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Juliana Leamen
Juliana Leamen is a Board Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, University- trained with a Masters degree in Science and trained in human behavior. She is on a mission to provide a new model of care for weight loss for women during menopause transition and post-menopause, what she calls Weight Release, moving away from the ‘diet mindset’ and helping women find confidence from within. Connect with Juliana here…
Join us for a live and unscripted interview with Juliana’s
Business MentorshipKeepin It Real and if you’re on the move here is the podcast.
Mastering Your Mind, So You Can Love Your Body In Midlife; Juliana Leamen
- Contributed By: Juliana Leamen
Tell us a little something about your business...
I am the founder of Naturally Joyous Inc. and I work exclusively with women in midlife who are navigating their peri/post menopausal years. My focus is on those who are struggling with changes in their bodies, such as low energy levels, weight gain, belly fat, hormonal imbalances, etc. on understanding how to best support their bodies.
For almost 2 decades of my life, I’ve struggled with debilitating chronic pain and after a spinal surgery in 2012 and my fibromyalgia diagnosis in 2017, I also experienced persistent weight gain. My recovery journey was slow and painful, but it was through seeking the root cause of my issues, as well as understanding the role our minds play, that I uncovered the power we all have inside to self-heal and it has inspired me to build my functional diagnostic nutrition practice on helping women do the same.
My book, Release – A Woman’s Guide To Releasing Weight In Midlife Through Becoming Your Body’s Best Friend came in 2022 as a way to share the message of how to love our bodies by mastering our minds. I wrote this book for women to read BEFORE their next diet, as I hope it will shift how they look at weight loss and help them gain a deeper appreciation for their own wholeness.
When was your lightbulb moment?
I would say it was more a collection of small moments, rather than one particular event. Looking back, I can now say I took my health for granted. I used to push 70-hour work weeks, I returned to work after major spinal surgery in record time and I worked through migraines more times than I can remember.
When I made the transition from corporate into private practice, I realized that being busy was a big part of my identity, like a badge I wore to keep me from having the time to sit with my feelings. I was great at intellectually analyzing my emotions, but I often avoided processing them.
Full time entrepreneurship helped me to reevaluate how I measure success, to get clearer about the impact I wish to leave in the world and it has also been a crash course in trust and resourcefulness.
Now, I lead a small team and I get to serve women from around the world with my book, Release, my signature program ‘The Weight Release Shift’, private coaching and speaking opportunities, as I fulfill my mission of making a positive contribution to the field of women’s health and bringing midlife women back into the spotlight.
What are your three words of advice?
1. You are not your mind and all the fears we experience, before making big decisions, trying new ventures or putting ourselves out there are simply our mind’s interpretation of reality. Since it is our mind’s job to keep us safe, it will often default to the worst-case scenario, which has nothing to do with the truth of what is ahead of us. This realization has allowed me to play outside my comfort zone often and I would not be where I am today without it.
2. Outlast the temporary – no matter how bad or difficult a situation gets, we are all resilient and we will make it. Follow your heart and take more risks. Leaving corporate meant my family’s income got reduced by 62%, as I was the main provider at the time. My husband and I had to make difficult decisions, change our lifestyle and we faced some trying times, but now, we are glad we did.
3. Plan so you can flow – I’ve always been a planner, but looking back, life has always had other plans for me and somehow, I’ve always arrived at the right place at the right time. Now, I plan enough to comfort my active mind, but practice staying open to go with the flow of life and enjoy the journey, as opposed to being rigid about reaching the destination in my own way. Our perception of the “right way” can be quite limiting and if we stay too rigid, we will miss so much magic along the way
Three words of advice...
(1) You are not your mind (2) Outlast the temporary and (3) Plan so you can flow
Juliana Leamen is a Board Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, University- trained with a Masters degree in Science and trained in human behavior. She is on a mission to provide a new model of care for weight loss for women during menopause transition and post-menopause, what she calls Weight Release, moving away from the ‘diet mindset’ and helping women find confidence from within. Connect with Juliana here…
Join us for a live and unscripted interview with Juliana’s
Business MentorshipKeepin It Real and if you’re on the move here is the podcast.
“May your legacy create a footprint of success for the next person who steps into your shoes”