It All started with...
Peanut Butter War paint!
The year was 2008 I was living in a two-bed college dorm room at University of Georgia (go DAWGS) University with my girlfriend Lindsey.
The floor of our dorm was littered with magazines like Oxygen, Women’s Health, and Shape that I would flip through for fun most every day after my classes.
Our college colors (red and black) spilled across most of our room from our bedding to our curtains giving us a mega dose of school spirit every time we stepped through our door.
A stack of shoes (mostly gym tennis shoes) threatened to spill out of my closet every time I opened it to get dressed and head off to my classes.
And then there was me…
A smiling, brown haired, brown eyed girl that you would never guess was hiding constant hunger pains under the surface.
Katherine Gonzalez
CEO Arise Fitness
When I look back at my college years,
I don’t remember many days where I wasn’t starving thanks to my roommate and I’s "peanut butter pact”
I know “peanut butter pact” sounds like some ridiculous cult ritual lol, but before you make your judgments…let me explain.
The first time we created the “peanut butter pact” was on a weekend night in our dorm room as we pinched the extra skin on our bellies exclaiming in the mirror that, “we looked fat”.
This wasn’t really true, but the only thing we had to compare ourselves to were the photoshopped models on the front of the magazines we read most every night.
We were brainwashed...
The photoshopped smooth skin, tight bellies, and toned legs of the magazine cover models...
They were burned into our minds as something we wanted to achieve, but could never quite live up to.
That didn’t stop us from trying though…
Every bit of fat we found on our bellies, thighs, or butts was met with disgust and self loathing from ourselves.
So, one fateful night when we were particularly angry and embarrassed by finding a tiny extra scrap of fat on our bodies, we made a promise to hold each other accountable to losing our extra fat.
Just like that
the peanut butter pact was born
Our agreement was simple…
7 days a week of cardio
Avoid fat, sugar, and carbs
ZERO peanut butter allowed
7 days a week of cardio
Avoid fat, sugar, and carbs
ZERO peanut butter allowed
This was a big deal for us
Peanut butter was our FAVORITE food
Before we made our pact, it wasn’t uncommon to find Lindsey and I scooping peanut butter straight out of the jar with our fingers as we chatted late into the night about whatever was on our minds.
I didn’t know it yet…but this “peanut butter pact” with my roommate would set me up for:
Years of poor health…
Massive mood swings…
And an overwhelming sense of unworthiness that would almost steal my life away from me…
We started our week off strong on a Monday
No breakfast and straight to the gym for a morning cardio session
A light snack towards lunch time and back to the gym for some light lifting and more cardio.
At lunch we would normally eat a salad or some other extremely low calorie meal.
For dinner, we would find ourselves usually forcing down some other green vegetables with a sparse amount of carbs.
After all that, we would finally retire to our dorm rooms for a fitful night of sleep interrupted by nothing but the sound of our growling bellies.
it was no joke...
We. Were. Starving.
Over the next 2 weeks, my girlfriend and I repeated this daily routine of pack our bags with gum to chew between every meal (to trick ourselves into feeling like we were eating) then:
- Morning cardio
- Snack
- Gym + Cardio
- Salad
- More salad with a few carbs
- Go to sleep starving
After 2 weeks of this, you can imagine we had lost A LOT of fat
But our bodies were DYING for something to eat
Towards the end of our 2 weeks it felt like red flashing lights and alarm bells were going off in my head as my body BEGGED me for something nutritious to eat.
When we reached the end of our 2 weeks of starving ourselves, we ran to the student store and grabbed 2 jars of peanut butter for our celebratory meal.
If you would have seen us racing back across campus to our dorm cheering, you would have thought we were Vikings racing away from a village we had ransacked and claimed peanut butter as our spoils of war.
We barely made it through our dorm room door before we were scooping out fingerfuls of peanut butter, far too hungry to bother properly making a real meal for ourselves.
It didn’t take long before we had more peanut butter smeared across our faces than was left in the jars.
We had suffered for 2 weeks waiting to eat like real people again, and now we wore our peanut butter war paint with pride.
For a moment...
we were in complete bliss enjoying our moment of accomplishment
But only a few minutes later we were sprawled across our beds feelings sicker than we had ever felt.
After not eating nutritious food for so long, our bodies were punishing us for eating so much sugar and fat at one time. It felt like our stomachs were slowly being frozen in hot lava.
(I know, it didn’t make any sense to me either!)
We woke up the next morning with what I can only describe as a “food hangover” that made it next to impossible to get out of bed without wanting to throw up immediately…
But seeing our bodies without fat in the mirror made all the pain worth it…
...or so we thought.
The Peanut Butter Chronicles
Over the next few years in college, Lindsey and I repeated our pact dozens of times.
Every time we would lose weight due to our extreme diets and workouts, weight just seemed to pile back on our bodies faster.
And everytime the weight came back, we responded with our same 2 week extreme diet and workout plan AKA “the peanut butter pact”.
It always worked…for a time…
But at the end of every 2 weeks, we would have a massive binge eating session that would leave us with a food hangover for days.
Our goal was always to lose extra fat and tone up…
…but what we didn’t know is that we were slowly training our bodies to hold onto as much fat as possible every time we starved ourselves.
We thought we were the only girls in the world who felt like we couldn’t keep fat off no matter what…
But it turns out...
MILLIONS of women around the world struggle with this SAME PROBLEM
They wonder why it just gets harder and harder to keep fat off the more they try to lose weight.
At the time I didn’t know that the more you limit what you eat…
the easier it becomes to...
“Bottom Out” Your Metabolism
If you’re like most women, you haven’t been told about the dangers of limiting the amount of food you eat.
No one told you that extreme dieting can lead to long term negative side effects.
Well…one of these negative side effects is something I call “bottoming out” your metabolism.
What I mean when I talk about “bottoming out” your metabolism is that you are teaching your body to go into survival mode.
This is a very common problem that MILLIONS of people experience all over the world (especially women) because of extreme dieting.
And it makes sense too…
As women, we are taught to fit into perfect molds of what we “should” look like
When I was going to college, I looked at photoshopped models on the covers of Oxygen, Women’s Health, and Shape magazines…
Today, women are looking through their phone screens at photoshopped models on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok…
The problem hasn’t changed, just the format in which we consume these potentially harmful images.
And listen, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with magazines or social media pictures being out there in the world of photoshopped women. It’s other people’s rights to photoshop as much as they want…
…but it’s EASY to understand why millions of women have starved themselves (like me) chasing a “look” when so much misinformation is out there.
And here’s the really crazy part…
Starving yourself on extreme diets can actually make it MUCH harder for you to lose weight in the future
Let me tell you why…
What Is A “Bottomed Out” Metabolism, And What Can It Do To My Body?
A “bottomed out” metabolism is something that comes from starving yourself, overtraining with excessive cardio, and overall just having a lot of stress in your life.
Think about your body normally.
Food is simply energy for your body to use.
When you eat food your body uses it to help you perform your daily tasks like brushing your teeth, going for a jog, carrying 8 bags of groceries out of the store, etc.
Did you know...
Your body uses a certain amount of calories to help perform these daily tasks
If you eat more calories than your body needs to function in a typical day, a normal person will gain weight.
If you eat less calories than your body needs to function in a typical day, your body will borrow energy from your fat stores and you will lose weight.
This is how the human body NORMALLY functions.
But this ALL changes when you bottom out your metabolism and force your body into survival mode.
So how does your body change with a bottomed out metabolism?
Think about what your body would do if you were in a real survival situation without enough food.
If you really were in danger of starving, your body would do what all animals’ bodies do and try to store as much energy as possible.
In other words,
your body will spend as little energy as possible…
…and try to hold onto as much body fat as possible so you have more energy reserves that will help you survive longer.
Makes sense, right?
Well…
What if I told you that your body can’t tell the difference between extreme dieting and a real survival situation?
IT’S TRUE.
If you’re anything like me and millions of other women around the world, you have done your best to lose weight by:
Always being in a calorie deficit…
Always working out…
And always eating “healthy” foods…
But...
you’re likely STILL struggling to lose the weight you really want to lose
The reason why that happens is because women who do extreme dieting to lose weight essentially command their body to go into survival mode and hold onto AS MUCH FAT AS POSSIBLE.
So by trying to lose weight by limiting your calories…
You Can Accidentally Train Your Body To Gain Fat Faster And Easier!
And it all comes from bottoming out your metabolism.
Just think about what it would be like to eat a dessert for dinner on a night out, then waking up feeling like you’re gaining fat despite only having ONE dessert!
This is what it feels like to have a bottomed out metabolism.
So if you’re a woman who’s ever felt like you can’t lose weight no matter how hard you try…
…there is a good chance you are suffering from a bottomed out metabolism just like me and so many of my clients have in the past.
trust me when i say...
IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT!
If you’ve ever woke up in the morning feeling bloated and overweight…
If you’ve ever felt terrified to eat because you might gain weight…
If you’ve ever tried to go to bed starving to follow some strict “diet” to weight…
And if you’ve ever felt insecure, disappointed, upset, and angered by what you see when you look in the mirror…
IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT.
Like millions of other women (me included), you have been LIED to by the women’s health industry.
These lies have caused you to gain weight, imbalance your hormones, cause mood swings, and affect your overall livelihood.
NO MORE.
In just a moment I’m going to tell you how me and hundreds of my clients have overcome having a bottomed out metabolism to Arise in our lives.
But first...
How Do You Know If You Have A “Bottomed Out” Metabolism?
These are the questions you need to ask yourself…
Have you ever...
Felt like eating just one wrong meal caused you to gain weight?
Have you ever...
Had a binge day where you overate waaaaaay too much food late at night because you were so hungry?
Have you ever...
Gone to bed starving because you were on a diet?
Have you ever...
Have you ever...
Felt like, no matter how much cardio you do, you just can’t seem to lose weight?
hold on...
If you answered “Yes” to any of those questions…
…then there is a good chance YOU ARE experiencing some form of a “bottomed out” metabolism.
But there is GOOD news.
Having a bottomed out metabolism is not permanent.
You can actually “retrain” your body to naturally shed excess fat with little to no effort so you can lose weight and maintain your figure without EVER having to go to bed starving again.
So if it’s ok with you…
It’s time for you to know the truth about how to overcome your bottomed out metabolism.
The Truth About...
How To FIX A “Bottomed Out” Metabolism So You Can Eat MORE Food And Burn MORE Fat
I first stumbled across this unique solution to fix my bottomed out metabolism a few years after I graduated college.
I hadn’t kicked my old habits to the curb yet and still wasn’t eating enough food to really sustain myself.
This was leading all sorts of negative effects like:
Vicious mood swings
Depression
Low energy
Reduced thinking power
IMPOSSIBLE to lose weight and keep it off!
Feeling tired
*pic of Katherine at her heaviest*
Not only that...
but I was noticing that it was much easier to GAIN weight back
No matter how extreme my workouts and diets became.
I was heavier than I had ever been and had no idea I was gaining weight because of how LITTLE I was eating.
At this time in my life I felt a food vampire straight out of the Twilight movies.
I knew that if I got just one taste of the food I really wanted, then I would turn into a glutton and eat all the food I possibly could.
I couldn’t control myself!
So since I was still stuck in the mindset that the only way to lose weight was to eat less food and exercise more…
…I avoided all situations that would put me in a place where good food would be around me.
i Was Miserable
I had to refuse invites to neighborhood barbeques…
When my husband invited me out to dinner for date night, I had to ruin it every time by making sure the restaurant we went to had food I could eat…
I was becoming no more than a ghost that haunted our house while my husband went out into the world to actually enjoy his life…
I felt depressed…
I felt unworthy of getting the body I really wanted…
My relationship with my amazing husband started to get ugly…
And I started gaining EVEN MORE weight…
I was slowly spiralling down into a black abyss where there was no hope for change.
And just when I was about to hit the very bottom,
I finally decided to ask for help...
I HAD To Find A Solution
I was tired of feeling drained and like a failure in every area of my life.
So I decided that I needed to get my health in order. And that’s when I hired my first (very expensive) fitness coach.
It was a scary financial investment at the time for me, but I knew something needed to change.
When our first training days came, I was expecting my coach to tell me how much harder I needed to work out…
Maybe to change my diet a little bit…
Alter my workout schedule to workout a few more times each week…
Little things like that.
So you can imagine my surprise when he told me, “Katherine, the #1 thing you need to do is just eat MORE food.”
I laughed. He had to be joking right? But his face was stern.
“I’m serious.” he said, “You’re not eating enough food and your body is trying to pack on fat so it can survive right now.”
It was hard for me to understand...
That eating less was causing me to gain more weight
But that one tip from my coach changed life forever.
Like most women I now work with:
- I didn’t know I could eat carbs without gaining fat...
- I didn’t know that eating until I was full could help me LOSE weight...
- I didn’t know that I only had to workout 3-5x/week to stay in shape…
But these were secrets I was missing!
the results speak for themselves
Just Look At The Difference In My Body Before And After My First Coach
Before I was Working out 6-7x/week, eating mostly salad, marriage falling apart, depressed
Now, I’m Working out 3-4x/week, eating whatever I want (including cookies cream ice cream :p), amazing marriage, happier than ever before
These pictures are to show you that you do not have to choose between enjoying your life and staying in great shape.
Believe it or not...
It’s Possible To Enjoy Your Life, Spend Plenty Of Time With Friends, Take Care Of Your Family, AND Be In Great Shape!
So if you want to get in better shape than you’ve ever been in before…
…and live a happier life as a wife, mother, friend, and woman…
…have a community of women to support you reaching your goals…
…eat foods you actually enjoy…
…and ARISE in every area of your life…
If you want that...
Then Pay Attention
I’m about to share with you the EXACT method I’ve used to help hundreds of my clients Arise in their life by:
Losing weight
Gaining health
Feeling happier
And becoming part of a community that lifts them up
But...
right before we get to that…
This Is NOT For You If…
- You would be perfectly ok if you woke up 5 years from now with nothing about your body changed
- You don’t want to lose fat, tone up, and get healthier
- You are not committed to transforming your body and Arising in your life
- You don’t care about getting in shape
- You are not coachable and able to take direction
This Is ONLY For You If…
- You want to be STRONG
- You want to know you are WORTH IT
- You want to feel BEAUTIFUL
- You want to have more JOY and HAPPINESS
- And you are DETERMINED to improve your quality of life
If that is you, then I want to introduce you to the program that has helped hundreds of other women transform their fitness and their lives…
Introducing....
The Time To Arise Fitness Program
Soon after hiring my coach all those years ago and learning it was OK to actually eat foods I liked…
I struck off on my own to develop a fitness program with the power to change more than just my body. I wanted to change my life.
At the time, I had no idea I was laying the foundation for a movement of hundreds of women who would Arise with me.
Sometimes the good Lord just surprises you with things like that…
Over months of spending thousands of dollars on fitness programs, personal trainers, and fad diets…
Plus literally thousands of hours spent online researching how to lose weight healthily and naturally…
i wanted to help
I developed The Time To Arise Fitness Program to help women
Not only reclaim their bodies but ALSO transform their lives.
I called the program “Time To Arise” because, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, women who take this program shed their old skin and Arise as inspiring and beautiful new versions of themselves.
When I first started this program for myself back in 2014.
My marriage miraculously became more intimate and romantic…
Suddenly friendships I thought I had lost years ago were rekindled…
I became a mother and felt confident setting a good role model for my kids…
And every day...
I started waking up feeling happier and more joyful that I ever had in my life…
And women who go through this program report experiencing the SAME things.
