Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalie Grasso.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Natalie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My journey began back in 2011 when a rough break-up sent me on a journey of self-discovery that ultimately lead to a complete body and life transformation.
By the age of 26, I found myself sick, sad, and stressed out, battling multiple chronic health conditions (migraines, stomach ulcers, sinus infections, and PCOS to name a few), in addition to a highly stressful sales job and a toxic relationship. My doctors had me believing I’d be dependent on pharmaceuticals for the rest of my life – while assuring me there was no need to change my diet or lifestyle.
Just before my 30th birthday, after the relationship finally ended, I decided it was time for a change, and embarked on a healing journey – mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and physically – to rediscover who I was and what brought me joy in life.
I put self-care practices into place – soaking in luxurious salt baths, reading for pleasure, watching funny movies, taking dance and yoga classes, journaling, and spending time in prayer and reflection, and attending religious retreats. And guess what? As I nurtured my mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness, my physical wellness followed suit.
Once I recognized my true worth and value, I naturally began to change what I put into my body, in order to “honor God with [my] body” as a “temple of the Holy Spirit”. This led me to discover food as it was meant to be enjoyed without added flavorings, sauces, and unnatural additives. One fall day back in 2011, after visiting my YiaYia (Greek for Grandma) and cooking with freshly-picked veggies and herbs from her garden, I went home and threw out all the junk food in my cupboards and went “clean”. From there, I stumbled upon the Paleo diet and shifted the way I ate and lived to an ancestral template – meats, veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds and healthy fats. No more processed, packaged convenience foods full of sugar and chemicals.
Next thing I knew, I was healed from ALL of my chronic conditions and was able to discontinue ALL of the pharmaceuticals I had become reliant upon. I shed 30 pounds of extra weight (roughly 1/3 of my body weight) and settled into my body’s natural shape – which was leaner and sexier than I’d ever thought possible. By focusing on my health, I landed in the body of my dreams!
But the best part was the way I felt. I didn’t even know it was possible to feel so good!! Before discovering the ancestral way of eating and living, I thought pain and discomfort were necessary struggles I’d have to endure forever. All of a sudden, I felt like I could outrun a lion immediately following a meal when before, I’d head straight to the couch to lay down after eating.
Since 2011, I’ve researched and personally experimented with many different ancestral-based healing diets (GAPS, Wahls Protocol, AIP, Whole 30, Keto, Carnivore, etc.) and have not only maintained this newfound wellness (never going back to my previous medications), but discovered a whole new passion and purpose when I entered the world of bodybuilding back in 2016.
I began my journey to the bikini bodybuilding stage, I committed to doing it in a healthy way that was in alignment with my nutritional philosophy but, as my stage date drew nearer, my mindset shifted from health to aesthetics and I slid into dangerous territory in terms of my body image and relationship with food. Fearing I wouldn’t be “stage lean” in time, I implemented a drastic restrictive diet that wreaked havoc on my digestion and disrupted my body’s natural hormone balance. By my next competition, I’d spiraled into regular episodes of binge eating.
Following my second show, I knew I couldn’t continue this destructive path. It was a steep climb to pull myself back to a place of peace around food, my body, and my mindset. I took a year off competing, saw a functional doctor, got with some incredible coaches, kept up with my fitness training, and went back to basics with a healthy, ancestral-based diet and lifestyle practices. Now, I love the skin I’m in at ANY size, and keep my health front and center as I continue my competitive bodybuilding career as a WBFF Bikini Diva!
Since finding my way back to optimal health and wellness for my mind, body, and spirit, I decided to work exclusively with women who struggle with jumping on and off the diet rollercoaster, to help them achieve the bodies of their dreams by focusing on healthy lifestyle changes that are sustainable for the long term.
I am in a unique position to help women with all different health goals because I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum – from overweight, unhappy, and unhealthy, to underweight and obsessed with food and my body. I know the difference between transformation fueled by self-love and punishing yourself to force your body into change (spoiler alert: it doesn’t work!).
I feel so blessed for my struggles because I am now able to draw upon my experiences to impact the lives of women everywhere, to help them bring their own health and fitness goals into reality.
Naturalie Empowered Wellness – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My motto is “teach a [wo]man to fish”. I believe that to give a woman a meal plan is to feed her for a week but to give a woman a mindset will feed her for LIFE. My mission is to EMPOWER today’s superwomen with the knowledge and capabilities to transform their minds and habits so that they can live in the bodies and lives of their dreams, for the REST of their lives.
Beyond the average coach, I consider myself a Lifestyle Transformation Mentor. I guide my clients through the process of creating sustainable lifestyle changes that stick. Together, we unpack the mindsets and habits that have kept them stuck and I provide my ladies with the tools, guidance, and support to break free from these negative patterns.
Why me? I get it because I’ve been there. I know how it feels to be out of shape, unhealthy, and unhappy. I’ve made a complete lifestyle transformation myself, and guess what? I’ve been to the other side, too. Obsessive dieting, over-exercising, body dysmorphia, disordered eating. And I’ve found my way into a sustainable healthy lifestyle and body that I LOVE.
My journey has equipped me to EMPOWER my ladies. I put my all into the women I work with who are struggling in a state of frustration, confusion, or overwhelm. I do this because I want them to experience the same kind of freedom I’ve found from a life of on-again, off-again diets to effortless wellness in both mind AND body that sticks for LIFE.
In terms of approach, my way is different than the typical exercise and meal plan. I take a Primal approach, based on evolutionary biology (the way our bodies have evolved to eat and live) to help women change their eating and lifestyle habits to naturally and effortlessly lose unwanted body fat without counting calories or doing hours of cardio.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
It’s simple, really. Happiness. Joy. Fulfillment.
Life is too short for constant worry, fear, stress, and anxiety. At the end of the day, what true success is to me, and when working with my clients, is a state of peace.
What my struggles have taught me is that an inner state of peace trumps all else. What good is spending your whole life tilling the soil, if you never get to enjoy the fruit?
When I shifted from fighting against life’s struggles and instead decided to embrace them, I became capable of flowing with the tide, and finding a state of peace within all that life throws at me.
We will never be able to outrun the storms of life. So, success to me is the ability to maintain one’s peace in the midst of the storm.
(Side note: stress impacts women’s hormones in a way that makes it nearly impossible to drop unwanted pounds. My best advice for a woman who has “tried everything” is to just STOP for a while and let her body return to its natural state of homeostasis. It’s incredible what can happen when we stop fighting.)
Contact Info:
- Website: NatalieJGrasso.com
- Phone: 404-590-7636
- Email: natalie@nataliejgrasso.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naturaliefedfitchick
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaturalieFed
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/naturaliefed
Image Credit:
Gerald Carter, Diversity Photos, Jack Manning III, Jaxonphotogroup, Pierre Torset, Paris Photographer, Don Hayes, Don Hayes Creative Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
