If you have ever hit your goal and then watched it fall apart - this episode explains exactly why. And what to actually do about it.
In this episode I am sharing three opinions on health, fitness, and nutrition that come from nearly two decades of working with high-performing women. These are not hot takes for attention. They are patterns I see every single day that the fitness industry is either getting wrong or making unnecessarily complicated.
None of this is sexy. All of it is real. And the fitness industry does not want you to know any of it because the truth does not sell quick fixes.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Why maintenance is not the finish line - it is the actual journey
- Why the hard part is not getting to the goal but staying there
- What the lottery winner statistic reveals about why results never last
- Why intuitive eating does not work if you have never built nutritional awareness first
- Why 73% of Americans being overweight tells us the body's hunger signals are broken
- Why HRT and GLP-1 will not fix an inability to build consistent habits
- Why saying you know what to do but need to be consistent is actually the problem
- What it actually looks like to live instead of just exist in your body
The fitness industry wants to sell you shortcuts, deadlines, and before and afters. This episode is the honest conversation that comes after all of that. If you are ready to hear it, this one is for you.
Ever wish you had a fit and straightforward BFF with over 15 years of experience to help you filter through all the information regarding fitness, nutrition, and life? That's exactly what you'll get when you listen to the Unfiltered Fit Life Podcast.
Join Former Bikini Olympia Champion, mom of 2, and fitness coach Nathalia Melo each week as she shares fitness, nutrition, and life tips to help busy working moms simplify their fitness journey so they can learn easy and simple strategies on how to lose weight and feel sexy AF.
After helping over 5000 busy working moms, Nathalia has found the blueprint to fitness, nutrition, and life success, which she will be sharing in this podcast: actionable tips that will help busy working moms be more present at work and at home.
This show is for you if you realize that nothing good comes from your comfort zone and are ready to challenge yourself to achieve great things. Follow Unfiltered Fit Life wherever you are listening to join us each week for a splash of sass, humor, and a whole lotta truth.
Podcast Transcript
3 Unpopular Fitness Opinions That the Industry Does Not Want You to Hear
INTRODUCTION
I open with a warning that this episode contains three opinions that might trigger some people and encourage listeners to stay with any discomfort rather than tune out. I frame the episode as coming from nearly two decades of working with high-performing women and from patterns I see repeatedly that the fitness industry is either getting wrong or overcomplicating.
OPINION ONE: MAINTENANCE IS THE JOURNEY, NOT THE FINISH LINE
I challenge the deeply ingrained fitness industry idea that maintenance is the reward you get after hitting your goal. The real journey does not end when you hit a number on the scale. Your body will continue to change, your life circumstances will shift, and your habits will need to adapt constantly. I use the example of competing at the Olympia - training to a hard deadline with no plan for after - as the same pattern most people fall into with every diet and program they start. The goal is not a number. It is building a relationship with your body that lasts a lifetime.
WHY MAINTENANCE IS ACTUALLY THE HARD PART
Most people think getting to the goal is the hard part. I argue the opposite. When you are uncomfortable there is a fire under you to keep going. Once you hit the goal there is no pain driving the behavior. Complacency creeps in, old habits resurface, and there is no hard deadline to push against. I reference the statistic that 70% of lottery winners lose all their money within a few years - not because they lacked the winning ticket but because they never built the habits and identity that sustain wealth. Results work the same way.
OPINION TWO: INTUITIVE EATING DOES NOT WORK AS A STARTING POINT
I explain what intuitive eating actually is - eating in response to internal hunger and fullness cues - and why it is a beautiful destination that most people cannot access right out of the gate. With 73 to 74% of American adults classified as overweight or obese according to CDC data, the body's hunger signals are already broken. Repeated dieting blunts hunger and fullness cues. Poor sleep disrupts ghrelin and leptin levels. Chronic stress spikes cortisol and drives cravings. You cannot listen to a body whose gauges are decalibrated.
REBUILDING NUTRITIONAL AWARENESS FIRST
Before intuitive eating becomes possible there has to be foundational work: understanding portion sizes, learning what adequate food actually looks like for your specific goals, rebuilding trust with food, and addressing the other variables like sleep and stress. I use the analogy of spatial awareness - if you have never measured anything you cannot eyeball distances. The same applies to food. Intuitive eating is a maintenance tool not a starting point, and even people who reach it still need to check in periodically to make sure the awareness stays calibrated.
OPINION THREE: HRT AND GLP-1 WILL NOT FIX BROKEN HABITS
The third opinion addresses what I am hearing more and more: women who are starting HRT or GLP-1 and using that as a reason not to address their habits. I share the story of a woman who was convinced HRT would solve everything because she had been a gymnast her whole life. Four months later she had gained an additional 12 pounds on top of what she had already gained before starting. The medication did not fix the habits that had gotten her there.
WHAT THESE TOOLS ACTUALLY DO
I am firmly pro-HRT and pro-GLP-1. HRT helps restore energy, protect muscle, and reduce midsection fat accumulation. GLP-1 helps regulate appetite and supports weight loss. But these are additives to well-established behavior - not replacements for it. The women who thrive long term on these tools are the ones doing the behavior work in tandem with the medication. I share another story of a woman who gained 30 pounds in three months after stopping an appetite suppressant because the habits were never built underneath it.
THE REAL QUESTION TO ASK
Before starting any medication the question to ask is: what got in the way of my consistency that brought me here? Was it habits, identity, environment, or expectations? The medication alone will not answer that question. And saying you know what to do but just need to be consistent is not a solution - it is actually the problem. If you knew how to be consistent, you would be. The plan needs to change, not just the effort.
CLOSING
I wrap by connecting all three opinions to the same underlying truth: sustainable health is not about shortcuts, deadlines, or before and afters. It is about becoming the person who does not have to think about it - who grabs whatever she wants from the closet, books a last-minute vacation, and shows up fully because she feels comfortable in her body. I also mention the upcoming three-day live training on how to lose up to 15 pounds by summer and encourage listeners to sign up via the link in the show notes.
