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Juliana is one of our very own Meal Garden professionals — a nutritionist and mind-body weight release expert, Juliana has a masters degree in science, certified as a holistic nutritionist and a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner. And her main focus is on eating real foods that help women balance hormones naturally and release excess weight.

Show Notes

1:36 - What inspired Juliana to join this niche

This marks my 10th year in the nutrition profession and really I'd say for the last 15, 17, a lot of my health struggles kind of led me here, like most people.

Because of the history that I had of a spinal surgery and a spinal condition and hormonal and weight fluctuations myself, I just developed this absolute love and passion for the wellness industry, but I was also a subject of the industry. Meaning, a lot of the strategies were only temporarily successful and a lot of things were restrictive and it actually built a bit of an unhealthy relationship with food.

I eventually made it my full time mission to show women how to release weight instead of lose weight. There's a very cool difference between these two approaches that leads to longer term results.

3:35 - How Juliana helps her clients lose weight in a way that works for them (and is good for them)

I teach women that weight release is an internal game as opposed to weight loss, which is very external.

A lot of times when we lose weight, we want to fit into a mold to please other people. Whereas weight release is when you had enough and you're ready to do it for yourself.  

In that sense, its about releasing everything that doesn't serve you. It's getting into personal mastery as goal of health and wellbeing and allowing your body to follow suit.

I always ask my clients, "What is your weight goal? Timeframe?" Just to get an idea, if they're looking for healthy weight loss, otherwise I'm not the right person for them. We put those markers aside and work on finding other measures of success outside of the scale.

4:41 - Why Juliana tells her clients to “toss the skinny jeans”.

We get rid of the “goal pair of pants” that frustrates clients because they don’t fit.

We get healthy first and let your body tell you what size ideally you should be. I'm a size six. I came from a size four to 12 in my struggles. I'm a healthy six. I have my Brazilian curves and I am really healthy. The healthiest I've ever been.

I'm never chasing a size two or four anymore because my body doesn't want to be that size anymore.

It's getting in that place of peace with yourself, that is what your body's healthiest shape looks like.

We don't eat for weight loss, we eat for health.

6:08 - How Juliana weaves uses Meal Garden to empower her clients

I launched a small program within Meal Garden that I call “Take 30”. The core of the program is a flexible one week menu plan that people can download.

However, I’ve built each of the recipes as what I call “mix and match”. So each recipe has up to three flavor variations. You can make the same 20, 21 recipes each week of varying ingredients, whatever you have in the fridge, whatever you feel like eating. And I give suggestions of other combos, but this allows variety.

People started feeling the freedom of having some guidelines for healthy eating, but still being able to play with the recipes. It’s been really cool to see it take off.

8:11 - From one-on-one to digital group coaching: what works best for Juliana’s client base

I do one-on-one programs and I combine diagnostic testing, so we can do hormone testing and then I add a nutrition plan. That's on a one-on-one basis.

In a group setting, I partner with a very specialized local personal training studio. Together, we built a group program that's very individual and focuses on personal training and nutrition. The nutrition component was online, but the fitness part was in person.

We got tremendous results. People dropping 20 plus pounds in the 12 week duration of the program and changing their energy levels. And now we're weeks away from launching the online version of it, which will last six weeks.

I've been doing our combination of in person, one-on-one and this, what we call, recipe for change, which is our fitness and nutrition program that I also run through Meal Garden.

10:37 - What Juliana wish she knew when she was first starting out

I've tried so many strategies over 10 years. And I would say focus. The focus is so important, especially people that are starting out their career in the field, right? Because we can get so hypnotized by new education, by new systems. And as a solopreneur, I do technology, I designed my website, done all the above.

But I think the moment that I got really focused into what are the absolute most important two or three tasks in that day that will serve my client […] besides all the foundation work that we get into doing first. Serve first, then you go back and you make it pretty.

I think I would have worked a lot less to get to the same place. I spent a ton of time on building perfect handouts and things that I ended up not using, because the business changed directions when I was ready for it. So focusing on what is truly important, what will truly serve and focus on that and the rest will come with time.

12:46- Where Juliana sees the weight loss and health industries going in the near future

There's so many billions of dollars into the diet pills and diet foods and so on. I don't think that that's going to change anytime soon, but I do feel that people are way more conscious and more aware that they can do things naturally.

I think the need, especially now with COVID and the quarantine 15, (the 15 pounds people are gaining). It’s bringing awareness to the impact that lack of movement and poor food choices have in such a short period of time because in a month and a half, that's quite a bit of weight to gain.

So my hope is, we’re going to start seeing people saying, "Okay. I need to get out of the couch and do something about it." And hopefully enough of us in the holistic world are ready to serve.

I think people are going to get more comfortable with those online courses and resources and hopefully with Meal Garden too, being fantastic as an app. My clients love not having to print stuff. They love it, put everything in there and it's really handy because you always have your phone or a tablet with you.

If you liked this interview with Juliana, go follow her instagram handle naturally.joyous. When you click the link in her bio, you’ll be able to see all her business’ resources and offerings, and how to follow her YouTube channel.

Further Reading:

4 Tips on How to Create Meal Plans Your Clients Will Actually Follow

How This Nutritionist Teaches Clients How to Make Daily Decisions for Long Term Success

Why Feeling Calm Matters for Both You and Your Health Coaching Clients

Understanding Body Dysmorphia (& How to Navigate It With Your Health Coaching Clients)

weight management, inspiration, Juliana Leamen

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