Gooden Life | About Cathy Gooden

Cathy Gooden

Founder & Holistic Leadership Coach

From a young age, most of us learn how to perform.

We’re taught to push down our difficulties, put on our shiny suits, and project confidence to the world…but that’s not the whole story.

Years ago, I projected: “I have my shit together! I can run a large non-profit organization and take care of my family’s needs and be perfect!”

No wonder so many of us are exhausted, stressed and ready for a change.

(Fellow people pleasers and perfectionists, I see you!)

On the outside, I appeared to have every piece of a happy and fulfilling life. But I was living behind a mask.

I spent a year hiding my severe fibromyalgia symptoms from my staff, unable to get out of bed some mornings.

I was hiding my pain and the truth about what this lifestyle had been doing to my inner and outer worlds.

Then one night there was a knock on my door and it changed everything.

My husband Chris and I were getting ready to leave the house to pick up my son Zack when we heard someone knock. On the other side was a police officer looking for Zack, who was there to tell him something that none of us were prepared to hear.

We learned that, on his birthday, January 1st of 2016, my ex-husband took his own life.

Zack’s father hadn’t been found for days. He had become a recluse. No one, not even myself or my son, knew that he had lost his job a year earlier and was alone, living off his retirement plan. I can’t imagine the pain he must have been in to take his own life.

Having to tell my son about what had happened broke my heart.

I felt guilty. I blamed myself, knowing that he had spent so long living a life we knew nothing about. I felt shame for the way he passed.

I was caught in a pattern of stress eating, which only fueled my issues.

I “soothed” my stress for a fleeting moment with a buttery English muffin, or numbed out with a scoop of ice cream.

Before

Without a clear plan, I walked away from my leadership position at work and discovered a system that radically changed my relationship with food — as well as my body, my health, and my whole self.

A major part of this transformation included releasing 25 extra pounds of weight that I had been carrying around…

…as though the feelings I’d been holding onto were buried within my cells.

This 90-day journey helped me transform, heal, and feel empowered.

I began to befriend my body again. That’s when my "after" photo was taken.

This program changed my life so much that the next year, in 2018, I became a certified coach. Along the way, I’d also rediscovered yoga and became a certified instructor.

After

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This is the food philosophy I now teach to women and men all over the country, who’ve seen incredible results, from lowering their blood pressure to releasing weight, shedding limiting beliefs, gaining energy, finding joy, getting their SEXY back, and feeling amazing in their bodies.

The thing we’ve ALL said going through this transformational 90-day program?

“If I can do it, anyone can.”

If you’re also:

Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired
Done with yo-yo dieting and feeling defeated
Ready to feel confident & SEXY again in the skin you’re in

…then you’re in the right place.