You may recall Hannah’s journey when we posted her 6 month update last September, and now we’re back with a 14-month update as she graduates this month!

In March 2024, Hannah enrolled in a 24-Week Muscle Building and Fat Loss Cohort.

After spending 6 months in a deficit in 2023, and a torturous 3-month reverse diet with a prior coaching company, she was ready to learn to manage her nutrition with the cohort's support.

With the goal of moving her physique towards becoming a “little ball of muscle,” we set out on a building journey.

Her biggest fear going into the cohort was going through a build phase not being able to gain muscle, and struggling with fat loss afterwards.

The Periodization Plan:

Via the 24- Week Cohort:

March - June 2024 (12-weeks): Muscle Build

Gained 3.2 lbs
Increased calories from 2100 to 2700

June - August 2024 (12-weeks): Fat Loss

Lost 9 lbs
Never dipped calories below 2150 calories

Via the Continuing Cohort:

Oct 2024 - Jan 2025 (15-weeks): Muscle Build

Gained 2.9 lbs

February - May 2025 (13-weeks): Fat Loss

Lost 8.8lbs
Never dipped calories below 2100 calories

What’s next For Hannah:

Hannah is graduating 🥹! She’ll be working through this plan on her own with all the tools she learned through EPN.

May - August: Maintenance

Hannah is enjoying maintenance after her fat loss phase and will be doing some traveling to Hawaii and enjoying summer farmers market baked goods!

September - January: Muscle Building

Hannah has a 5-month muscle building phase on the calendar to continue stacking bricks towards her goal of being a tiny ball of muscle.

February - April, 2026: Fat Loss

Hannah has a fat loss phase planned for the spring post her muscle build.

Hannah’s Key Takeaways of the Process:

I didn’t realize that investing in my physical health in gaining muscle (therefore eating more food) would lead me to have not only physical freedom but emotional and mental freedom too.

I no longer feel suffocated by thinking I need to constantly be watching every little thing in order to make myself smaller.

And this has directly translated to the rest of my life. I didn’t realize that me being so focused on what was “wrong” with my body was causing me to minimize myself - in all of the ways, physical, emotional, mental.

The freedom I’ve found through this process isn’t just physical.

It has empowered me to challenge myself in other areas of my life, pursue other goals that I previously felt may be out of reach for me, just like I thought this transformation was.

I proved to myself it wasn’t - so I’m wondering what else I can prove myself wrong about.

The aesthetics are cool and all but waking up without pain or fear that my body won’t allow me to do something is priceless.

Truly. Your body deserves more time, attention and care than a fad diet. It responds to what I do to it. So I’ve learned how to care for it in the best way possible.