We were lucky to catch up with Hannah Brandt recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hannah, appreciate you joining us today. Was there a moment in your career that meaningfully altered your trajectory? If so, we’d love to hear the backstory.
Picking only 1 defining moment is a deceivingly difficult task, as most of us have been shaped and molded into who we are today by not one, but countless impactful, defining moments, but a few definitely stand out. For myself, a defining moment in both my personal and professional journey that led me away from formal patient care as an outpatient orthopedic physical therapist to creating a fitness and nutrition coaching business was actually a horrible experience I had in the very industry I now occupy. To bring you up to speed, I had been struggling with my weight for as long as I could remember. Elementary school, High school, Grad school, and everything between, friends, teachers, and hobbies came and went, but being overweight was a constant. Graduating “Dr. Hannah Brandt, PT, DPT” at my heaviest was a complicated feeling to put it simply, and I finally had the time and funds to hire an online personal trainer, a profession that was in its infancy stages at that time. I had nothing but two decades worth of failed diets to prove I wasn’t getting anywhere by “holding myself more accountable,” so I hired a trainer that a friend had been working with for weight loss. He seemed knowledgeable and I was ALL IN. It wasn’t until the results I was lead to believe were coming were in fact NOT coming despite my program compliance and dedication did things go south. Instead of getting support from my trainer, I was falsely accused of cheating because he “always got results.”
This is the point in my story I was feeling defeated and losing steam after almost 5 months of being SO GOOD with very little to “show” for it from a physique perspective. I was about to say “I guess I am just a bigger girl” and admit defeat for LIFE until I had a defining moment. I remember it dawning on me that I was about to let ONE poor excuse for a trainer determine my fate and set the tone for my relationship with my body for the rest of my life. That was a HUGE “ah ha” moment for me… I was about to give this guy I didn’t even like SO much power over my future. Time to pivot.
In that moment I realized that I had given up my power and personal responsibility for creating MY life. If I ever wanted to live the life I wanted in a body that felt like home, it was my responsibility, no one else. Yes, I needed support and have since worked with several other coaches and trainers (and became one, remember?), but at the end of the day, even the best coach, trainer, or support system in the world is going to leave you disappointed unless you play an active role in pursuit of your goals, whatever they may be.
Hannah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I graduated as Dr. Hannah Brandt, PT, DPT at my heaviest weight to date, and couldn’t lose 10 pounds to save my soul… fast forward ten years and things are looking quite different. Hi, I’m Hannah, happy you’re here! I am a doctor of physical therapy that pivoted into the online health coaching space after personally losing over 60 pounds and keeping it off after my fair share of failed diet attempts and determination to do it alone.
After a transformation like that, you start getting asked questions and that turned itself into the business I run helping women all over the world lose weight and gain confidence in their health, fitness, and nutritional habits via virtual one-on-one coaching to ultimately step into their best selves, both inside and out. Most clients come to me wanting one of two things (or both), to look better or to feel better. The issue with weight loss and long term weight management for so many women does not stem from lack of effort, desire, or work ethic, it stems from a lack of individualization. So many women (my former self included) seem to play the “nothing works for me card” like a badge of honor, when in reality, what has not worked was a cocktail of group programs, shreds, detoxes, office challenges, and bootcamps. There is nothing wrong with looking for a group approach to help you stay accountable on your health and fitness journey, but for many women who have spent the past 10+ years yo-yo dieting, we have to see it for what it is… group programs are not for everyone.
If NO group program or generalized advice to “eat more vegetables and be more active” has worked, leaning harder into that direction isn’t going to magically yield results. Having coached women professionally for over five years, it is mind boggling to me that most women who have been trying to diet on/off for the greater part of a decade with little to show for it have NEVER had a 1-on-1 coaching experience. Those women are feeling like “nothing works for me,” but in reality they have never had individualized support where a professional did a deep dive with them and made a program/approach that made sense for their goals taking into account their dieting history, current state, desires, and lifestyle. That is where I come in and what sets my coaching business apart from the rest. We don’t give you programs and a “go get ’em sister” before sending you on your way, we support you throughout the journey. Think of us like your copilot.
Coming from an evidence-based and clinical background accompanied by a personal training and integrative & functional nutrition therapy practitioner certification, I pride myself on not just telling, but teaching women the how and why behind weight loss so it actually works… and stays off… win-win.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I approached my weight loss from a very Type-A personality, on versus off, black and white mindset. I was perfect, or I was in YOLO mode and would “get back on track” the next day. Spoiler alert, perfectionism and weight loss/weight management do not mix well. Once I was seeing results with weight loss I was hooked to the process and knew the more perfect I was on my diet, the faster I would cross the finish line and then obviously look hot and lean forever… I think you know where this is going. I would be “perfect” for weeks on end, only to lose my mind every so often and consume anything and everything I could get my hands on, you know, all the foods I had deemed unhealthy and avoiding… not the epitome of health here. I was so laser focused on “getting results” that I kept my blinders on to try and get the dieting process over faster, and thus, never took the time to learn how to make the habits I was using for weight loss part of my lifestyle for long term success.
Fast forward to losing 60 pounds still in the mindset of needing to be as perfect as often as possible… I bit it, hard. I pushed so hard and was “so good” on my diet for so long, that I broke. I had no idea how to just maintain, and live, and be mindful because I never saw value in the flexibility when I was so eager to get the weight off. My eagerness and hurry to get the weight off by being perfect is what ultimately led me to putting close to 25 of the pounds I had lost back on. That was a wake up call.
It dawned on me I had to change my approach to weight loss if I ever wanted to get out of this cycle, lose the weight, gain it back, and repeat…
It is far easier said than done to approach weight loss and physique related goals from a flexible and sustainable angle, but I assure you it is the only way to make the results stay around longer than a few weeks before you “fall off track” again. If you’re shaking your head up and down reading this because you know exactly how this cycle feels, do yourself a favor and learn from my mistakes, perfectionism and weight loss are like oil and water, best kept separate.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
Coming from the world of higher education and formal health care, I can acknowledge that I am absolutely biased when I place value on proper education, training, and certifications when it comes to health coaching, but I also know it is not only the piece of the puzzle. Having lost a large amount of weight, that does help me relate to my clients on a very deep and intimate level with empathy, but that is also not the only thing that makes a good coach.
Relationship building. That is the secret sauce.
In the world of TikTok, Instagram reels, YouTube, Facebook videos, Netflix, Hulu, and AppleTV to name a few, our lives are spent watching OTHER people live their lives on a screen and becoming void of real connection. When is the last time someone asked you how you were, how your day was, or where you needed support and gave you UNDIVIDED ATTENTION to you and you alone? Probably a long while, or an infrequent occurrence at best.
Weight loss and/or weight management goals are very intertwined with emotional and mental health, and as a coach in this space, it is not helpful, but essential to have a strong rapport with each client built on a foundation of mutual respect, open communication, and trust.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hlblifestyle.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drhannah.healthcoach/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HannahBrandtOnlineTrainer
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drhannahbrandt/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@drhannah.healthcoach/featured
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drhannah.healthcoach?lang=en
Image Credits
Professional Photos: Amber Larkin of Empowerographyfiles