#161 - Stop Asking 'How Long Will It Take' (Ask This Instead)

In this episode, you get to meet Nat! Nat came to us already two years into a weight loss journey that started at 130 kilos. She’d been lifting on and off for years, but something finally clicked when she changed the game she was playing: instead of training to get smaller, she started training to get jacked. We have a really honest conversation about using a GLP-1 as a tool, what it did for her food noise after years of binge eating, and why she chose to go back on it for maintenance. We also talk about going from living on “power saver mode” to having energy to burn, learning to see tracking as fuel instead of restriction, navigating an injury, and why if you want this to be the last weight loss journey you ever go on, slow is the way to go. Wherever you are on your journey, I think you’ll find something to relate to in Nat. Enjoy!Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

If you’re building muscle and it feels like nothing is happening, this episode is for you. There’s a stage almost every woman hits around the two to four month mark where the effort is going in but the results feel invisible, and it’s exactly where so many of us throw in the towel and run back to a deficit. Today I want to make sure that isn’t you. We talk about why building muscle is so much slower than fat loss (and why the scale will tell you almost nothing), the real signs your muscle building journey is working, and why putting the scale away might be the best move you make. Muscle building is a long game, and the awkward stage is not a sign to quit, it’s a sign you’re right where you’re supposed to be. Stay the course and I promise you will get to the good part. Enjoy!Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

When was the last time you weren’t trying to diet? Not secretly hoping the scale would read a little lower, not telling yourself you should lose five kilos... genuinely not dieting. If you can’t remember, this episode is for you. Today I want to give you a reframe that might be exactly what you need to hear. We talk about why diet culture is like quicksand that keeps pulling you back, why that number on the scale (that literally no one else can even see) has so much power over you, and where this whole belief was handed to you in the first place. I’ll share the research on why weight loss doesn’t reliably make you happier, an important caveat about when weight loss IS a goal worth keeping, and what actually builds the confidence and happiness you’ve been outsourcing to the scale. Plus the surprising business lesson that taught me what happens when you loosen your grip on the goal but keep doing the work. If you’re exhausted from chasing a number your whole life, come play a different game. Enjoy!Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

Slight left turn from fitness today, because this one affects every single one of us: your boundaries with your phone. If you keep telling yourself you’ll get up on time, do the workout, be present with your kids, or stop scrolling in bed, and then your phone pulls you right back in, this episode is for you. I’ll share why this is an environment problem and not a willpower problem (including the wild Brain Drain study that found just having your phone in sight drains your focus and memory), and then I’ll give you seven tools I use myself and that my clients swear by, flowing from morning to night. We cover the morning buffer, using your phone as a reward, building friction, the bedtime alarm, making your bed a scroll-free zone, getting accountability, and doing a digital declutter. Pick one, run it as a seven day experiment, and watch how much time, focus, and headspace you get back. Remember: the fact that you’re addicted to your phone isn’t your fault, but it IS your problem. Let’s fix it.   Enjoy! Xoxo, MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

“How long will it take to lose the weight?” sounds like a smart, motivated question, but if you’ve tried and failed to reach a fat loss goal before, this exact question is probably why. In this episode I explain how finish-line thinking sets you up for impatience, quick fixes, all-or-nothing cycles and ultimately the yo-yo, and why the timeline was never fully in your control anyway. Then I give you the two questions that actually change your body and keep it changed: what do I have to DO, and who do I have to become. We get into inputs versus outcomes, why your actions are the only thing you can control, and how becoming the woman who already has what you want is what makes the results stick. If you’re motivated but stuck and sick of starting over, this one’s for you.   Enjoy! Xoxo,  MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

In this episode you get to meet Katrin! She's in her mid-40s, from Germany, and came to us already hooked on lifting but hesitant to invest in herself. Seven months on, her whole world has shifted. In this episode we talk about what it really took to start putting herself first after years of pouring from an empty cup, how she’s stayed consistent through genuinely hard seasons (including training with dumbbells while in a rehab clinic with her son), and her journey with nutrition and body image after a history of disordered eating. My favourite part is watching her rewrite every story she told herself about who she is, from “I’m not sporty” to training five days a week, wearing the shorts, and becoming a runner she never believed she’d be. Her message for any woman who feels too busy or too far gone to start: do it scared, but do it anyway. I have a feeling you'll have no choice but to love this one.Enjoy!Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

Want to get shredded, build muscle, hit PRs, and keep your weekend wines all at the same time? This is the real-talk episode you need. Today I’m breaking down why you can’t have it all at once on your fitness journey, and why chasing every goal together is leaving you frustrated and stuck. We get into how social media has completely skewed what you think a “normal” body looks like, the hidden price tag behind those ultra-lean physiques (hello, lost cycle and zero energy), and the simple science of your body’s energy budget that explains why fat loss, muscle gain, and peak performance pull against each other. I’ll even share how I learned this the hard way, training for a half marathon and powerlifting nationals at the same time. Then I’ll leave you with exactly how to pick your priority and phase your goals so you actually can have it all, just over time instead of all at once. If you’ve been spinning your wheels trying to do everything, this one’s for you. Enjoy!Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

Himani moved to Australia from India and started out doing HIIT classes — they got her in the door and built the habit, but eventually she hit a wall: she wanted to lift heavier, nail her technique, and see how strong she could really get, so she took the leap and became a unicorn.In this episode we talk about what health and fitness looked like growing up in India, how she’s built consistency around a demanding career, how she rebuilt her nutrition without giving up the foods she loves, and the surprising ways getting strong in the gym has spilled into every other corner of her life — her confidence, her career, even a solo month-long trip of a lifetime. If you’re ready to graduate from the classes, or you’ve been waiting for the “right time” to start, this one’s for you. Enjoy!Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

We all fall off; a holiday, a hard season, an injury, a slump. The problem was never slipping; it’s that most of us don’t know how to come back, so one missed week snowballs into “I’ve ruined everything.” In this episode I give you a reset toolkit: simple, repeatable tools to get yourself back on track without the shame spiral - from why the thing keeping you stuck is usually shame (not laziness), to ripping the band-aid, shrinking the first step, dropping your expectations, and raising your floor instead of chasing a perfect week. I hope you find it useful.Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/

There are 12 weeks left of 2026: Do you actually know what you want to get out of them? In this follow-on to my “9 habits” episode, I’m giving you three things to do today to set yourself up to finish the year strong instead of limping into January wishing you’d started sooner. We cover how to set a realistic goal for the time you’ve actually got, how to map your social calendar and remove the “gray area” that trips most of us up over the silly season, and how to choose guardrails that genuinely match your goal... because random guardrails that just sound good won’t get you there. Whether your next 12 weeks are about fat loss, maintenance, or a strength era, this is your game plan.🦄 Take the new quiz I made to figure out what your goal should be right now: https://unicorn-nation.com/which-goalLet’s crush the rest of 2026. Enjoy!Xoxo,MaurineAPPLY TO WORK WITH US 1:1Love this episode?Share it your Instagram story!  Want to connect?Follow me on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/fitness__unicorn/