A “Research Project”: How Personalized Coaching Delivers Solutions
Bethany Flores was ready for a nutritional change, and everything about CBG spoke to her.
“I had been trying to eat more intuitively, so everything CBG stands for fits with where I am right now,” said the seven-time Games athlete.
After a long career of tracking her macros on and off, Flores, who began working with CBG Coach Amanda Jeffrey in May, was especially sold on the idea of not tracking her macros.
“For some athletes, it’s OK, but for other athletes who have a background of bodybuilding or eating disorders, it can be very obsessive and compulsive to track all your numbers all the time,” Flores explained.
Flores is the former.
As a child, she was a competitive gymnast, where the idea that smaller is always better was drilled into her. When she quit the sport, Flores was so scared she’d put on weight like she had seen happen to some of her friends. This fear developed into an eating disorder.
“I did everything in my power to not eat, or to eat certain things only,” she said.
This eventually led her to start bodybuilding when she was 19, which only “fueled the fire,” Flores explained.
“I wanted to look a certain way. I wanted to be ripped and it was the most unhealthy thing I could have done,” she added.
For a while, almost all Flores ate was broccoli, and she would take fat burners or laxatives, which quickly “messed up” her stomach lining, she explained.
The damage she did all those years ago is still with her today, she explained. Her body can’t handle fructose, which is found, not only in fruit, but in all kinds of vegetables, as well, including staple ingredients like garlic and onion. Acidic foods also cause her digestion issues.
“There’s a big list of things I can’t eat,” Flores said. “I’m still climbing out of a hole I created for myself, but I’m in a way better spot than I have been with my stomach. It just takes a really long time to heal.”
Flores credits her Coach Jeffrey for taking her on as a “research project.”
“She is always doing research and she has found all kinds of creative solutions to find foods that work well for me,” Flores said. “Right away, I connected with Amanda’s spunky personality and I appreciate how diligent she is about checking in on me.”
She added: “We’re working together and we’re experimenting and Amanda has been really good and really flexible. I’m a hard client.”
Why Flores Recommends CBG
Three months into her CBG journey, Flores is more than sold on the approach, and recommends CBG both for professional athletes and lifestyle athletes looking to fuel themselves properly.
“Especially if you’re Type A,” Flores said, as it allows for a more relaxed approach to eating that still brings big results.
Further, CBG’s blueprint method isn’t a cookie-cutter, one-size fits all approach. It considers everything about you as an individual, from your history, to your goals, to your schedule and priorities.
“It’s customizable. They meet each person where they’re at and it can be as flexible or structured as you want,” she said.
For Flores, though, the biggest takeaway of working with Jeffrey has been learning that she doesn’t need to be perfect with her nutrition, emphasizing “that’s a really important thing.”
“It allows for a much more balanced approach, and it’s sustainable for the next three, five or ten years,” Flores said.
She added: “We all want things now, quickly, but it’s not sustainable. Being patient and kind and taking a more holistic approach is super important. Slow growth equals a more sustainable lifestyle.”