Natalie Davis

She’s small, but mighty. This busy nurse and mom is achieving goals she never thought she could.

Written By Jim Stoppani, PhD

Updated July 19, 2024

Big results sometimes come in small packages.

“I stand at a whopping 4’10”,” says Natalie Davis, a former personal trainer who’s now a full-time registered nurse.

To see her now, you would never guess that there was a time when Natalie avoided the gym and shied away from anything physical.

“I started lifting weights about 15 years ago with no knowledge or background in exercise,” she says. “I never did any sports in high school and tried to get a doctor’s note to get out of PE class! I fell in love with lifting right away, though, and have been addicted ever since. My goals at the beginning of my fitness journey were to increase strength, endurance, and achieve a better body composition.”

Natalie has achieved all of these goals, and then some. Here’s how she did it…

Education, Followed By Results

Starting from scratch, a turning point in Natalie’s fitness journey was becoming educated on the best way to exercise to get stronger and leaner—rather than just following the masses and sticking to only cardio machines at the gym.

“I discovered Dr. Stoppani about 8 years ago when I wanted to see better results in my physique from weight-lifting,” she says. “I was impressed with his evidence-based application of lifting and the really fun (aka, challenging) workout programs. I’ve completed many of Jim’s programs to this point, including SS8 , HIIT 100 , Ripped in 6 , Muscle Booster SDS , and Super-Man . HIIT 100 made me whine the most, so that one is probably my favorite.” [laughs]

The more of Dr. Stoppani’s workout programs she did, the more she learned and the more passionate she became about proper exercise execution. The results speak for themselves: “I’ve been able to increase in weight and reps on every single exercise,” says Natalie. “The most significant gains have been going from 135 to 225 pounds on barbell hip thrusts; 0 to 10 reps on unassisted pull-ups; and from 10 to 30 pounds on overhead dumbbell shoulder presses.”

Her progress in the gym led her to become a personal trainer. From there, she got more serious with her individual goals and became a physique competitor.

“I became interested in competing in bodybuilding about a year and a half ago,” Natalie says. “The muscle base I built and the changes I had already made in my diet following Jim’s advice in Dieting 101 made the transition to being a competitor an easy one—although there was nothing in there to warn me about crying over only having cucumbers to eat at the end of the day during prep because I’m out of macros!” [laughs]

One thing that fuels her passion for working out and living a healthy lifestyle is goal setting.

“Setting goals is one of my favorite things to do,” Natalie says. “I set them not to motivate, but to dedicate myself to. Motivation is a feeling that comes and goes. Dedication means I’m in it for the long haul, no matter how bad of a hair day I have or how tired I am from working a 12-hour shift. Short term, I plan to compete again in women’s bodybuilding this summer. Long term, I’m working towards earning my IFBB pro card in the bikini division. Jim’s supplements, programs, and advice have supported me for years, and I know I can depend on them to help me reach my long- and short-term goals.”

Natalie’s Words of Wisdom

Want to get results like Natalie? Here’s her advice for others looking to make a lifestyle change:

Lift Weights to Get Leaner: “Even though I moved on from personal training and am now a registered nurse (RN), I’m still motivated to teach others, especially women, how to lift and feel confident in the gym. Every woman wants that nice squat booty. Ladies, listen up: It is NOT built on the treadmill. Jim has helped break stereotypes for women by educating others that women do not need different workouts than men. Intense resistance-training is the best way to transform your body.”
Round Out Your Nutrition With Supplements: “What has made the biggest difference in my physique over the past 8 years is focusing on my diet. I didn’t start using supplements until about 5 years ago, after learning about their benefits from Jim's various articles and videos on social media. I use (and love) Pre JYM and Pro JYM . I’ve also used Post JYM Fast-Digesting Carbs and SS8 Advanced Fat Burner . I’m eager to try Pre JYM X and JYM Protein Bars !”
Start Small and Build From There: “I encourage others who want to see positive changes in their health and physique to think of 2-3 changes they can make that will get them closer to their goals. I didn’t start out tracking every macro, achieving good mind-muscle control, or hitting my water intake goal at the onset of my fitness journey. Find a few things you can be consistent with, and when those are part of your everyday life, you can add more changes.”
Body Weight Is Just a Number: “One of the most important things is to track your progress. Keep logs of body measurements and try to take pictures in the same outfit and the same place, because lighting can affect how pictures turn out. Too many people, and I find women do this more often, focus solely on the scale. The scale is one tool to track progress, but it’s limited and won’t show your improvements in body composition. Your worth isn’t determined by the number on the scale, so throw it out if it doesn’t help you stay positive about your body image.”
If She Can Do It, So Can You: “The comments I get all the time are ‘I couldn’t do what you do,’ ‘you’re so dedicated,’ or ‘how do you make it work?’ When you have the right tools, it can streamline the process. When you see results, it encourages you to keep pushing. The human body was created to do amazing things, and it’s exciting to push those limits.”

Get results like Natalie

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