Cheryl Ritzen Health and Nutrition Coach

𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐬. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬. 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝.

And then they wonder why they're exhausted, hungry, moody, sleeping like crap, and not seeing the results they want.

The biggest transformation in my physique didn't happen when I ate less.
It happened when I finally started eating MORE.

More protein. More nutrients. More fuel. More food that actually supported my goals.

𝐌𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐱 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝.
I built more muscle. My body looked stronger, healthier, and more athletic than it ever did when I was trying to survive on the lowest calories possible.

Somewhere along the way, people started believing that the goal was to weigh less.

𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁.

The goal should be to be stronger, healthier, more capable, and to feel good in your own skin.

𝐀 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.

And being "skinny fat" isn't the flex social media makes it out to be.

𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

Stop treating food like the enemy.

Stop chasing starvation disguised as discipline.

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲.

Food is not the problem.

Undereating is!!!!

Your body isn't asking for less.

It's asking for enough.......

Stop trying to survive on less. Start fueling yourself for more. 💪🔥

You do NOT need to destroy your body to see results.

And honestly… I say this because I used to be one of those women.

I thought more was always better.
More cardio.
More workouts.
Less food.
Push harder.
Ignore the exhaustion.
Ignore the stress.

I believed being completely drained meant I was doing enough.

But over time, my body pushed back.

Low energy.
Poor recovery.
Increased stress.
Feeling frustrated when my body stopped responding the way I wanted it to.

One of the biggest mistakes I now see women make is thinking:
• more workouts = faster progress
• less food = more fat loss
• exhaustion = success

But your body doesn’t transform from punishment.
It transforms from consistency, recovery, and proper fuel.

Muscle is what gives the body that “toned” look everyone wants.
And building muscle requires:
✔ enough protein
✔ enough recovery
✔ progressive overload
✔ patience
✔ consistency over intensity

If you constantly under-eat, overtrain, and live stressed out, your body will eventually push back:
• low energy
• poor recovery
• increased cravings
• stalled progress
• burnout

The goal shouldn’t be to get smaller at all costs.
The goal should be to become stronger, healthier, more capable, and more resilient.

Ironically, my body changed the most when I stopped fighting it and started supporting it.

Train with intention.
Eat to fuel your body.
Recover properly.
And stop expecting 10 years of habits to change in 2 weeks.

Real transformation is built slowly... but it lasts. 🤍

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐨𝐟𝐭. 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥.
𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞. ✨

📸
💄

𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝟽𝟶 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚕𝚍…
𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏.
𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜.
𝙽𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚍.
𝚆𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛.

𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 “𝚘𝚕𝚍”…
𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢.

𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚜.
𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚝.

𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝-𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎.

𝙾𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚜. 𝙵𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚢. 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚌𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚜. 𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎.
𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝.
𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚒𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛-𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝.

𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚘𝚖…
𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚝.

𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚗𝚘𝚠.
𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 ..
𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛.
🤍🤍

𝗚𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹.
𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿.
𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧’𝗦 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹.

Losing weight alone won’t give you energy.
It won’t fix your confidence.
It won’t protect your bones, your posture, or your ability to move without pain.

And let me ask you something....
have you ever seen someone lose a lot of weight and instead of looking younger… they actually look 10–15 years older?

Less fullness in the face.
More tired eyes.
More aches, more fatigue, more “I’m exhausted all the time.”

Because when weight loss comes from under-eating, over-cardio, and stressing your body out, what you lose isn’t just fat… it’s muscle, hormone balance, and that healthy glow.

The goal for most of us isn’t just to be smaller.
The goal is to look younger, feel younger, and move better for longer.

What actually gets you there?
👉 Strength.
👉 Muscle.
👉 Fueling your body instead of starving it.
👉 Habits you can keep for years, not weeks.

I’ve seen it over and over, women get smaller, but they’re tired, achy, stressed, and still unhappy with what they see in the mirror.

Because the goal isn’t just to take up less space.

The goal is to feel powerful in your body.
To have energy for your kids, your job, your life.
To walk into your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond still feeling capable and confident.

Stop asking, “How do I get skinnier?”
Start asking, “How do I get stronger, healthier, and more supported?”

That’s the glow-up that actually lasts. ✨

If you’re ready to train for life, not just for the scale... I’m your girl. 💪

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚑𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑…

For a long time, I thought taking care of myself meant doing more.
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗼. 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲.
More pressure. And honestly? That version of “health” kept me tired, anxious, and disconnected.

What changed everything was learning how to work with my body instead of against it.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞..

✨ 𝗘𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝘀
Fueling my body instead of fearing food. Letting go of the idea that I had to earn my meals. Feeling stronger, steadier, and more energized because I finally gave my body what it was asking for and stopped starving it.

🏋️‍♀️ 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗼. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
I stopped chasing sweat and exhaustion and started chasing strength. Training with purpose taught me patience, confidence, and trust in the process.

🧠 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁
This one was hard. Rest used to feel like failure. Now I see it as respect. Rest is where recovery happens.

🧘‍♀️ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴
Slowing down enough to take care of my body has changed how I move, how I recover, and how I feel day to day.

The biggest lesson of all?
Taking care of your physical health isn’t about control or punishment.
It’s about connection.
Listening.
Nourishing.
Supporting your body through every season.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭… 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

This is what health looks like for me now

If this resonates, save it or share it with someone who needs the reminder 🤍

A year from now…
You can be stronger. Happier. Living a life you’re proud of.

Or… you can be standing in the exact same spot, wondering why nothing changed.

Stop waiting for ‘the right time.’
Stop talking about it.
Start showing up.

Everything can change in a year…
but only if you do.