Meet Nathalie Cardona of NathalieCFitness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathalie Cardona.

Nathalie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My fitness journey began in 2012 after I made a New Years resolution to begin taking better care of myself. I was never the skinny girl, I never thought I had a good body, and like many young girls, I struggled with body image issues. My journey started out like many others before me: confused, lack of knowledge, no sense of direction, searching for the next “quick fix”, under eating, etc. I looked up to models on magazine covers, actresses in my favorite movies, and one thing they both had in common was their lean, slender physique. I knew nothing about weight training and how it can literally sculpt your body to however you want it to look. All I knew was that in order to look like these women, I needed to do as much cardio as possible so I can get “lean, sculpted abs”. Haha, isn’t that what all the tabloids say? LOL!

I remember, 6 AM everyday bright and early before school I would wake up and run around my neighborhood. After school whenever I had the guts to go the gym by myself, I would walk right past the machines (because omg was I terrified of working out alone!) and head straight to the elliptical. I did this for months and as you can expect, I didn’t see the results I was looking for. I felt like I was putting in all of this work and getting nowhere with my physique. Instead of throwing in the towel I decided to not give up on myself and keep trying.

I began doing research and I was searching for answers anywhere I could. I stumbled across a fitness website that provided free workout programs, articles, and just about everything you needed to know about working out. The women on this website looked so much different than the models I would see on a traditional magazine. These women were strong, fierce, and confident. These women were the definition of hard work and resilience and I knew I was capable of achieving the same thing. This was the shining moment for me. It was at this moment I knew that my life was about to change forever because for once I didn’t give up on myself. I was ready to dive head first into the world of fitness and so I did!

I became an expert on weight training through years of experimenting on myself. In 2015, I became a NASM Certified Personal Trainer where I gained even more knowledge and confidence. I worked as a personal trainer at different gyms and eventually became an independent trainer. My physique changed so much when I transitioned from cardio bunny to weight training but I knew there was something more I could do. At this point, I knew nothing about proper nutrition. I was still (subconsciously) following the “rules” I read about in magazines. “Carbs are bad for you”, “Don’t eat after 6”, “Fruits have too much sugar”, “Bread makes you fat”, etc. My relationship with food was definitely not the healthiest. I would eat as little as possible during the week and once the weekend came, I would binge on just about everything I saw. It was a vicious cycle that not only hindered me from reaching my full potential with my training and physique progression, it also made me miss out on a lot of activities with friends and family.

So guess what my next move was? Dive head first into nutrition! I changed my major from biology (that’s a whole other story but boy was I lost in the first few years of college!) to dietetics and nutrition. The rest is history! I didn’t realize how poor my nutrition actually was until I had the chance to evaluate my own diet. This is when I realized that I have been under eating for quite some time. My caloric intake was way too low for the amount of physical activity I was doing and that was the reason I was always tired and incapable of reaching my full potential.

I became extremely passionate about nutrition after I completely changed my eating habits and developed a healthier relationship with food. I no longer deprived myself of the foods I loved, I had an immense amount of energy to last all day, and my body was changing every single week. I have since became a Nutritionist and graduated with my B.S in Dietetics & Nutrition and use my social media platforms, like Instagram and Youtube, to share my knowledge.

Through years of trial and error I finally learned what it means to have a balanced lifestyle and today I am obsessed with helping women see that fitness is supposed to amplify your life, not make it miserable! I turned my passion of fitness and nutrition, into my career and I am now a health and fitness coach! NathalieCFitness is my online training and nutrition business where I transform women’s lives from all over the world! My mission is to educate women on how to properly train and fuel their bodies in order to achieve their dream physiques. Seeing transformations both physically and mentally lights a fire in me that could never be put out.

I leave you with this: I didn’t get here by chance. I worked hard for it. It all started with me. I wanted to change. I wanted to be better. So I did. Now I get to help women achieve the same thing and that to me is, priceless.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
My journey has been far from smooth! Like I mentioned before, I went through several different stages in my journey where I was completely lost. At one point I knew nothing about training and in another, I knew nothing about nutrition. What changed that? My tenacity to always search for the answers and became an expert on both topics.

Being an online coach has definitely had its struggles. At the beginning of my career I had to establish myself as the fitness professional, which can be quite a challenge to do online when no one really knows your background. You really have to show the world you’re confident in what you do and give out as much free information as possible. Once people saw that I knew what I was doing and gained a sense of trust through my informative posts, I began taking on clients. I’ve grown my business one client at a time. Showcasing clients transformation photos, check-in emails, and word of mouth has been the main driver of my growth.

Another challenge I’ve had to face, especially with the saturated fitness industry, has been standing out amongst the other coaches out there. The health and fitness industry is nothing what it used to be a couple of years ago. Back when I became a Personal Trainer, I did it with the sole fact of wanting to help people. That’s the reason I also got my degree in Nutrition. The common denominator? Both have to do with helping people become better. Now the fitness industry is over saturated with the next quick fix, the best supplement to help you get results ten times faster, and a plethora of under-qualified “fitness professionals” doing more harm than good.

I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of women I’ve had come to me with horror stories of past coaches. I see women with their metabolisms completely down regulated because of a protocol they were given that was not customized to them. I have women coming to me doing hours of cardio, eating like a rabbit, and unable to lose weight. I also have women that were given a diet with calories so low that they lost their period. It’s extremely sad but it only makes me want to work harder to reach more women and help as many people as I can!

In the end, I see these obstacles as an opportunity for growth. There’s always going to be bumps in the road in any career you choose. I choose to use the hard times as fuel to continue pursuing my passion and improving the lives of women one day at a time.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the NathalieCFitness story. Tell us more about the business.
Women are my specialty. I help women of all ages and levels of fitness achieve their personal fitness goals. I mostly help women lose body fat and reshape their physiques with proper training and nutrition. Working with women is my absolute favorite because not only can I relate to them (because duh, im a girl haha!), but women are freaking badass! “There is no force more powerful than a women determined to rise”. That quote is 100% true. The determination and motivation I see from my clients on a day to day basis is insane and if they think I motivate them, I can’t even begin to describe how they make me feel.

What sets me apart from other coaches is that all my plans are 100% customizable to the individual. I go out of my way in creating a training and nutrition program completely tailored to each person who works with me. I stand true to the fact that no two people will ever get the same workout or nutrition plan because no two people are the same. There are so many factors that come into play when designing a training and nutrition program. Things like age, height, weight, activity level, occupation, etc. I just can’t wrap my head around how some coaches/trainers copy paste the same plan over and over again. It makes zero sense to me.

As a brand, I’m proud that I have always stayed true to myself and I have always put my client’s health as a top priority. When you have a business online, it’s very easy to forget that the person you’re talking to over the internet is an actual real live person! If you’re not thorough about individualizing programs, you can seriously screw up peoples metabolisms, hormones, mental health, etc.! I want everyone who is reading this to be very cautious about who you hire as your coach. Your health can be put at risk very easily! Ask questions, find out the coaches approach to dieting, reach out to previous clients, etc. Your health is the most important thing you have, take care of that!

We always love to ask about the support network – have there been people, perhaps mentors or advisors, who have played a big role in your success?
Oh man! I wouldn’t be here without the support of everyone around me. I’m lucky to have such supportive people in my circle that have always encouraged me to follow my dreams. My parents, friends, boyfriend, family. I owe a lot to them.

I also have to thank all my clients, both past and present, for trusting me to be their coach! Without them, I would be nothing. I’ve learned so much about myself as a person by working with women on a daily basis. I’ve learned what it’s like to have empathy and compassion towards people I barely know. I’ve learned to be analytical and objective with data presented to me when making changes to diet/training. I receive so many amazing messages from my clients telling me how much I have changed their lives for the better and it’s a big reason why I continue doing what I do. Seriously, without them, I’d be nothing!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nathaliecfitness.com
• Email: nathaliecfit@gmail.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nathaliecfit

Getting in touch: VoyageMIA 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.