Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Mayberry.
Hi Christina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
In 2015, due to a change in medical insurance, I was required to change doctors. My new doctor ordered a complete blood panel be performed. In doing so, I found out that I had hypothyroidism, Type 2 Diabetes and had been classified as morbidly obese – I weighed almost 320 pounds. Although my doctor was very professional and empathetic with my diagnoses, she didn’t offer much in the way of helping me learn to eat better or any nutritional guidance whatsoever. She simply told me ” You need to do this on your own without medications for weight loss, I will not prescribe pills for you. Maybe just stop eating all carbs.” By medical standard, she did have to prescribe Metformin for the diabetes. She also put me on a thyroid medicine to regulate that.
I immediately set out to learn as much as I could about nutrition, how to make better nutritional choices work for my illnesses and after having seen a few articles online about the long-term effects of taking Metformin (long story short, there were studies that pointed to possible liver issues in people who took large doses of Metformin for prolonged periods of time and with my dad having been diagnosed with Stage 4 liver cancer a month prior, I wanted to take no chances). I decided I wanted to reverse my Type 2 diabetes and be completely medicine free.
From October 2015-April 2017, I learned enough that I was able to lose 80 pounds through better nutritional intake and more exercise than I had ever done previously – mostly walking on a treadmill. These changes brought my A1C down to under 6, and my doctor happily took me off of the Metformin. I no longer was considered diabetic. I was thrilled! However, my thyroid medicine dosage had needed to be increased.
I hired a personal trainer/nutritionist in April 2017 and for the first time ever, began resistance training. He also created a meal plan for me to follow. I continued to lose a lot of weight, but I didn’t understand the method behind the meal plan.
In 2018 I decided I wanted to learn it all! I enrolled in an accredited online course to become a certified personal trainer and subsequently also enrolled in a course through the same company to become a certified nutrition coach. I finally learned what made the workout and meal plan my trainer had me on so effective, and in August 2018, I started designing my own workout programs and meal plans. During this time, the nutrition knowledge I gained helped me truly get to the healthiest I have ever been, and because I maintain really good balance with nutrition and exercise, my thyroid medicine no longer needs increased. I am on a maintenance dosage, and that is another goal achieved.
I finished my certifications in mid-2019 and continue to learn still today; As time goes on, my approach has changed slightly on how I train other women who come to me for fat loss help; I take a more practical approach than others may. I very much focus on helping women create better habits that work with their daily life – jobs, kids, spouses, social activities – and I meet them where they are at and help them move forward toward their goals. I do not promote supplements or quick fixes and help women achieve maximal health and fat loss through regular foods you can buy at a local grocery store.
I think it is very important that women – and men too – understand that they have control over their weight. There is a saying in the fitness community, “Genetics may load the gun, but your lifestyle habits pull the trigger.” I agree with this wholeheartedly. While you cannot control every health issue that you may face, arming yourself with the right knowledge on how to make better nutritional choices and the positive impact exercise has not only on your physical but mental health as well, and the more often you make better choices with nutrition and exercise, the better chance you have at keeping a lot of health risks at bay.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been and still is, a bumpy road. The outside factors that surround you are not in your control. Learning to ignore them when needed is a tricky thing.
I believe in a flexible approach to fat loss, meaning unless you have an allergy or intolerance to a specific food, then no food is off limits. You simply need to learn which foods get you closer to your goals and which don’t and eat them accordingly. For instance, pizza is delicious, and if you like it and can eat it without any effects from it, then you should! But it is very calorie dense and easy to overeat. So while you can eat pizza and lose fat at the same time, the best strategy may be to eat pizza once every so often while prioritizing more nutrient-dense and lower-calorie foods most of the time. And outside factors can derail this plan quickly. Happy hours with drinks and appetizers, weekend BBQs with tons of mac-n-cheese, creamy salads, and fatty meats on the grill just to name a couple! You should not avoid these situations, but you should realize that while the food and drinks that will be available may not be in your control, which foods/drinks and how much of them you choose to eat is 100% in your control.
That is not always an easy thing to do with societal pressure from peers to “let loose and have fun.” But being aware that you are going into a situation like and having a plan that allows for you to eat and participate in the festivities is key.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Built By Basics Nutrition & Fitness?
I am a women’s online weight loss coach. I specialize in helping women (including those with Type 2 Diabetes) who are severely overweight, develop new habits around nutrition and exercise that fit with their current life and schedules so they can achieve better health, using no supplements or gimmicks, just normal food purchased at a local grocery store.
What sets me apart from others is that I have been where these women are. I know the frustration, the sadness, and doubt, the feeling of failure from not being able to lose weight, and the shame from gaining even more. I have made it my mission over the last several years to learn everything I can to help other women finally take control of their health and weight loss in a way that doesn’t feel restrictive, and that doesn’t force them to completely uproot their families routines to cater to their weight loss goals. Sustainability is the most important aspect, and I coach these women to stop the years of fad dieting and yo-yo weight loss, learn that eating balanced nutrition is not a diet, and they shouldn’t consider it one.
I offer monthly 1-1 private coaching (paid monthly with a 6-month minimum commitment), and I also have a stand-alone Beginner’s Weight Loss Program that can be purchased for those who want the guidance on how to lose weight sustainable without the 1-1 help,
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I think both good and bad luck has played a role and continues to do so.
It was good luck that my former employer randomly switched insurance companies, forcing me to a new doctor. Without that happening, I would never have had the blood work done to find out my illnesses and start on my path the fitness.
Bad luck, although it may have been a combination of bad luck and bad intuition, helped me learn what type of coach I do not want to be, and the kind of business I do not want to run. I paid for a very expensive business mentorship specifically for online fitness professionals. Their methods included trying to prey on a prospective clients insecurities and pain, to basically scare them into signing up with me for coaching. I refuse to do that. That entire 10-week experience taught me the type of coach I want to be by showing me exactly what I don’t want to be.
I’m not sure I really believe in luck, though, good or bad. I think conscious decisions have conscious and unconscious consequences. Most people just prefer to call that some kind of luck.
Pricing:
- $149.00/month for 1-1 private coaching
- $99.00 Beginner Weight Loss Program
Contact Info:
- Website: https://builtbybasics.wixsite.com/built-by-basics-nutr
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/built.by.basics.nutrition
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christy.fit.for.life
Image Credits
Derrick Timothy
