When Becca joined EPN in January 2024, she came in with her sleeves rolled up and complete trust in the process. Her sister had worked with me 1:1 and had incredible success, and Becca was ready to do the same inside of the cohort.

Her first fat loss phase that spring was textbook: steady, consistent, nearly 10 pounds and 17 inches down in 13 weeks. She nailed her data, built confidence with her food choices, and could finally see what was possible when she fueled her body well and understood how to manage her intake.

So when the time came to transition into a build, she didn’t hesitate. She spent the next eight months intentionally increasing calories, training hard following The Practical Athlete, and building muscle, something she’d never allowed herself to do before. She loved it. The food freedom, the strength, the way lifting heavy and chasing PRs replaced always trying to get smaller.

By December 2024, life had other plans. A stressful job, poor sleep, and constant overwhelm left her body waving a white flag. When we attempted another fat loss phase in January, her progress completely stalled, even at 1,600 calories, and it became clear her system was too stressed to respond.

So we made the call no one wants to make: we canceled the fat loss phase and held at maintenance for six months. Becca sat in a body she didn’t love. She wanted to push harder, but instead, she learned to hold the line. She focused on recovery, managing stress, and actually living her life.

And when she finally found a new job and her stress lifted, her body responded instantly. Her fat loss phase this fall was her easiest yet: over 12 pounds and 15 inches lost, with an ease and confidence that only comes from doing the hard internal work first.

Looking back, Becca calls those six “stuck” months her biggest growth period yet. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was what she needed.

Last month, she graduated from EPN after 22 months, having completed two and a half fat loss phases, an eight-month build, and the most challenging phase of all: maintenance.

She’s already planning her next muscle build for winter, this time with a calmer life and a deep confidence in her ability to self-coach through every season.

Becca didn’t just learn how to change her body, she learned how to trust it and take care of it.

The Periodization Plan:

December - January 2024 (6 weeks): Maintenance

We dialed in maintenance calories and how to balance eating out and planning ahead

February - April 2024 (13 weeks): Fat Loss

lost 9.9 lbs and 17.5"

April - June 2024 (6 weeks): Maintenance

June - December 2024 (28 weeks): Muscle Building

Gained 10.3lbs, ended early due to a significant inflammatory response from stress

January-February 2025: Fat Loss Attempt

We attempted a fat loss phase, and pulled out due to nearly zero progress being made at 1600 calories (where January 2024, she lost >1lb/week at 1800 calories)

February - June 2025: Maintenance

Becca really took this time to dial in the mental and emotional side of what maintenance looks like while working on destressing

June -September 2025 (16 weeks): Fat Loss

lost 12.2 lbs and 15.0"

October 2025: Maintenance & Graduation

At this point, Becca has successfully navigated two fat-loss phases, a 6-month build, and has been forced to nail maintenance. She was ready, and the rest of her cohort decided to graduate with her too 🥹.

What’s next for Becca

Becca is going to pursue this periodization plan on her own as an EPN graduate.

November - March: 16 Week Muscle Build

Despite how her last build ended, Becca is eager to do another and continue to build muscle through the holidays, given her life stress is significantly lower

March - May 2026 : 12-Week Fat Loss Phase

Becca has a shorter fat loss phase lined up for the spring to fit in between her school’s spring break and summer break

Becca’s Key Takeaways of the Process:

When I first started, I treated macros like Tetris and stressed over every single gram. If I didn’t hit perfectly, I felt like the whole day was ruined. Now I get that it’s the bigger picture that matters. Showing up consistently is what builds results. One off day won’t undo anything, but staying consistent will change everything.

After eight months of bulking, I was so ready to jump into a deficit. I hyped myself up, told everyone I was about to crush it… and then my stressed-out body was like, “Actually, no.” I had to learn to listen instead of forcing it.

Your body will tell you when it’s ready. Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is pivot, breathe, and support it instead of fighting it.
Those before-and-after pictures you see online don’t show the months of small, boring, consistent habits.
I remember the first fat loss phase feeling like planning my meals and hitting the calorie range was such a struggle, but after 18 months of reps and consistently trying to implement those habits, the second deficit was so much easier.
If I had given up earlier this year when I had to be in maintenance, I wouldn’t have been able to breeze through this fat loss phase as easily.
Progress doesn’t always show up on the scale or appear overnight. It creeps in; in how your clothes fit, how you feel, your strength, your confidence. It takes time, and that’s actually the point. The slow results are the ones that stick.