She's Leveling Up!

Episode description

Everyone is asking about creatine, but most of the research was done on men. Simone, the self-described "back of the bus" queen of new trends, sits down with integrative health practitioner and chartered herbalist Sonya Christie. They cover what creatine does, who might benefit (especially in perimenopause and menopause), why Simone's bloating happened after she switched brands, and why you can't out-supplement a bad diet or lifestyle. Bonus: Sonya's rule for deciding what stays in your supplement cabinet and what goes.

Key takeaways

1. Start with the basics: sleep, food, hydration and movement.
2. Ask "why am I taking this?" before you buy any supplement.
3. Look for third-party tested products, and check how well the powder dissolves.
4. Food can supply creatine, but it takes a lot of beef or fish to reach typical supplement amounts.
5. Work through symptoms, labs and then genetics, instead of guessing.
6. Check with your doctor before adding anything. You're the CEO of your body.

• Find Sonya at www.sonyachristie.com
• Follow Simone on Instagram at @simonenlovell
• Learn more at www.simonelovell.com
• Want a full episode on Simone's genetic report and her migraine journey? Tell us!

This is education, not medical advice. Check with your healthcare provider before starting any supplement.

Content note: This episode includes an honest, detailed conversation about eating disorders, over-exercise, and the physical toll of restriction. Please listen with care.

Episode Description

Whether you've struggled with food noise, a clinical eating disorder, or just a complicated relationship with food and workouts, this one is for you.

Simone sits down in person with coach Angela Ronaldis, a lawyer, entrepreneur, mother of two, eating disorder survivor, and owner of True Cafe on Granville Island. Angela shares what life looked like when she was training for hours a day, running on caffeine and fumes, and what it took to walk away from "Anorexic Annie," the voice that called the shots. She explains why doing less and eating more was the hardest and best thing she ever did, and how she went from osteopenia in her late twenties to building bone at 46.

They also dig into the rise of GLP-1 drugs, why Angela is worried about a cultural return to glorifying "smaller," and why the message every woman needs to hear is to chase strong, not skinny.

Links and Resources

True Cafe: Entrance of Granville Island, Vancouver. Mention Simone's community for a discount.

Angela on Instagram: @angela_rinaldis

If You or Someone You Know Is Struggling

Angela's message: you don't have to do it alone, and you don't have to be clinically diagnosed to deserve support. If you're in Canada, you can reach the National Eating Disorder Information Centre (NEDIC) at nedic.ca. If you're in the U.S., the National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline is a good starting point.

Angela and Simone are not medical doctors. This episode reflects personal experience and opinion and isn't a substitute for medical advice. Please talk with your healthcare provider about your own health decisions.

Coaches need coaches too. In this episode, Simone puts Coach Tiffany Tibbetts in the hot seat for a real-time, unrehearsed coaching session, kicking off a new format where we tackle real struggles as they happen.

Tiffany is 53, working out five days a week, meal prepping like a pro, and sailing through perimenopause. But there's one thing she can't make herself start: a three-month gut-healing plan from her naturopath. She keeps pushing back her check-ins, and she wants to know why. Together, Simone and Tiffany uncover the "rebel" saboteur, the part of us that pushes back when we feel told what to do, and turn it into something she can actually work with.

In this episode:

• Why the rebel shows up, and why it's really a protector guarding your sense of autonomy

• Why pressure feeds the rebel, and how shifting from "I have to" to "I choose to" changes everything

• Fast-forwarding one year to see what staying stuck could really cost you

• How childhood experiences of control can shape the way we respond to rules about our bodies and health

• Tiffany's breakthrough: doing it on her own terms, starting with just one meal

• Naming your rebel (meet Becky and Gertrude)

Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a friend who needs it and follow the show so you never miss one. Connect with Simone on Instagram at @simonenlovell for daily lifestyle tips, recipes, and workouts.

Vanessa Lewis spent 15 years cycling through nearly every diet on the market — Atkins, keto, Paleo, Whole30, Jenny Craig, Ideal Protein — and even underwent gastric bypass surgery at over 300 pounds. Despite short-term wins, the cycle kept repeating: restrict, lose weight, plateau, gain it back. In this episode, Vanessa opens up about the health scares along the way (undiagnosed hypothyroidism, nutrient deficiencies, a mental health breaking point, a tumor the size of a baby), and how she finally broke the cycle — not by eating less, but by eating more, heavy lifting, and letting go of alcohol as a coping mechanism. Today she's down over 150 pounds, moved to a size 8, and has completely rebuilt her relationship with food, her body, and her identity.

In this episode, Simone sits down with Robbie Jan — Australian entrepreneur, creator, and host of Robbie on the Record — for a candid conversation about body image, diet culture, social media, and the difference between discipline and obsession. Robbie, a former oral health therapist turned entrepreneur with an audience of over 1.8 million, opens up about her personal history with disordered eating, how she rebuilt her sense of identity, and her perspective on the risks and pressures surrounding GLP-1 medications today. This episode is shared as a testimony of recovery, and touches on themes of shame, faith, and self-worth.

In This Episode, You'll Hear About:

• Robbie's background as a clinical oral health therapist and what it taught her about the gap between looking healthy and being healthy
• How "wellness" can become another form of performance on social media, and what real rest and recovery look like
• Robbie's personal history with disordered eating during a high-stress period in university, and the process of recognizing and naming the problem
• The role that shame plays in silence around eating disorders, and how speaking openly can loosen its grip
• Robbie's faith journey and how reframing her identity helped her separate self-worth from appearance, achievement, and follower counts
• The connection between chronic stress, an autoimmune diagnosis (Hashimoto's), and the mind-body link — including a nod to The Body Keeps the Score
• A practical tool Robbie uses: writing down negative self-talk to interrupt automatic thought patterns
• The distinction between discipline (rooted in identity) versus obsession (rooted in control)
• A candid discussion of GLP-1 medications — concerns about off-label prescribing, long-term unknowns, muscle loss, and lesser-known side effects like "Ozempic mouth"
• Robbie's closing encouragement to women comparing themselves to others: you're on your own timeline

• A Note on This Episode:
   This conversation includes a personal account of past disordered eating. It's shared from a place of recovery and reflection, not instruction. If anything in this episode resonates with you personally, please know you don't have to navigate it alone — reaching out to a therapist, doctor, or a helpline like the National Alliance for Eating Disorders can be a good first step.
  
• Resources & Links:
• Follow Robbie Jan https://www.instagram.com/robbijan// Robbie on the Record: https://www.instagram.com/robbiontherecord/
• Book mentioned: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

If this episode resonated with you, share it with a friend who needs to hear it, and subscribe for more honest conversations on She's Leveling Up.

In this episode, Simone sits down with Wendy, a graduate of the GLP-1 Boost Lab program, to talk about her incredible 8-week transformation — done entirely naturally, without medication. Wendy shares how she navigated the loss of her father (and later, mid-program, the sudden loss of her mother-in-law), used wearable data to normalize her blood pressure and reduce cravings, and rebuilt her identity from the ground up. This is a candid, emotional conversation about grief, data-driven health decisions, neuroplasticity, and what it really means to prioritize yourself.

In This Episode, You'll Hear About:

• Wendy's life before the program: grief, weight gain, and feeling "stuck" after losing her father
• Why she was hesitant about wearing a continuous glucose monitor — and why she didn't want to take it off
• How real-time blood sugar data (fiber first, post-meal walks) changed her relationship with food
• Dropping blood pressure from the 140s to 120/117 in 8 weeks — without medication
• Losing 10 pounds and choosing not to pursue a GLP-1 prescription
• The "identity" framework: neuroplasticity, becoming "Wendy 2.0," and making decisions based on who she's becoming
• Navigating a second family loss (her mother-in-law) mid-program and leaning on her new health habits as a stabilizing "rock"
• The role of sleep, cortisol, and hunger hormones (leptin and ghrelin) in cravings and weight
• Meal prepping strategies that actually save time
• The "don't skip twice" philosophy for staying consistent without perfectionism
• What's next: Wendy's goals in the VIP phase of her journey

• Resources & Links:
  
• Follow Simone on Instagram: @SimonenLovell
• Learn more about the GLP-1 Boost Lab program:https://simonelovell.com/glp-1-boost-lab

Loved Wendy's story? Drop a comment with your own thoughts or words of encouragement for her, and subscribe so you don't miss the next episode of She's Leveling Up.

What if the secret to lasting change wasn't more discipline — but more pleasure?
In this episode of She's Leveling Up, Simone sits down with Catherine Roscoe Barr — neuroscience-based wellness coach, mindfulness expert, and best selling author of Feel Better Now, spent her entire 20s as a personal trainer, knowing everything there was to know about health and nutrition, and still struggling herself.

Catherine's story is one for the books. After spending her 20s as a personal trainer, knowing everything there was to know about exercise and nutrition — and still struggling herself — she walked away from the industry entirely. What she discovered through neuroscience, mindfulness, and her own rock-bottom moment completely changed the way she understood wellness. And it became the foundation for everything she teaches today.
In this episode we cover:

• Why knowing what to do and actually doing it are two completely different problems — and what neuroscience says about closing that gap
• The concept of neuroplasticity and why your brain is never too set in its ways to change
• Why pleasure — not punishment — is the most powerful motivator for lasting health
• The four pillars of Feel Better Now: The Rescue, The Revolution, The Rituals, and Reverence
• What a micro-manifesto is and why something so small creates such a big shift
• How community increases your chances of reaching your wellness goals by 90%
• The one thing Catherine would tell an exhausted, burnt-out woman to do today — and it's not what you'd expect

Catherine's closing answer will stop you in your tracks. If you've been pushing, grinding, and going, going, going — this episode is your permission slip.

Episode Summary

What happens when life throws you something unimaginable… and you decide to rise anyway?

In this episode, Simone sits down with GLP-1 Boost Lab client Candice Percy, who shares her deeply personal and inspiring journey of releasing 17 pounds—all while navigating a cancer diagnosis.

Candice opens up about what made this time different:

not another start-over moment… but a complete shift in identity, consistency, and support.

From using real-time data like CGMs and Oura rings, to mastering simple habits like fiber-first eating and nutrient timing, Candice reveals how she stayed grounded, focused, and committed—even during one of the hardest seasons of her life.

This is more than a transformation story.

It’s a conversation about resilience, mindset, and what’s truly possible when you stop negotiating with yourself.

Key Takeaways

• Accountability changes everything

Small group coaching created structure, consistency, and support when it mattered most.

• Data creates awareness → awareness creates change

Using tools like CGMs and Oura rings helped Candice understand her body in real time.

• Simple strategies > extreme approaches

Nutrient timing and eating fiber first helped stabilize blood sugar and reduce cravings.

• Mindset is the foundation

Candice’s identity statement:

• “I don’t negotiate with myself.”

became her anchor in moments where it would’ve been easy to quit.

• Consistency beats perfection

Even during treatment and stress, showing up in small ways created real results.

Standout Moment

“I don’t negotiate with myself.”

A simple sentence… but one that completely changed how Candice showed up for her health, her habits, and her life.

Why This Episode Matters

This episode is a reminder that:

• You don’t need perfect conditions to make progress

• Your environment and support system matter

• And even in the hardest seasons… you can still move forward

If this story resonated with you…

It might be time to stop starting over—and start doing things differently.

• Learn more about GLP-1 Boost Lab

• Start understanding your body in real time

• And build the habits that actually stick

In this episode, Simone sits down with Dr. Manu Gill to unpack one of the biggest missing pieces for so many women: blood sugar.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything “right” but still struggling with:

• stubborn fat
• cravings
• food noise
• energy crashes
• brain fog
• mood swings

• why cravings and food noise are often physiological, not a willpower issue
• the connection between blood sugar, mood, anxiety, and brain fog
• why so many women crash in the afternoon
• what GLP-1 actually is and how the body makes it naturally
• simple ways to support GLP-1 through blood sugar regulation
• the role of stress and cortisol in fat storage
• practical steps women can start taking right away

• prioritizing protein
• walking after meals
• improving sleep
• avoiding overly long fasts
• paying attention to the order you eat your food

…this conversation is for you.
Dr. Manu breaks down the science of blood sugar, insulin, GLP-1, cortisol, and cravings in a way that is easy to understand and deeply validating. This episode is a powerful reminder that so many women are not broken — they simply have biology that needs support.
Together, Simone and Dr. Manu discuss:
what blood sugar actually is and why women should care
what happens when blood sugar spikes and crashes
why insulin is known as a fat storage hormone
common signs of poor blood sugar regulation
One of the biggest takeaways from this episode:
This is not a personality issue. It’s often a blood sugar issue.
Dr. Manu also shares simple, actionable strategies to start supporting blood sugar naturally, including:
This is an eye-opening conversation for anyone who feels stuck in her body and wants to better understand what’s really going on.
Connect with Dr. Manu Gill
Instagram: @drmanugill
Website: drmanugill.com
Connect with Simone
For more support, recipes, workouts, and hormone-smart fat loss tips, connect with Simone on Instagram: @simonenlovell

In this episode of She’s Leveling Up, Simone sits down with GLP-1 Boost Lab client Ganit to talk about what really changed everything for her.
At 44, Ganit was working out every day, trying to eat healthy, and doing all the “right” things… but nothing was working. She was stuck in a frustrating cycle of under-eating, overthinking food, and watching the scale bounce up and down.
After just 8 weeks inside GLP-1 Boost Lab, Ganit released 9 pounds, lost inches across her body, and most importantly, learned more about her body than ever before.
This conversation is such a powerful reminder that real results don’t come from starving yourself or trying harder. They come from understanding your body, stabilizing blood sugar, balancing macros, supporting your hormones, and shifting your mindset from “I just want to lose weight” to “I want to be healthy.”
Together, Simone and Ganit talk about:
why under-eating and dieting harder were keeping her stuck
how wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) helped her finally connect the dots
the surprising power of eating food in the right order to support blood sugar and GLP-1

• why shifting from calories to macros made such a big difference
• how her mindset changed from chasing weight loss to building real health
• the non-scale victories she’s seeing in her energy, confidence, and family life
• how she stayed intentional on vacation and used her CGM to enjoy herself without spiraling
• why this finally feels sustainable long term

This episode is especially for the woman over 40 who feels stuck, frustrated, confused by her body, and tired of doing everything “right” without seeing results.
Ganit’s story is proof that change is possible and that when you stop fighting your body and start understanding it, everything gets easier.