In this episode of the Unfiltered Fit Life Podcast, I'm giving you the seven things that need to be said in the fitness industry that nobody has the guts to say out loud.
People kept telling me I was too harsh, too blunt, too much. So I checked myself, sat with the question of whether I was pushing too far, and then decided to say the seven things anyway.
There are seasons where I stop and take a hard inventory of why I do what I do. Is it coming from a place of wanting better for women, or is it coming from ego, from proving I can? Those are two completely different fuels, and I only ever want to run on the first one. I hit one of those seasons recently, right as the messages started rolling in telling me I was rude and too much, so I asked myself the fair question: am I alienating the very women I got into this to serve?
Then, in that same week, two women inside the Powerhouse Academy messaged me. I had gone hard on both of them, asked them why they didn't think they were worthy of their own time. I genuinely thought they'd hate my face. Instead, one told me she finally saw her health as worth investing in, and the other said she switched into gear and appreciated the push even though we bumped heads. That was my sign. So here are the seven truths most coaches swallow because they're scared of how they'll look. I'm not.
In this episode, we talk about:
- The introspection that had me questioning whether I'd gotten too harsh
- Why "my kids won't eat that" is a shield, not a reason
- The supplement and peptide lie that keeps you distracted from the real work
- Why three days a week beats crashing out on six
- The marathon smokescreen women hide behind when they're ashamed of aesthetic goals
- The muscle-gain math that proves your seven pounds isn't all muscle
- How "I can't because of my husband" hands away your power
- Why undoing decades of fuckery in a few months is delulu, and how to pick the right coach
None of this is meant to punish you. All of it is meant to hand your power back to you. If it lights a fire under you and moves you to action, we did our job. And if you're ready for the version of this that actually lasts, come find me.
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
7 Fitness Truths Nobody Has the Guts to Tell You
THE INTROSPECTION
I went through a stretch where I questioned everything, mostly whether I was being too harsh with the women I coach. The messages calling me rude and too much made me sit with a real question about whether I was alienating people instead of serving them. Then two members I had pushed hard messaged me in the same week to thank me for it, and both are thriving now. That told me the tough love is landing exactly where it's meant to.
MY KIDS WON'T EAT THAT
I have a son who was medically diagnosed with severe picky eating, so I know this one from the inside. Your kids can't eat the broccoli, the salmon, the salad if they never see it, and they never see it because you keep eating what they'll eat. You cannot use your children as both the reason you want to change and the reason you won't. Lead by example, batch cook if you have to, and stop letting them be your shield and your sword.
THE SUPPLEMENT SHORTCUT
Creatine, peptides, whatever promises a shortcut, I'm suspicious of all of it. Most people don't have a creatine deficiency, they have a "I eat like a raccoon, don't sleep, don't train, and say yes to everything" problem. For an elite athlete chasing three percent, a supplement can be the difference between first and last, but you are not that athlete yet. Fix the food, the sleep, the training, and the water before you ask me about a pill.
THE ALL-OR-NOTHING TRAP
So many women decide that if they can't train five or six days a week, they won't train at all, which is how they set themselves up to crash and burn every time. I'd rather you commit to three sessions of twenty to thirty minutes and actually stay consistent. The goal isn't impossible on three days, but your expectation of how fast it happens has to shift. A different season of life needs a different strategy, not a fantasy about who you were at twenty-five.
THE MARATHON SMOKESCREEN
I love a good performance goal, but I keep watching women sign up for races as cover because they're ashamed to admit they have aesthetic goals. We've decided it's vain for a mother to say she wants to look hot, so she trains for a half marathon instead, even though it pulls her further from her kids than a twenty-minute workout ever would. There's nothing wrong with wanting to look like an athlete. Stop hiding it behind a bib number you didn't actually want.
THE MUSCLE MYTH
I spoke with a woman who gained seven pounds in four months while trying to lose fat and swore it was all muscle. The math doesn't work: an intermediate to advanced lifter gains maybe half a pound of muscle a month at the very best, with nutrition and training dialed in. Seven pounds in four months is not muscle, and telling yourself it is won't make it true. Stop drinking the delulu lemonade and look at what's actually happening.
I CAN'T BECAUSE OF MY HUSBAND
The second you say you can't reach your goals because of your husband, your friends, your work, or your kids, you've handed away your power. The real issue is usually that you haven't set a boundary or opened your mouth to communicate what matters to you. If you have a partner who won't respect that, it's a different problem, but you still control you. Blaming everyone around you keeps you stuck, and taking ownership is what puts the light at the end of the tunnel.
THE TIMELINE TRUTH
Hiring a coach and expecting them to undo decades of shady behavior in a few months is crazy talk. Reaching the physical goal is not the same as changing the behaviors and the mindset, and that part is what takes real time. Time is going to pass either way, so you can spend it moving toward lasting change or keep sprinting back to square one. If you want maintenance, stop hiring the coach who built their whole brand on four-week challenges and the quick fix. Decide what you actually want, then choose a coach whose approach matches it.
