NAT EVANS, WOMEN’S HEALTH & FITNESS COACH
THE FIRST 53 YEARS BEING NAT!
As a kid, I loved Movement & I loved Team sports - Dance, Bike Riding, Tennis, Netball, Basketball, Softball - you name it and I was there! But like many of you, once my University days came along, gone were the games & the endless hours of outdoorsy fun - oh hello there BEER & late nights! I’m not going to lie - I moved little during the next decade. The entry into adult life and careers is all consuming and my path was no different from the paths most of you have taken.
At 28, I had the first of many Health & Fitness “wake up” moments - I was feeling incredibly unhappy, disconnected & lacking life force and even though I’d been Vegetarian my entire life (and thought I was doing myself and the planet a favour!), my nutritional intake was seriously lacking.
I NEEDED BIG CHANGE!
So, I sought out the help of a Naturopath and for the first time in that decade, I joined a gym and I started exercising. I Grape-vined & Pumped my way to what I thought was “fit” - gym-junkie indeed - I was addicted and I couldn’t go a day without at least one crazy high intensity session, in fact, if I could do 3, I felt incredibly accomplished. On the food front, I was still loading myself up with ridiculous amounts of Tofu, centrifugally pressed fruit juice, low-fat Vegetarian food options & Skim Milk. This was the ‘90’s and that was the information I had coming at me. It was during this decade that I developed Vitiligo (think Michael Jackson) - this should have sounded major alarm bells but my GP at the time brushed it off as if it were nothing.
Like most of you, what came next was Business, Marriage, Baby, Divorce, Corporate Career, oh, and the HIGH PROTEIN, COUNTING MACROS, 5% body fat phase of my life. With bub in tow, I dropped the structured exercise (like so many mums and dads do) and started walking 1-2 hours a day - but those STRESS LEVELS were increasingly out of control!
Fast-forward to my late-30’s and I was feeling worse than I did in my late 20’s - I was on high-alert all of the time. I was chronically exhausted, I didn’t communicate well, I was anxious about the future, I was irritable, I was working in a Corporate role and by this stage, I owned a gym, Jack Jones Health & Fitness, + I had a year 1 kiddo in tow!
I knew something was really wrong with my health - I still thought I was in “baby mode” but my body was waving a BIG RED FLAG & SCREAMING AT ME!
I HIT PERI-MENOPAUSE, apparently, AT age 39 - didn’t see you coming, despite the falling apart !
I was shocked, I was sad, I felt hard done by, my concentration was shot and I was in pain physically, emotionally and mentally - I was the deer in the headlights.
I knew how I felt wasn’t right, but no-one was talking to the 39 year old about MENOPAUSE, nor women’s very specific Health & Fitness needs & the crazy prevalence of AUTO-IMMUNE diagnoses after 30!
I took action though. I booked appointments left, right and centre - I was recommended a female Endocrinologist and to be honest, I didn’t take head of her advice because I knew there was more to this next stage of my life than a reliance on medication and the “eat more meat” song!
I was becoming more and more conscious of my bodily intuition and what I now know are “flares”, so yes, I starting researching my symptoms and I searched on for the right practitioner - next stop, a world-renowned Functional MD based right here in Brisbane.
From my first encounter, my understanding of REAL HEALTH at any stage of life and what my “self-care” responsibilities were in achieving this, changed.
I had found my guide to living the fullest life imaginable beyond 40 and right then and there, I had also found my calling as a Women’s Health & Fitness Coach - my life well and truly took an about turn!
Fast forward 17 years and I have helped hundreds of Brisbane women change the way they do things and THRIVE AFTER 40 - I have helped them
FEEL & LOOK AMAZING AGAIN & MOVE BETTER THAN THEY EVER HAVE!
NAT EVANS, LOVES FOOD!
I’ve always been an absolute FOODIE and I spent the first 25 years of my working life owning and running restaurants and cafes around Australia - fine dining, through to raw vegan and everything in between! I've studied Nutrition & Cookery - 2 of the passions that light my fire - and I'm more than a dab hand in the kitchen.
NAT EVANS, HABIT CHANGE SPECIALIST
At University I studied Economics and Business, so I've dabbled in Finance and along the way I embraced an exciting career adjunct in Corporate Sustainability & Change Management - I created programs and initiatives that not only changed the health of workplaces, but I also helped people just like you, make small changes in their daily lives that led to seriously big, long-term personal health gains.
NAT EVANS, AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASE
I have been "blessed" with a list of auto-immune conditions as long as your arm, diagnosed at 39 with both Coeliac Disease and Hashimoto's and then as I learnt more & asked the right questions, Pyrrole Disorder and Leaky Gut. The Vitiligo that developed in my 20’s was the first sign of a body fighting itself, but sadly, I didn’t know, what I didn’t know, so I continued doing untold damage to myself.
I'm now 54, I am studying IMMUNE HEALTH with a leading Functional Doc, and I take daily action to ensure that I am the Healthiest & Fittest version of myself and that I remain in tip-top shape over the next 40+ years.
I know first-hand what works for women after 40 - I know first-hand what works for women with auto-immune conditions.
NAT EVANS, SUPER BUG INFECTION
In 2011, a workplace accident saw me laid up in hospital for 3 months with a super-bug infection, thanks to a Registrar with unwashed hands.
After 8 reconstructive surgeries, I was told that I would never regain full use of my left hand and arm. At 41, I was not going to accept that diagnosis, so I embraced a long and painful rehab program, every second day with OT's or physios and working at home by myself for up to 5 hours each day to re-mobilise the left side of my body and regain use and range of motion.
After 9 months of hard work, I was released from rehab care, with almost 100% use of my upper left side - my Doctor and her Team were thrilled with the result, but trust me, going from planned amputation to "functioning", took unwavering commitment and a super positive mindset.
My accident changed my life’s direction even more. It changed what I valued, how I worked, what I said yes to, but mostly it made me even more determined to influence as many women as possible and show them how to dig down deep and make the life changes they needed to, especially after 40 when it is critically important to a healthful longevity, to do so.
Ladies, I am living proof that if you take DAILY ACTION & focus on your Health & Fitness, incredibly amazing results on all levels, will come your way!
WHY MENOPAUSE HEALTH & FITNESS?
BECAUSE A COOKIE-CUTTER EXERCISE & DIET PLAN DOES NOT CUT THE MUSTARD ONCE YOU ARE OVER 40!
Your body is in a state of hormonal, immune and adrenal flux and in short, you need to do things differently.
WHY WORK WITH ME?
I understand that a woman’s HEALTH & FITNESS needs change throughout her life and to be honest, what worked in her ‘30’s just isn’t going to cut it a decade later and it’s definitely not going to come close to working in her ‘50’s.
I also understand the pressures each and every one of you face on a daily basis - the long hours at work and running your homes, the endless school & family commitments, caught between caring for aging parents and teens emerging into young adult-hood, the struggle to cook meals that satisfy the tribe and tick the boxes for you too, the difficulty to squeeze in some "YOU" time and make exercise happen. I get this because this is the crazy, over-full life that we all live or have lived in my case, and I know how stressful it is!
After more than a decade of Coaching hundreds of 40+ women living the hormonal roller-coaster ride that is THE MENOPAUSE, all the while trying to manage the "buckets" full of stress, I know how to make change happen - I am a habit change specialist and I get results.
The fact is, after working consistently with me, my 40+ female clients have seen reductions in their menopausal symptoms - their sleep has improved, their hot flashes have decreased, their energy levels have improved, their weight has shifted, their moods have mellowed, their capacity for exercise has improved markedly and their resilience to anything coming their way, has changed incredibly .
THEY FEEL AND LOOK AMAZING AGAIN!
I am a Post-Menopausal Woman and I know what you are going through.
I know how to support you right now.
I know how to support you moving forward.