My coaching experience with coach Dani Smith was absolutely amazing and life-changing! What it was like before coaching: I came to MI a year after leaving a very rigid 12-step program for eating disorders. I spent 8 years in that program after a lifetime bouncing between yo-yo dieting and binge eating. For 8 years I hadn’t eaten sugar of any kind and had followed a very prescribed eating plan while doing a lot of work on myself with the 12-steps until I felt ready to venture out on my own. I was no longer bingeing but was terrified of the scale. I was perfectionistic about food and still had a lot of beliefs about good food/bad food = me being good or bad. I was over-exercising, afraid of gaining weight and wasn’t allowing myself rest days. I was terrified of the scale. I wasn’t overweight, I just needed help figuring out how much and what kind of food and exercise was right for my body. What happened: I got assigned Dani Smith as my coach and I knew from our first conversation that she was exactly the right coach for me. She reviewed my history, we discussed my goals and she began coaching me through a year of huge growth and changes around food, exercise and life. Dani is so much more than a nutrition coach and personal trainer. She is intuitive, gentle, kind, and wise. Her “life coaching” skills have helped me as much or more than the nutrition and fitness coaching, especially through my surprising ADHD diagnosis and some other medical issues and life changes. As a fitness coach (I did complete coaching for 3 months of the year together), Dani guided me towards increasing my daily steps from an average of 3K to 9K+, answered all my questions, designed strength training workouts for me, encouraged my love of Pilates Reformer workouts, and helped me find balance with strength, cardio, mobility, and taking actual rest days. As a nutrition coach, Dani helped me master healthy, enjoyable eating while tracking Macros, and how to apply the 80/20 rule. Then she gradually nudged me towards intuitive, mindful eating, even though I was resistant because it was very scary to me. In the process, I learned to stop criminalizing and demonizing foods and getting rid of the all-or-nothing mindset. What it’s like now: The scale is my friend now, no more terror. I weigh daily and track it. My weight has stabilized at a slightly lower weight that looks great on me. My body is stronger, fitter and leaner than it’s been since I was in my early 30s. No more dysmorphia; I’m at last happy with my body (despite the aches, pains and wrinkles that come with being 75 lol). I have food freedom: I can keep treats in the house and can eat one reasonable serving of a donut instead of a bag of donuts. I enjoy eating my simple, fresh, healthy meals but also allow myself a small dessert each night. I have been able to willingly alter my diet to meet some new medical needs, letting go of caffeine and cutting way back on saturated fats and red meat, without it feeling like a diet or restriction that I have to rebel against like I used to. I have skills and knowledge to go forward on my own now after a wonderful year together. I’m grateful to know that if I need a refresher, Dani and MI will be there to help me get back on track.