This is the healthiest I've been mentally for as long as I can remember. Ben doesn't throw a lot of things at you at once. It's more about making small incremental changes over time, and celebrating the small victories. He's also more than happy to work around my many allergies and dietary restrictions.
I would 100% back Ben and the Married to my Macros team for anybody looking to rediscover their relationship with food, prepare for competition, or develop sound strategies to deal with food choices in less-than-optimal circumstances. This experience with the team has been invaluable in my competitive game.
Being apart of team MTMM has changed my life. Now that you know that let’s back up so I can tell you the full story.
I reached out to MTMM in March of 2019. I had my first powerlifting competition coming up in June and I really wanted to drop down a weight category. (Because back then all I wanted to do was lean down, have perfect abs, and look like a fitness model) I had my first consult with Maggie Morgan and little did I know that that moment was the beginning of everything. My palms where sweaty, I had a hard time holding eye contact, I felt pangs of anxiety as I was vulnerable and open with my body image and food struggles. As soon as I saw Maggie and heard her speak in such a knowledgeable, kind, and empathic way I knew there was no way I was going to get off that call without hiring her as my nutritionist.
My relationship with food has been difficult since age ten when I started noticing my body change. I started CrossFit at age fifteen and would do 2 CrossFit classes a day well diligently tracking my macros. Making sure I never ate over 1500cals and if I did I would punish myself by rowing, running, or doing burpees. As you can imagine I didn’t get much fitter or lose any weight as my body thought I was starving. I still had the newbie gains on my side and didn’t notice the effect of my under-nourishment until I injured my back. Being on bed rest and low physical activities was hard on my self esteem and even tougher on my body image. My Orthorexia/Anorexia eating disorders took on full time residence in my mind. Anything I felt was a “treat” I would chew and then spit out into the garbage so not to ingest any of the calories. I decided it was time for therapy and started working out again. This was the beginning of the shift. I wanted help.
Fast forward one year exactly and I’m on that first call with Maggie, still talking about wanting to lose weight for my upcoming powerlifting meet. Here is where MTMM begins changing my life. Maggie (in her kind, loving, empathic, and strong way) sends me a template with so much food to eat my mind has a hard time grasping it. (I was eating way under my bodies needs) I start eating more and I PR. I maintain and I PR. So by then I know she’s on to something. I decide to stay in the weight category I’m in (82.5kg) and continue getting stronger and stronger. (We now have 3 CPL nation records and more coming!) As my body begins to change I start panicking again (okay, multiple times I’ve panicked) Maggie has been there for me Every Single Time to remind me what my goal is and what my reason behind doing this is. One of the many things I love about Maggie is her ability to gain trust. I believe respect and trust are gained and as we started working together she never gave up on me. When I had a hard time eating all my food she picked me back up and let me try again. Maggie quickly gained my trust and respect. Maggie has always had my best interests at heart and has never wavered in our goal destination. Now any decision she makes I’m alllllll in.
Since working and forming a relationship with Maggie and Team MTMM my body image has changed dramatically. I look in mirrors and compliment myself. I wear bikinis, and the biggest one of all, I now workout in a sports bra. I can’t describe the level of freedom I feel in my body and the amount of love and pride I have for myself. The care and knowledge Maggie, Ben, and Katrina have for their clients makes us feel safe, heard, and ready to go to the next level. I didn’t believe there was hope in living a life without constantly thinking about food. I can now say I haven’t had an ED tendency in almost 4 months and my relationship with food has never been better. I will forever be grateful.
Zara Nybo
“For the past 30 plus years I had neglected to take my diet seriously and had accepted, as fact, that as we age we naturally gain weight as our metabolism slows.
Over the years I had tried many forms of dieting with varied success but always regained what I had lost plus, each time added a little extra.
At the age of 63 and weighing in at 260lbs, and suffering from high blood pressure, I had reached a point where I recognized that I needed to make a major change.
A friend recommended Married to My Macros to me and after some research I reached out to them.
Their focus is not weight loss but more on teaching you how to take control of what you are putting into your body. Ben and the rest of the team have been amazing from the beginning.
Ben prepared me for a lifestyle change as opposed to a diet and kept my eye on my goals and encouraged me to focus on the things I can do to improve my health rather than the things I can’t do.
It has been invaluable to me to have him there not only to guide and encourage me but to also assure me that the process was working whenever I had doubts.
Thanks to MTMM I feel better today than I have for many years. I now have control over my diet and with continued encouragement from Ben and the staff at MTMM I am confident I can continue to improve, tone and strengthen my body. Thanks again to you Ben and all the staff at MTMM for your guidance and support.”
Jonathan.
“In my first conversation with Ben he mentioned that Married to My Macros is all about education and empowerment through knowledge.
He and Katrina taught our ringette team of 13-15 year olds about the importance of nutrition in sports performance. They tailored a seminar specific to our needs and kept a room of teenagers engaged in conversation about their personal nutrition needs (not the easiest task). Most important to our team was information on how to fuel ourselves before, after and between games (especially during tough tournament schedules). I’m confident that we will now be the most prepared team at our next tournament!
Thank you Katrina and Ben for passing on your passion for improving health and sport performance through diet!”
"I had no idea how much it affected your body (physically and mentally) what you eat, how much you eat and when you eat it." -Anthony
Top Right-Oct. 2016/Bottom Right-Jan. 2017/Left image-March 2017
Reaching out to Katrina at Married To My Macros has been the best investment I've made in order to improve both my physical and mental health. Within 2 weeks of my initial consultation, I saw drastic changes to my body. I gained a noticeable amount of lean muscle mass, and increase in my abdominal definition (they started to pop out!) and I felt an increase in my energy levels, allowing for higher performance throughout my workouts.
In the month following, I set myself some fitness goals that I previously would have considered out of reach. However, with Kat's constant encouragement and the support she displays for her clients, together we made sure I achieved them!
My goals were as follows:
I wanted to increase my clean and jerk by 50%, which was at 40kgs - I hit a PR of 60kgs.
I wanted my snatch to increase by 25% while really honing in on my technique - a clear mind helped my focus, which allowed for an improvement in technique, and as a result my snatch increased from 32kgs - 42kgs.
From a body composition perspective, I wanted to gain lean muscle mass all over my body - I gained more than I thought achievable in the short time frame, with the biggest winner for me being visible abs! Plain and simple, this was my number one composition goal - to get abs! I hadn't seen my abs for about 13 years and it's a massive testament that I now can look in the mirror and say hello to them every morning.
None of this would have been possible without the programming, guidance and coaching from Kat.
My personal experience with Married To My Macros has been amazing! Kat's passion and knowledge of nutritional concepts and associated biological responses is absolutely mind blowing. Her work ethic and compassion for her clients is so apparent that you can be confident in knowing you are getting the right advice, with the added comfort of feeling supported during those tough times - if you're having a tough day, she is always only a phone call or email away to coach you through.
***Update - MTMM is happy to report that since the publication of this testimonial, Anthony's performance has continue to improve. His snatch has further increased up to 52kg!
“Working out and moving again was appealing because I had control. Getting back to the Olympic lifts was a blessing. ”
We found out on June 1 2016 that I was pregnant. I was in the best shape of my life, weighing in at 159lbs and feeling stronger than I ever thought possible. My max lifts were a 68kg snatch and 84kg clean and jerk. I was given a due date of February 7th, 2017 which put me right around 4 weeks - early days.
That first week was wonderful, and I did not have to adjust anything in my training, other than change my perspective to a goal of maintaining and staying healthy, rather than gaining strength. At 5 weeks I started to experience pretty significant sciatic pain that didn’t allow me to squat or even get out of bed easily. By the second week of June I had to stop all lower body movements. Fast forward another 3-4 weeks, and I was in and out of Emergency with unexplained pain. At 12 weeks, I had an MRI performed as the pain was so bad the doctors thought it must of been my appendix. Every test they did showed the same thing: normal, normal, normal. My heart rate and the little one’s were fine.
By this point I had gone from training 1-2x per day to nothing for the past 7 weeks. At 12 weeks the pain was so bad that I was unable to do much more than slowly walk my dog to the corner of our block and back. At 16 weeks I woke up to the feeling that no expectant mother ever wants to feel that early: my water broke. Again we rushed to the Emergency room where they told me that there was very little amniotic fluid remaining and they sent me home and put me on bed rest, essentially what I had been doing for the 4 previous weeks.
After being home another week with a couple more visits to the ER we finally saw a specialist who said everything looked fine with our baby, but yes there was very little fluid remaining and sent us back home to wait and hope for the best. Then on Wednesday September 7th, 2016 at 18 weeks we saw another specialist who broke it to us that there was no way to produce more amniotic fluid and since my water broke at 16 weeks there would be no lung development at all. This was the hardest thing I have ever had to hear in my 27 years, especially after so much hoping and waiting. On September 8th we chose to terminate with a KCL injection into our little one’s heart, however given our options I am not sure there was really any other 'choice.' On Friday September 9th, 2016 I delivered at 18 weeks and 2 days.
Mentally the hard part hadn’t even started yet. Physically, having been on restricted activity or bed rest for the past 18 weeks I had put on over 35lbs. My joints hurt from not loading them for over 3 months and even walking still hurt my hip and lower back.
12 days later I touched my first barbell. It was weird, because I had spent so much time waiting and hoping, having no control over anything. Working out and moving again was so appealing because I had control. I was afraid of going to the gym though, afraid to see people who might say congratulations or ask how I was doing. Some days I got to the gym, looked at the doors, turned around and left. Most days though, I went inside. Getting back to the Olympic lifts was a blessing. Any time I approach a barbell for an Olympic lift, I have to turn off my brain or it will not happen. Training gave me the space I needed to stay sane over the next few weeks.
On October 12th, I hit my first full snatche since June. I started following a 5-6 day per week Olympic lifting program again. I had this urge to throw all my energy into something I was passionate about, and towards something I did not have to talk about. I gave myself another month and once I felt like I had a handle on training and could deal with something else that is when I spoke with Kat about MTMM. I was still sitting over 190lbs and although my strength was coming back, I needed to track my food again.
Not only was Kat completely understanding, but she also helped set up my nutrition to a level I could manage. I am slowly (very slowly) making my way back down to the weight I started at, maybe lower. I am eating more than I ever have, and although I have many days where everything just seems like its too much and unfair (as I’m sure it does for everyone) there is a light. My weight this morning is 178lbs. My comeback maxes are 71kg (3kg lifetime PR) and 84kg. My next hurdle is a fibroid removal on March 29th. This means I will have at least 6 weeks of no training where Kat and the MTMM team will be even more important as nutrition will be all I am able to use to maintain the body I have gotten myself back to. There is never a perfect time to start looking after your body, but MTMM is able to help you every step of the way. I just cannot thank you guys enough for all that you have given me.
-Jy #ComeBackHarderThanMe
Client: Kayla Ireland
There is no better feeling than waking up every morning knowing that I will have enough energy to get through 8 hours of class, 2 or 3 hours of training and whatever else the day throws at me. Every day I get to lift weights and feel awesome, I get to go to school and take in every bit of information possible, I get to enjoy interacting with other people and I get to go to sleep feeling proud and satisfied. I have not always felt this way. In fact, this feeling is very new for me, and I have MTMM to thank for it.
I have existed both ends of the dieting spectrum. I grew up dancing with a heavy focus on ballet and jazz. These are both disciplines that place a great deal of value on a person’s look. Therefore from a young age I was self-conscious about my body and this lead to an unhealthy relationship with food that lasted for 10 years. From when I was 12 until I was 17 I didn’t eat much at all. By the age of 16 I had become so lost in my eating disorder that I couldn’t identify one food that I enjoyed eating. To me, food was not associated with fuel or pleasure. Food was something I avoided at all costs. I continued with this mentality for years and reached a record low weight of 76lbs.
I worked very hard to rebuild myself after years of eating as little as possible. However, this is something that takes years and in the beginning I wasn’t prepared for the work that it would take. I left home to pursue a career in dance when I was 18. I had been doing better with my eating but things shortly spiraled out of control. I became depressed, I quit dancing and I turned to food as an escape. During this dark time sometimes I ate everything I sight, sometimes I binged and purged, and often I didn’t leave my bed. At the same time I was struggling with some medical issues and I went from 110lbs to 140lbs in 3 months. After that I went through periods of restricting and binging for months.
After sorting out my medical issues I found love for exercise again and shortly after that I found weightlifting and MTMM. When I first started weightlifting I was delighted with my new weight loss and I was sitting around 105lbs. I was still too light for my frame and it was limiting my energy and my strength. With the Help of Katrina at MTMM we slowly added more and more calories in to my life and brought my body weight up to a healthy spot. This has been the most positive change I have ever made. I have never enjoyed eating, until now. I have never felt good, until now. I didn’t know that I would ever be able to develop a healthy relationship with food again. Katrina provides a safe place for me to express my past issues with food, she understands them and she works with them in a way that prioritizes my health. For the first time in 10 years I’m not tired, I’m not angry and I’m not deficient in any nutrients and I have Katrina and MTMM to thank for that. Of course I have improved as weightlifter since dialing in my nutrition, but most importantly my quality of life has improved. For that I will be forever grateful.
Client: Lizana Muir
I am not your typical client specifically looking to increase performance or to shift a weight class. My primary goal is HEALTH and Married To My Macros is definitely helping me.
My health journey has been a long one and Kat has helped me continue to heal but also provide me with something I've never been able to achieve - better body composition WHILE still having energy and looking after my health.
Through my teenage years and 20's I was always sick, on antibiotics, eating the wrong food drinking a lot, partying, constantly tired and always low on energy. I never slept well as long as I could remember. I was very active - running, playing sports, working out at the gym and eventually finding CrossFit and Weightlifting. I could never understand how people worked out every day! Sometimes twice a day? Where did they find the energy or how do they recover so quickly? I love exercise but I found I would have a great few weeks where I would feel amazing and invincible followed by weeks of lethargy and niggly injuries.
All of this I lived with but when the food intolerances and gut reactions started to get worse is when the true frustration set in. I started avoiding foods that caused adverse reactions and that helped a little but mostly things slowly got worse. Even though I had adopted a clean diet free of processed foods, dairy, gluten and sugar.
I've also had a lot of stress in the last 5 years - I've moved house 3 times, moved countries, had my heart broken, changed jobs multiple times (all my own doing), ran my own business and juggled multiple jobs at once, had so much money I was lost with what to do and also had no money I was worried debt collectors were going to knock on my door.
Years of abuse from food, alcohol, sleep, antibiotics, stress and anxiety.
In my early 30's I'd had enough. Enough of the limited foods I could tolerate, the exhaustion, the rashes, acne, brittle nails, orange skin, shortness of breath, aching joints, mood swings, insomnia and the list goes on!
I had low thyroid function, gut dysbiosis and adrenal fatigue. Basically, my hormones were all over the place and I was exhausted, couldn't digest food therefore absorb nutrients and found it hard to lose weight and gain muscle. I worked with a Dietician for a few years and we started my recovery. Medicating for my low thyroid, gut healing and de-stressing including not so much high intensity exercise.
That was a HUGE part of my recovery and these things take time. I had to go through that to get to where I am now. I got to a stage a year ago where I was feeling pretty good. I could eat a larger variety of food, I was generally relaxed and had energy to slowly start exercising regularly again. Then I moved countries!
When I met Kat I had regressed and a lot of my symptoms had come back. Basically, my thyroid was still low even though I had been on medication for 2 years and I was back in adrenal fatigue - my cortisol levels remained the same all day; basically, my body was in a state of stress all the time... which leads to burn out. I had also put on a lot of weight and was at my heaviest. I knew what I had done previously so started back on that regime but nothing was working.
And that's where MTMM came along!
I had never tracked macros before, I'd always just eaten good food. Kat showed me that eating the right food for me in the right quantities is hugely important and beneficial. Kat has focused on foods and supplements to heal my gut and techniques to reduce stress AND making sure my macro profile is sufficient for my needs. I eat MORE protein than ever, and I still get to eat delicious carbs and healthy fats.
My focus other than nutrition is sleep! Listen to my body... rest when I need to and also work out with the intensity I feel that day. Some days I just want to walk cause that's all I can manage but other days I can CrossFit and feel great. That's ok. I know the difference from feeling muscle fatigue or tired to feeling exhausted.. so I listen to my body. I'm kind to myself. Which - reduces my stress!
I've been able to focus on my health - all while feeling better about myself, losing fat, gaining muscle AND healing my body.
It's a long journey for me and I'll always be susceptible to slipping back into Adrenal fatigue but I'm so glad I have Kat to help me along and to have shown me that I CAN lose weight, look good, feel good about myself AND be healthy. I also love that I have someone to guide me and listen to my complaints and questions. Someone who supports me and is genuinely interested and invested in my journey and seeing my health improve.
As far as improvements in the last 5 months - I now have clear skin, no acne or rashes, I sleep better, less gut distress or reactions, my nails are long and strong, the high energy days outweigh the exhausted days and I'm more in tune with my body. Numbers aren't so important for me but I have lost nearly 6kg and over 9 1/2cm in total around my waist, belly and hips. Still lots of work to do but I'm on the right path with Kat's help!
Everyone's journey is different and ever evolving.
This is mine.
