out fresh options for early in the week, and then we leaned on more shelf stable staples as the weekend approached.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So nothing went to waste and nothing felt like a scramble at the last minute in the morning when she's trying to get on her work calls.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: AM kept a wonderfully open mind throughout this whole process.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: And every time I would send her a recipe, even some of them, she'd be like, oh gosh, I don't know about that.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: But she would try it.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: And she figured out which ones were her favorites, and she now rotates through four or five breakfasts that she genuinely loves and she's not getting sick of it.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: She's not having to go to the grocery store five times a week.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: She's not having to cook every single time the morning rolls around.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: She's just ready to go.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: So some mornings she really likes a savory Greek yogurt bowl with cucumber, tomato, dill, smoked salmon.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: Other mornings, it's a loaded avocado toast with cottage cheese and hemp hearts or maybe a yogurt bowl with berries and walnuts.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: She even started building her own combinations from what she would have on hand.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: So one morning she sent me a photo of a breakfast salad that she sort of made up.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was just what she had in her fridge: mixed greens and roasted beets and sweet potatoes and some soft-boiled eggs, a little smoked salmon, a little of this, a little of that.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: She drizzled it with olive oil and vinegar.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And when I saw that, I was like, oh my gosh, I would never think to have salad for breakfast.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: But yum.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that type of moment as a coach, when a client stops following the plan like a robot and starts really thinking like someone who just knows how to feed herself well, that is so gratifying.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Next, we tackled lunch because between a full-time job and a pretty serious side gig, having something ready to grab and go was crucial for her.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we built out a whole rotation of high-protein, no-cook options that she could just mix and match at lunchtime.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: So she would have a protein bento box with hard-boiled eggs and hummus and cucumbers and feta cheese.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes she would have a tuna salad bowl that she would make once and eat over greens a couple days in a row.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or she would make a Greek salad with rotisserie chicken and Greek olives and have that ready to go over greens or put it in a wrap.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes she did turkey avocado roll-ups for the days that she just needed something really fast.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we eliminated the decision fatigue at noon and just had food ready to go waiting for her so that in between her meetings, when she was on her lunch hour, she did not have to dirty up her kitchen or clean a bunch of dishes.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: It was just ready to go.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And every option would land somewhere between 20 and 30 grams of protein because that's what we really need to be focusing on in midlife.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, she had a lot of fun.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we both did with her dinners.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mapped out a full month of meals so that she could shop, prep, and then freeze strategically with built-in flexibility to swap out any night that she wasn't feeling whatever we had made as the plan for that night.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: So she would have sweet potato bowls and healthy casseroles, sheet pans with lemon chicken and vegetables, or ground beef bowls with Mediterranean flavors like cucumber, tomato, olives, and then her Nordic bowl with smoked smoked salmon over sweet potato with beets and arugula and maybe a lemon dill yogurt sauce.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And on the busiest weeks, or even the nights where she just didn't have it in her, she would pull out an individually portioned meal from her freezer and just pull it out at lunchtime.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then at dinner time, it was ready to warm up and she had dinner.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And two of her favorite freezer meals were we did a chicken taco freezer meal and also a kale white bean sausage soup that were just so satisfying and easy.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like all she had to do was take it out, heat it up, and then dinner was ready.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And she and I worked together for six months.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of her six months with me, her whole kitchen ran differently.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: She now just shops once a week.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Her freezer is stocked.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: Her pantry is ready with shelf stable things that are yummy and add extra flavor and variety to her meals.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then she always has fresh meals on hand for breakfast and lunch and dinner.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And here is the part that I really want to share because I think up until now, you're probably like, yeah, she just has a lot of time or she has a different life than me.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: But her life did not slow down while we worked together.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So during those six months, she traveled often.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And at the beginning, we really focused on, okay, what are you going to bring with you when you travel?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do when you get there to make sure that you have things on hand to help you feel in control of your nutrition while you're traveling?
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: But not only that, she also was caring for an aging parent during this time.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And she also during this time bought a new home and moved.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: And through every bit of it, she stayed committed to herself and to her new system.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the house part is where I really saw just how deep the shift went for her when she started looking at homes.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: She wasn't just thinking about square footage and like what area of town she wanted to live in.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Her list of requirements included she wanted to be within walking distance of a Trader Joe's and close to a yoga studio and near a farmer's market.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: She was looking at older homes and a lot of those here in Seattle have lower ceilings.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so she specifically ruled out a few homes because the ceilings weren't tall enough for her to do an overhead shoulder press without hitting the ceiling.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: So when my client is out house hunting, but she's keeping her workouts and her grocery runs in mind, that tells me that she is not just doing this for six months.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: These habits aren't even just habits anymore.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: They're part of how she sees herself in her life.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: They're part of her identity.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: AM was coachable and she stayed connected with me the whole time, sending updates and sharing photos of the food that she was making.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: And one of her messages to me really stood out.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: She was on her way home from running errands and she really did not feel like eating the salmon and sweet potato bowl that she had planned.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: What she really was craving was pasta.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: She grew up in a Mexican-Italian home.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And meals were long and drawn out and not necessarily the healthiest options.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so she has a lot of emotions tied into her culture.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: And like just sitting down previously to a giant bowl of noodles, either drowned in marinara sauce or butter and cheese without any protein on top, would have been a normal thing.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: But now she came home and messaged me this night.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: She said, okay, I was really craving pasta.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I came home and I poached some of my frozen shrimp and I added a handful of spinach and tomatoes and arugula and a splash of lemon juice.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Served that on top of a little bit of pasta.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And in her words, she says, it wasn't perfect, but it totally satisfied my pasta craving and still gave me the protein and the fiber that I needed in my day.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: This was definitely a change from how I would have eaten just a few months ago.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I am so proud of her for that moment because that's what real sustainable change actually looks like.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's not perfection, but it is proof that she can have a craving, she can honor it, but still also take care of herself.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's not living in diet mentality and restriction.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually freedom to enjoy yummy food, but also stay connected to your values and live in alignment with who you want to be in the future.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that mindset has carried her through the messy parts too.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, and I think that actually is relatable, probably more than the winds.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, right after she moved into her new house, she told me that it had been really a challenge to keep up with solid nutrition because her kitchen was not set up yet.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: She was living out of boxes.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: But instead of throwing in the towel, she did the best she could.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And she made sure that she still got her protein and her fiber at most meals.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that meant leaning on protein bars and protein shakes just to make sure that she was getting enough throughout the day.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And her friend actually teased her.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: She always had a protein bar wrapper in her car these days.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, that actually is proof that AM has fully internalized what it means to take care of herself.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because even when her kitchen is in boxes and her life is in chaos, she's still doing the bare minimum to make sure that she is living in alignment with the things, the values that are important to her.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so now that the desk has settled and she's settled into her new home, she no longer stares into the fridge feeling overwhelmed.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, she can throw together a healthy meal from whatever's on hand and she's fully ready to keep doing this for years and years to come.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: And when I asked if I could share her story in order to maybe help other women, she said yes right away.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And in her own words, she said, working with you has definitely changed my mindset about food and nutrition for the better.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, that is proof of a woman who has rewired the way she thinks about food and her relationship to food for good.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I am just so grateful that I got to be part of this chapter in her life.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: If any part of AM story resonates with you, if you are newly divorced or a new empty nester or navigating any other big shift that impacts your personal nutrition, maybe you're suddenly cooking for one or two instead of a full house.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to know that you don't have to figure this out alone.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is exactly the type of transformation that I love building with my one-on-one clients.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Together we take a look at your specific life, your schedule, your kitchen, your cravings, and we build a system around it, one that is very realistic, not just a generic plan, but breakfasts and lunches and dinners and snacks that you'll actually make and actually enjoy.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Plus the accountability to stick with it through whatever life throws your way.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you're ready for your kitchen to finally work for you and the life that you are living now, I encourage you to just check out my one-on-one coaching program.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can head to the link in the show notes to learn more, read about what's involved, and apply right there.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, my friend.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, progress over perfection and consistency over intensity.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep growing, keep glowing, and bye for now.