Marna's Story

How I went from a size 14/16 to a size 8?

I would love to share with you my story of how I went from a size 14/16 to a size 6/8 and how I've kept it off for over 24 years without dieting.

So here's how it goes…

I grew up with my parents owning a flower shop. When I was 13, my mom and sister were parked in front of a hospital delivering flowers, when all of a sudden, a teenager hit my parents' car with great speed while my mother was in an awkward position looking back at my sister.

The pain wasn't immediate, but over the next several years, my mother suffered cognitive confusion and severe pain that meant wearing a neck brace and lying in bed most of the day.

A few months later, it was late at night and my father was at the flower shop putting away items from a wedding, when all of a sudden he lost his footing on a ladder and fell head first right into a candelabra. He managed to dial 9-1-1 and was rushed off to the nearest hospital.

What was I doing wrong?

I was surrounded by thin friends who weren't struggling with food, who weren't turning to food for emotional soothing, and who weren't dieting. Frankly, they made being thin look easy. What the heck were they doing that I wasn't? After years of failed diet attempts, my weight continuing to creep up. I was frustrated as my hips continued to expand along with my clothes sizes going up instead of down. Oh and let me tell you about my stretch marks – they were quickly becoming an embarrassment that no amount of lotion would cover up.

In college, I kept seeing these business school student go off to learn from great business leaders at night, and that's when I had my epiphany that changed everything for me…

I thought, “If I wanted to get rich, I would study rich and successful people like all these business school students are doing. Well here I am, wanting to get thin, instead of studying diets, why don't I study the naturally thin!

The bells went off!! YES! Could this be the secret to my struggles??!!

So, I set out on a mission to uncover everything I could possible uncover about these thin people that made looking thin seem so easy, fun and natural.

As I started interviewing these naturally thin women and girls, I began seeing themes to what they were telling me. I discovered that…

• There are what I call “naturally thin” people and “unnaturally thin” people.
• The naturally thin don't diet, and the unnaturally thin do diet.
• The naturally thin don't count calories.
• The naturally thin feel pretty good about themselves and their bodies, but they still have problems – just different ones.
• The naturally thin deal with their emotions in very specific ways, none of which included heading to the fridge.
• and the list continues….

It was clear that I wanted to make this easy on myself, so I threw my hands up, began copying what the naturally thin did shared with me that they did to stay thin which included giving up diets, stopping counting calories, and getting rid of all the judgment (well at least most of it).

I started thinking, eating and living the way the naturally thin do and I learned how to deal with my emotions in new ways that honored my body and my mind.

And the amazing thing was, that as I began applying their secrets, I lost over 35 pounds within 4 months.

People were obviously shocked at my transformation, so they wanted to know what I had done, so I told them. I told them I would practice on them and they too began seeing the weight come off without dieting or deprivation.

It was awesome!

After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree Psychology and Education, I started ThinWithin.com (formerly Model Image) soon after.

In a dimly lit room, no money, a free computer, and a peach painted desk and lamp, I set up two metal folding chairs and started seeing clients. I plastered Fort Collins (where I was living at the time) with grassroots marketing but had an interesting message, “I could help people get thin, by thinking, eating and living thin.”

Although my first group of clients were probably not impressed by my office, they were wildly impressed by their weight loss results! Over 75% of my clients who walked in my office, walked out thinner, happier and more confident. Those who applied these thin principles dropped weight naturally and most enjoyed wonderful results.

For over 23 years now I've worked with thousands of people to lose weight and gain renewed health and freedom around food.

There are two truths that I see over and over again that determines weight loss success and do you want to know what they are? 

1. If you want to change your weight, you must change your mind.
2. In order to heal emotional eating, you must learn to separate your emotional needs from your physical needs.

These two weight loss truths will change your body, change your life and get you on the path to your thin life!

I now specialize in coaching smart and incredible women who feel stopped by their weight, to finally slim down naturally so that they can get on with being the parents, grandparents, executives and business professionals that they crave.

This journey has lead me to become a well known founding coach in the non-diet movement. I work with the most incredible women and I've had the pleasure of coaching pro-athlete families, Miss USA contestants, moms, high profile women, women entrepreneurs, career-transitioning women, doctors, lawyers, psychologists, nurses, the rich, the famous, incredible teachers and women in almost every continent of the world.

My ThinWithin Method has been featured around the world and I have been featured in numerous summits, radio spots, the Huffington Post, Harvard Business School, as a book contributor in Living the Law of Attraction and Your Portable Empire. I have been interviewed in the documentary Facing the Fat spreading the message that you don't have to diet to lose weight – you have to get your mind right and deal with your emotions properly.

Please subscribe to my Podcast and my Facebook Page so I can help you achieve incredible results too!

On a personal note, in 2008 I married my wonderful husband, Josh, at the beautiful Ritz Carlton in Denver, Colorado. In 2010 I had my beautiful daughter Addison, and in 2011 I had my precious son Hayden. I now live in Denver with Josh, Addison and Hayden and our dog Harley Bear, our golden doodle.