Have you seen the 2016 > 2026 trend going around social?
It’s so sweet to see younger selves popping up with the wisdom of a decade laid on top. But when I think about 2016, it takes my breath away. It was not a good time for me.
Ten years ago, my approach was to fix the problem at all costs. Today, my approach is to support the body so it works with you.
Same discipline. Very different strategy. And one builds upon the other.
I was thinking recently of how wild it is that 2016 was 10 years ago and how much I have changed since then. I was doing some side-by-side snapshots of life 10 years ago vs today and wanted to share some insight with you.
Me in 2016
Ten years ago, circa 2016, I was in crisis and in need of deep healing.
I was going through a very painful and difficult divorce, I was rebuilding my clinic after a fire burned it down, and I was navigating persistent PCOS and endometriosis symptoms, rampant inflammation, and hormonal chaos.
My heart and my body were broken.
I still vividly remember my entire face breaking out in eczema, and no amount of makeup could cover it up. My face was peeling and red-hot from the active flare-up. Great look for a doctor talking to her patients about healing and the components of health, right?
I also remember being so scared to go to sleep because of the terrorizing nightmares and shaking. I would tremble and shake so much overnight that I would wake up sweating, panicked, and confused.
I was heartbroken, trying to navigate a present and a future I never thought possible.
This was one of the toughest times of my life.
I never really spoke about how much I was suffering because it felt deeply personal, and I felt like I was being gutted like a fish every single day.
Me in 2026
Fast forward to today, and I’m no longer fixing anything. The eczema has healed, my hair is no longer falling out, and my periods are joyful.
Truly joyful! I love them. To me, they mean my body is balanced.
The tools I used back then laid the foundation for who I am today.
Now I’m maintaining, performing, and protecting what I’ve built.
Both versions were necessary. I had to fix what had come undone. And it sucked.
Even though there were a really rough emotional and physical couple of years, looking back, I would not change it because it is the reason I am who I am now.
Then vs Now
DIET
Then (~2015–2018):
Therapeutic ketogenic diet
Very low carbohydrate, moderate protein, high fat
Highly structured and macro specific
This diet was super effective for me. I used this intentionally to reduce inflammation, stabilize insulin, and to restore a normal menstrual cycle. I lost a ton of excess weight and healed my period. I developed trust in my body to heal. I wrote a book about it, and it was an international bestseller.
Now (2026):
Protein-forward
Carbohydrate-inclusive
Healthy fats, not fat-dominant
Maintenance-phase, not cutting or bulking
Now, my diet is built for muscle retention, performance, hormone support, and long-term metabolic health. There’s no such thing as bad foods or food groups. I eat everything and with pleasure. Including the occasional Oreo cookie and even (gasp!) seed oils.
The Key Shift:
Because I conquered my symptoms with food, I no longer need to use food as a tool to control symptoms. The symptoms are gone. Now I eat to support performance, recovery, and longevity.
FASTING
Then:
Extended fasting, lots of 24-hour, 48-hour, and 72-hour fasts
Pushing metabolic stress as a strategy because my metabolism was in shambles from all the personal and professional stress.
I did one 96 hour fast where I lost my period for 2 months afterwards. Then I started to think… Is there a difference between fasting outcomes for women and men?
This, alongside my experience with keto and my female patients, started to develop my thinking for female-centric protocols and became the baseline of my first book.
Now:
No fasting at all beyond my sleep
I eat consistently throughout the day, with 3 meals and snacks.
The only remnant of fasting I still practice is that I finish eating ~2 hours before bedtime, because this significantly affects my sleep quality. Other than that, I embrace food for nourishment and joy.
CARDIO
Then:
A lot of unintentional Zone 3/Zone 4.
Sweat was the goal.
Didn’t pay attention to my heart rate, just pushed my cardiovascular limits.
I used to joke that my toxic trait was switching a Zone 2 workout into a Zone 4 workout. Zone 2 felt like I was “wasting my time.” I was working hard, but hardly working toward a clear metabolic goal. It was just cardio for the sake of sweat and exhaustion. If I didn’t need a bucket, did the cardio even happen?
Now:
Cardio is extremely intentional.
Zone 1 & 2 through a minimum of 10K steps a day.
Zone 5 for VO₂ max and power.
Heart-rate guided training (Garmin + chest strap)
High-intensity work done on purpose, not by accident (meet my CAROL bike and the brutal Norwegian 4×4 program!!)
Daily mobility work
I get on the treadmill first thing in the morning. I think and dream about it in the quiet silence of the morning, the only sounds are the hum of the machine and my footsteps. It’s trance-like. I use this for mitochondrial health, recovery, and fat oxidation, and of course, deep strategy and thinking.
The Key Shift:
Intensity is now strategic and scheduled. It is not emotional.
My only “emotional” cardio is the bliss I have playing squash and tennis. Those are my dates with my husband, and I have a perma-smile the whole time.
This evolution didn’t happen because I got “softer.”
It happened because I got smarter.
The Bottom Line
My healing phases required precise intervention because I was in crisis, but I didn’t stay there longer than needed. I moved into Carb-landia when the timing was right.
Now, my performance requires precision, so I am intentional about feeding, fueling, and recovering.
This eternal maintenance phase I am in requires a solid foundation of strength training and intentional cardio. I have built trust into my routine and into my psyche. I never break dates with myself.
What supports me today wouldn’t have worked back then.
It had to be in this order. I had to heal first, before I could focus on building and performance. This is the part you don't see on social media:
The right plan changes as the body changes.
Now, in 2026, my diet has fewer restrictions and more fuel.
My training includes better recovery, a clear intent behind every training zone, and daily mobility work to honor my joints, tendons, and ligaments.
The result? A body that feels reliable and predictable.
I’m not fragile anymore. I don’t feel broken or at the whim of erratic hormones.
My mood is stable. I sleep like I’m paid to.
In many ways, I do less now. I don’t fast, I don’t really count macros, and I don’t kill myself in group exercise classes. I take super easy walks, I train hard, and I relish playing squash.
But this isn’t about “doing less.”
It’s about doing what serves you now… not clinging to what once worked out of fear OR trying to make what worked 10 years ago work now.
You are 10 years the wiser, my friend. 10 years more experienced. 10 years better.
You’ll need to upgrade your software to match your hardware. Ya feel what I’m throwing down here?
So, in case no one has told you… Stop trying to white-knuckle your way through a program that worked once for you 10 years ago. Maybe it was all you needed back then.
Now that you're more sophisticated, the plan needs to adapt alongside you.
Thanks for giving me the space to share,
Dr Stephanie
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