Today we’d like to introduce you to Eva Phillips.
Eva, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve always loved exercising and worked out 5-6x a week. I enjoyed being active and being outside. But I never paid attention to my nutrition and never wanted to change my diet. I was annoyed & overwhelmed at the thought. Besides, it wasn’t that bad, right? I ate pretty good.
I hated when I heard sayings like:
80% is nutrition
Or
Abs are made in the kitchen
WHY?
But after years of consistently working out, I looked in the mirror and felt completely frustrated that my body felt strong but physically looked exactly the same. I knew I need to get a better understanding of how to eat and what to eat. But like I said, it all felt so overwhelming, and I didn’t think I had it in me to actually change my eating habits.
Until one day, it just clicked. I can’t say why, but in that moment I felt ready.
It was the day before Memorial Day 2018. I had sent my husband out to Sonic at 8p to get me a Reese’s peanut butter milkshake. And it was goooood! I drank all 28 oz of it.
And then it happened. My aha moment. The moment that I realized that if I was ever going to see physical changes in my body, I had to get a better understanding of my nutrition.
As my stomach ached from that monstrous milkshake, I said out loud to my husband, “I’m cutting out sugar and carbs starting tomorrow!”
It was an uneducated, spur-of-the-moment response that looking back now was 100% the worst way to start a new way of eating, but I didn’t know better then. Also, who starts a diet on a holiday?
But something sparked inside of me and it changed the rest of my life. What was just a spontaneous statement made out of a stomach ache and insecurities about my body, led to the next 3 years of learning (and unlearning) balanced nutrition and properly fueling my body.
When friends saw my transformation, they asked if I could help them too. I began coaching friends with the information I had learned and soon more and more people were asking if I could help them too.
I knew that if I was going to call myself a health coach, I needed more education and a certification. In February 2021, I got certified with Precision Nutrition and become a certified nutrition coach. My business continued to grow at an incredibly fast rate and in July 2021, I made the decision to quit my and do this health coaching thing full time.
I have coached over 150 women and have helped them understand how to properly fuel their bodies with the right nutritional balance. My goal is to not only help people lose weight but educate them on why their bodies need protein, carbs, and fat and what that balance looks like for them. I help women who feel like they’ve tried every diet FINALLY get results. I help them put the pieces together of nutrition and exercise in order to achieve their desired goal. It’s not about giving up the foods they love but about finding balance with food and fitness so they can look and feel their best!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s definitely not been a smooth road. It rarely is when you are pursuing your goals. The biggest struggle has been finding my unique niche on social media and in the health coaching space. When there are so many other incredible coaches, figuring out what makes you stand out and why you are worth people’s time, energy and money is a full-time job, in and of itself. I’m just finishing up my first year of having my own business. There is so much I am learning and still don’t know. Learning to navigate slow months when it seems like no one is interested in your business, to constantly creating content for social media, to learning about taxes and P&L sheets, IT’S BEEN A LOT! The good outweighs the bad, but there is so much I have to experience and it can be all-consuming. I’ve also had to work on creating healthy boundaries for my mental health. When you are passionate about something and it becomes your business, it is easy to eat, sleep, and breath everything about it. But I’ve experienced more anxiety and sleepless nights, constantly thinking about all I need to do and manage. I’ve had to be intentional about boundaries and sticking to work hours and then also shutting my computer down and just relaxing.
As you know, we’re big fans of Healthy or Not Coaching, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am a certified nutrition coach I specialize in helping women understand the process of tracking and counting macros and how to make macros not just a diet, but a sustainable way of eating. Fad diets are all about restriction and taking foods out. Macro tracking is actually about what you gain. And that is an understanding of what is in the food we eat and how we can make it work for our body and our goals. It’s about mindfulness and creating balance.
What sets me apart is I am not going to sell any supplements, or tell you to cut out sugar, carbs, or any food groups, or give you a plan that leaves you starving every day.
I’m most proud of all the clients I’ve helped. When a client has that moment when it clicks for them and finally understand that they can eat in a sustainable way and still look and feel good, there’s nothing better than that.
I offer private personalized one-on-one coaching, which is my highest offer for people looking for that personalized coaching experience.
I also offer a Macro Kickstarter program 4 times a year. This is a 6-week group coaching experience that teaches people how to track macros, what macros are, and why they need each one in their daily diet.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Oh man! What a question. I see people steering away from fad diets like Keto, Paleo, Whole30, and Optavia and realizing that those programs are unsustainable for the long haul. I see more and more women realizing that eating low calorie is not what they need in order to see life-long changes. Once we can educate people on the power of eating in a balanced way (consistently) it truly changes everything.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Ashley Maisonet
Marcia Bradley
