From Hustle to Balance Using a Holistic Approach – Exclusive Interview With Natalie Disimone

Natalie Disimone is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, lifelong athlete, and leader in self-leadership, discipline, and behavior change. She helps athletes and high performers break free from burnout, overcome limiting beliefs, and develop emotional mastery for lasting success. In 2019, she founded The Performance Blueprint, a self-guided program designed to bring balance, structure, and empowerment into athletes’ lives. Her mission is to merge self-healing and personal development with sports performance, creating sustainable growth for athletes on and off the mats.

Natalie Disimone, Holistic Life and Performance Coach

Who is Natalie Disimone? Introduce yourself, your hobbies, your favorites, you at home and in business. Tell us something interesting about yourself.

Natalie “Nattie Boss” Disimone is a Licensed Sports Dietitian, performance coach, and host of The Empowered Athlete Podcast. With over a decade of experience in performance, behavior change, and sustainable discipline, she is passionate about helping women, especially female jiu-jitsu athletes, thrive in both sport and life.

Nattie holds a Bachelor of Science degree from West Chester University in Pennsylvania, along with certifications in Somatic Breathwork and Kettlebell Training. Her unique approach bridges science and spirituality, integrating physiology, psychology, and emotional intelligence to help women achieve lasting results without burnout.

She is the founder of Body By Boss, a holistic performance company dedicated to helping women redefine discipline and reconnect with their bodies through sustainable nutrition, nervous system regulation, and mindset work. Whether she’s developing digital programs, leading retreats, or speaking on stage, her mission remains the same: to help women feel powerful in their bodies, peaceful in their minds, and proud of how they show up.

As a proud wife and mom of two young boys, Nattie deeply understands the balance between family, career, and fitness, and she’s living proof that with the right approach, it’s possible to do it all. Her greater mission is to elevate human consciousness and create a more empowered world through self-leadership, embodied health, and sustainable growth.

At home, Nattie’s world is filled with equal parts chaos and creativity. Her house overflows with energy, laughter, jiu-jitsu gear, and the occasional toddler wrestling match. She enjoys baking and cooking (especially high-protein desserts), arts and crafts with her kids, rock climbing, hot yoga, learning new languages like Spanish and Portuguese, reading, and spending time outdoors.

Her core values, freedom, well-being, play, and integrity – guide everything she does, both in business and in life. Whether she’s coaching athletes, creating holistic programs, or simply being “Mom,” Nattie leads with heart, science, and soul.

Something interesting about her? Nattie is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a competitive athlete since 2010. She married her coach, who is now her husband, and they’ve been traveling, training, and competing together since she was a white belt. Every challenge, from injuries to burnout to motherhood, has shaped her purpose and deepened the work she now shares with the world.

What sets your approach to fitness and nutrition apart from others in the industry?

What truly sets my approach apart is the integration of science, life experience, and somatic work to create sustainable transformation – not quick fixes. With a background in sports nutrition, behavior change, and performance coaching, I combine evidence-based strategies with a deep understanding of the human experience.

My work goes beyond macros and meal plans. I focus on neuroscience and subconscious reprogramming to help people create change from the inside out. By addressing the root causes of patterns like burnout, self-sabotage, or all-or-nothing thinking, I help clients rewire their nervous systems and build habits that actually last.

My approach is both trauma-informed and no-nonsense. I believe in meeting people where they are, with compassion, honesty, and practical tools that fit real life. Whether working with athletes, moms, or high performers, my goal is to empower individuals to reconnect with their bodies, trust their intuition, and create a relationship with health that feels grounded, freeing, and deeply sustainable.

What common mistakes do people make when trying to transform their bodies?

One of the biggest mistakes people make is looking for quick fixes instead of addressing the root of their behaviors. Most people try to change on the surface, focusing only on workouts, diets, or discipline – without exploring the deeper layers that drive their choices, like limiting beliefs, subconscious patterns, or negative self-talk.

Another common mistake is relying solely on external motivation – like comparison, guilt, or pressure, without developing an intrinsic drive rooted in love, purpose, and core values. True transformation happens when your actions align with who you want to be, not just how you want to look. When you shift from punishment and pressure to self-leadership and self-respect, your results become sustainable, and so does your sense of peace.

What role does mindset play in achieving lasting results?

Mindset is the foundation of lasting change because it directly influences both behavior and physiology. Research in neuroscience shows that our thoughts and beliefs shape neural pathways, meaning the way we think literally changes the brain. When people approach health or performance from a place of fear, perfectionism, or self-criticism, the body stays in a heightened stress state. This keeps cortisol elevated, disrupts recovery, and can even impair metabolic and hormonal balance – all of which make progress harder to sustain.

Conversely, cultivating a growth-oriented and self-compassionate mindset activates the prefrontal cortex, the brain region responsible for focus, discipline, and emotional regulation. This shift enhances resilience, decision-making, and the ability to stay consistent through challenges, all key components of long-term success.

For athletes and high performers, mindset often becomes the differentiator between good and great. Studies in sports psychology show that athletes who develop mental flexibility and emotional regulation perform better under pressure, recover faster from setbacks, and maintain peak performance longer. By integrating mindset training with nervous system regulation and evidence-based nutrition, athletes can rewire subconscious patterns, optimize stress responses, and create the internal conditions for consistent, sustainable excellence.

Ultimately, lasting results – whether in sport, health, or life – begin in the mind long before they’re visible in the body.

What advice would you give to someone who feels they’ve tried everything but failed?

First, understand your nervous system capacity and what season of life you’re in. You can’t do everything at once, and you’re not meant to. Certain seasons call for different priorities, and honoring that truth is key to preventing burnout. When you align your goals with your actual bandwidth, you create space for consistency and sustainable progress instead of constant overwhelm.

Second, master the fundamentals. This includes nutrition, self-care, sleep, and daily movement. Sustainable transformation isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing the basics well. Instead of chasing quick fixes or surface-level changes, focus on who you want to become and the lifestyle you want to create. When your actions align with your desired identity, behavior change stops feeling like willpower and starts feeling natural.

And finally, start small – with the lowest hanging fruit. Choose the next easiest, lowest-resistance action that moves you forward. Change doesn’t happen from massive overhauls; it happens through small, consistent actions that compound over time. If you try to change too much before you’re ready, you’ll fall short – not because you’re incapable, but because your foundation wasn’t ready yet. Give yourself grace to start where you are, build gradually, and trust that real progress comes from alignment and consistency, not perfection.

What’s the best way for potential clients to connect with you and learn more about your programs?

The best way to connect with me is through both The Empowered Athlete Podcast and my Body By Boss Substack, where I share insights on mindset, nutrition, and sustainable performance for women and athletes. It’s a great starting point to understand my philosophy and hear real conversations about growth, discipline, and balance.

Check out the Podcast here. Check out my SubStack here. You can also find me on my personal Instagram account, where I share tools, training tips, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into my work with athletes.

For female jiu-jitsu athletes, The Women’s Grappling Collective is an exclusive community designed to provide support, education, and connection. It’s a space to grow in performance, health, and mindset alongside like-minded women for only $14.99/month. Click here to join.

From there, you can also visit my website to explore my holistic coaching programs, 1:1 coaching containers, digital resources, and upcoming retreats, all aimed at helping women feel powerful, aligned, and confident in their bodies and in life.

Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and visit my website for more info!

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