The Nourishment Code: Why No Diet Has Ever Worked (and the Human Design Framework That Will)

This episode is for the mom who has tried every diet, every workout plan, every wellness trend — and is finally ready to understand why none of it has stuck.

In this solo episode, MaKenzie pulls back the curtain on her years as a fitness coach — the 5 AM workouts, the macro tracking, the meal prep containers, the constant food noise — and the moment her body finally stopped letting her push. She shares the slow postpartum unraveling that led her to human design, and how learning the way her body was actually built changed her entire relationship with food, movement, and her own nervous system.

MaKenzie also introduces her brand-new framework — The Nourishment Code — a five-layer human design roadmap that gives every woman a personalized, customized blueprint for how she is actually meant to eat, move, rest, and nourish herself. You will hear the five layers in detail (type, authority, defined and undefined centers, determination, and environment), how each one shapes your daily life, and what shifts when you stop following directions that were never written for your body.

If you have spent years chasing the wrong wellness plan, this episode is your permission slip to come home to your design — and to your body.

What We Cover

The wellness identity MaKenzie used to live in — and the moment her body finally stopped cooperating. Why no diet has ever worked long-term (and why it has nothing to do with discipline). The postpartum unraveling that led her to human design and a slower, softer, more aligned approach. The Nourishment Code — a five-layer human design framework for personalized wellness. Layer one: your type and how your energy is actually meant to move. Layer two: your authority and how to make food, movement, and rest decisions in alignment. Layer three: defined and undefined centers — what your body broadcasts vs. what it absorbs. Layer four: your determination — the exact conditions your body needs to digest and absorb food. Layer five: your environment — the space your nervous system actually feels safe in. What changes when you finally live from your code — food noise quiets, movement gets fun, sleep deepens, and your relationship with your body softens. Why the grind was never built for you — but your design was.

Get Your Personal Nourishment Code Session A custom session walking you through your unique five-layer code. After you purchase, you will receive a quick form, a pre-recorded session, and a personalized PDF delivered within 24 hours — yours to keep forever. 

Connect with MaKenzie

Instagram: @thecleanmomedit

Free Training — The Reason You Mom The Way You Do A free audio training that walks you through all five human design types through the lens of motherhood. 

Work With MaKenzie Aligned Strategy Session — a 60-minute deep dive for clear direction and sustainable habits. Restore 1:1 Transformation — a complete lifestyle change, application required. 

Join Aligned — $33/month A simple, supportive space for moms ready to slow down, regulate their nervous systems, and break cycles in community. Monthly teachings, tools, and the women walking this path right alongside you. 

💛 If this episode resonated with you, subscribe so you never miss an episode and leave a review — it means the world and helps other moms find this community.

Thank you for being here and for listening.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome back to Regulating and Raising. I'm Mackenzie and I'm so glad you're here today. So we're gonna talk about something super juicy today that just like came to me and like it's been on my heart for a couple weeks. Obviously, my background is if you've been following along, I started my career as a fitness coach um about three years ago. And I feel like that's just truly where my passion lies. Like I I am the I feel like the most educated in it. Like I feel like that's the the talk that I know the most is like wellness, fitness, eating, nutrition, gut health. And so I'm like, how do I tie in like human design and that part of my life? And I like can't believe it's taken me some time to share this because I've used it, you know, for my wellness routines like over and over again. Um I think I just need to be like super specific with it. I know that. So first off, in this episode, I'm gonna say what it is and then I'm gonna kind of like explain it and what I mean. So, first off, the reason none of the diets that you have ever probably done have ever worked because, or maybe they worked for a little bit and then stopped working. You know, I feel like the yo-yoing diets, like that is such a thing. Like, you know, you you see so many people, you know, lose the weight and gain the weight. And like I was in that bucket as, you know, well, like I was part of that, you know, always chasing like what's the next diet, like Caleb instines. You know, I was always trying to figure out like what, you know, who's the next best, you know, coach, like the next best workout program. And it's, you know, the reason why, you know, you're probably sitting there being like, yeah, that's me too. But it's not because you're lazy. And I saw this like firsthand when I was coaching, you know, the the women were they did amazing. Like literally all my clients, like I love them so much. And, you know, they just, you know, some of them like wanted to, you know, didn't always achieve the number goal that they wanted, but they achieved so much more than that. Um, but I wanted to get them, you know, I wanted to get things that would actually work for people and that I would know instead of just like giving them, you know, my protocol because I know that I'm different. I have different, you know, amount of kids, I have different lifestyle. I, you know, I'm just a different individual than them. So expecting them to get the same results and enjoy everything that I, you know, put in front of them and what I've done, you know, was just not sustainable for them. And so, and also not sustainable for me and what I have found. Um, it's definitely not a lack of discipline. It is not because like you need to try harder or push more or like finally find the right plan. The reason is just so much simpler, so much more freeing than that. And you have been following directions that were not written for your body. And that's it. That is the whole thing. And once I figured out that, my entire relationship with food and movement and my body and my own nervous system completely changed. So today I am gonna talk to you about what I used to be doing, what changed, and the framework I have built around all of that and where to start if any of this is hitting you, you know, straight in the chest. So, anyways, let's dive in even more. So, you know, for years I was the woman with, you know, all of the tracking, the spreadsheets, the apps, the journals. I was counting macros. I was, you know, tracking every meal. I was waking up at 5 a.m. to do like a hit workout before the kids were up. I had the meal prep containers, I had, you know, the the trainer. I had this, you know, constant background noise in my head all day long about what I could eat, what I could not eat, when I could eat it, what I owed my body for eating it, and what I needed to do to earn the next meal. And the wildest part is I thought that was discipline. I thought that was like the whole thing. I thought that was health. I thought that was the work of being strong, fit, and a shape mom. And I soon realized that that wasn't it. There was a point after my third kid, and I got back into the gym at like six weeks. I was like, yes, like I'm a, you know, I'm a mom. I just had my third baby and I'm back at the gym. Like, look at me. Like, you know, I wanted to be a motivator for other women, but really, like, I was hurting my own nervous system. Like, I was pushing myself past a capacity and making myself seriously sick, depressed, anxious, all of the things. And so I realized like I was doing Beach Body a program. And like I just was like, I was annoyed by the coaches and I love them and I love Beach Body if that works for you. Like awesome. But I was just annoyed by the coaches. Like, I didn't want to wake up at you know 5 a.m., 6 a.m. to go work out and like do this hardcore, you know, workout. And yes, you can do it. Like, I just I didn't want that. And honestly, I was so exhausted because Bain was in his like heightened state of like waking up like every single hour. And I just was like, okay, I'm gonna listen to you and surrender and just like realize like this is not what I'm supposed to be doing. And so I feel like that was the moment where I'm like, there's gotta be another way. So I, you know, was living in this body though for years, and what nobody had told me is like, you know, no trainer, no coach, no influencer was the entire system I was following was not built for my body. So even like what I was teaching before, like wasn't even built for my body. So I'm a generator, which means, well, I also have an emotional authority and I do have a specific determination. I have a specific environment, a specific way my body is meant to take in fuel, energy, and information. And I was doing basically not the complete opposite, but pretty close to the complete opposite of every single piece of it. So no wonder I was chronically exhausted. Like no wonder I, you know, felt bloated. No wonder I was dreading every, you know, workout. No wonder I could not stop thinking about food, especially because I was breastfeeding at the time. And, you know, I feel like that's another, you know, thing that you just kind of put on yourself during that journey, is what you're intaking. Is it, you know, especially with Bain and his eczema? Like, am I what I'm eating? Is it hurting him? So I was just like constantly like stressed about food. My body was literally like screaming at me, like I just, I just felt physically exhausted. And I was calling it just lack of willpower. Like I should, you know, still be able to do, you know, all those things. Should her. And the shift, it didn't happen like all at once. Like I didn't just like wake up one day. It happened very, very, very, very slowly in my postpartum after Bane, my third. My body, like I said, had just finally stopped letting me push, like the way that I had been pushing my entire life. Like it literally shut down. And when I say literally, like I would say it was more like not necessarily physically, yes. Like I couldn't, like I told, like I, you know, people in my inner circle, I'll talk more about this day, but it's coming up on a year where I did decide to take a leave of absence from my corporate job. And it was mainly because I physically, mentally was just depleted. I couldn't put one foot in front of the other. And that is when I found human design. And the second I started learning how my body was actually built is like when everything really started to land. I stopped doing HIT workouts, which has been amazing for me. Um I always dreaded like jumping up, jumping down. But like I said, there's people out there who love it. Like, I love that for them. That's amazing. It's an amazing workout. So great, like with community. Like, yes, if that's what works for you. I started strength training in a way my body actually liked. Cause I feel like before, with you know, I've done some of the beach body workouts and just, you know, a lot of times the strength training are with men, males. And I just didn't vibe well with like a man being like, push it harder, push it harder, lift. Like I just, that's just me. I added shaking because I learned that my nervous system needed to release the pressure I had been carrying. I quit counting macros entirely. I started eating in a way that my chart said my body could actually digest and absorb food, which means for me, like specific conditions, specific timing, and specific kinds of presence at the table. I started regulating my emotional authority by riding the wave instead of like forcing decisions on the spot. I cleared my environment and I just I actually let myself rest. And three babies in, I can seriously say, like, I am stronger, I'm fed, I'm regulated, and I am the most at home in my body that I've ever been. Like I love my body more than I have ever loved it. And with, you know, the reasoning why, and I don't say that to be like arrogant, but I love it with my stretch marks, with my, you know, saggy, empty, breastfed, you know, boobs. Like I love it with, you know, you know, my jigglier, you know, but you know, I just I love it because my body has held three babies. And that is the part, like also like how I am where I am today. And with the, you know, this is all like without constant food noise. This is all without the grind that I thought I needed, without the 5 a.m. workouts, without, you know, all the tracking. This is super intuitive way of wellness. And that is what truly works. That is what I want for every mom to understand is the grind was never built for for you. Your design was, though. So let me explain the framework because I have been teaching this, you know, for some time now. That I've been teaching human design for some time now, but the nourishment code is something new that I feel like just really simplifies, you know, what human design and like the first step it can do to change your life. Cause I feel like that's what it first did for me was showcase this and gave me like way more direction and intuitive and taught me like how to actually, you know, live in my truest version of myself. So this it's a it's it's the layer underneath every diet. It's the layer underneath every protocol, your workouts, every wellness trend that you've ever tried. It is what makes it what makes them work or not work for you. And it's actually been sitting in your human design your whole life. So there's five layers. The first layer is your type. So your type tells you how your energy is meant to move. So generators, they have sustainable responsive energy. Um, manifesting generators, they move fast and pivot. Manifestors, they initiate and bursts and rest hard. Projectors are not built to keep up with the constant output the world demands. And reflectors, they near the energy of everything around them. So that's the first layer. The second layer is your authority. This is how your body is meant to make decisions, including decisions about food, training, rest. Your saccharal authority decides in sound. Your emotional authority needs to ride the wave. Your spalenic authority knows in a single quiet beat. And when you make decisions in a way your authority is not built for, you spend energy that you don't have, you can't afford. The third layer is your defined and undefined centers. So this tells you what your body broadcasts and what it absorbs. So your open centers are not your weakness, they are your receivers. So if you have an undefined solar plexus, you are actually absorbing the emotional energy of every room you walk into. If you have an undefined root, you are absorbing the pressure that was never yours. This matters enormously for how you eat, move, and regulate. The fourth layer of this code is your determination. And this is the layer that I will say, like almost no one teaches, and it's like probably my favorite because I feel like I came such from a, you know, thick background in wellness. Specifically, this is about eating. Your determination tells you the exact conditions your body needs to actually digest and absorb the food you put in it. So some bodies need quiet, some need conversation, some need variety, some need to follow cravings, some need to eat the same thing for weeks at a time. The food itself is only half of the equation. The conditions you eat in is the other half. The fifth layer to this is your environment. And this is interesting because it tells you the kind of physical space that your nervous system actually feels safe in. So mountains, shores, cities, kitchens, quiet activity, the wrong environment is the one that the one area that can be the most expensive way a woman can leak energy. So it can really deplete our energy if we're in the wrong environment. And almost no one is even aware that the environment is on their human design chart, um, but also that their environment does play into how they digest their food. So if you put all five of these together, you have your nourishment code. And that's basically the exact instructions to your body that it's given you in writing that is finely readable and something that you can actually live by. So here's what changes when you actually live from your code. Your food, it gets quieter. The constant thinking about like what you should, should not eat like fades because you're finally understanding like what your body's asking for and you trust it. Movement gets fun again. Like I woke up this morning at six o'clock and I went on my walk. I have been walking with no phone, which has been life-changing. I leave it at home. I do, I don't know, it's maybe like a 15-minute walk. And then I did my strength training, which I like am obsessed with. Like this is like the third week that I'm actually like in a consistent like workout routine that it just like feels like feels right. Like the strength training. Like I would lift weights like here and there, but never like super consistent where I had like a program that I'm, you know, working towards and I'm, I don't know. It just feels so, so, so, so, so, so good. And I get excited for it. But I really want to get into like pickleball and you know, hiking is another way, and tennis and even just stretching, like those are all ways, you know, fun ways to move your body because you you stop forcing yourself into workouts that drain you and you start choosing the ones that fill you up. My sleep deepens, your sleep, you'll feel it, you'll rest better because you're just more in alignment. Your nervous system settles, your relationship with your body softens completely. You just know that this is what's right. You stop like white knuckling, you stop chasing, you stop trying to discipline yourself into a body that was never going to look like the one in the magazine. That's one thing that I've really changed too. Is like I'm not trying to look like anybody else but myself. I know that like after finding human design as well, it just kind of solidified. Like, we're all so different. Our bodies are different, our minds are different, our, you know, the way that we think and act and react. Like it's all different. And that's what makes the world like so beautiful. So embrace that. And you start to really inhabit the the one that you actually have, which when fed and moved and regulated correctly, that your body, you know, is just more beautiful than any of the others, like could have been. So last night I will tell you, like, I really have been like getting really granulal with the nourishment code. Um, and like dinner times, like I am tired of like sometimes like eating so fast and like veins, like taking it off my plate. And like I'm not even really, I'm just going through the motions and just like, you know, nourishing my body, which like I need to do a lot of the times. And don't get me wrong, like it's fine, but it just felt like super chaotic last night. And I'm like, you know what? My body doesn't want to eat right now. It doesn't want to eat when everybody else is eating dinner. Like, this is just like how I felt last night. So I was like, Trevor, I don't want to eat right now. I'll see if I'm hungry, you know, later. And so I put Bane to bed. And then the kids had their baths. And, you know, after I got out of Bane's room, I was like, okay, my body's hungry. Like, I just want a nice, like slow meal. And because like Trevor had made like a really like it was ground beef and like Chinese and sweet potatoes, something like that. It was really good. So I sat there while the kids watched a movie before dinner or before bedtime and ate just super slowly. And like my body just like was just like it felt cozy. This is what's possible. And it's not in years, it's not after enough effort, it's not once you know how to, you know, read your chart. You know, you can figure this out like right now. And so if this is like really resonating with you, like you're like, okay, I want answers, like I need to know. Like, here is where to start. So, first off, like I do have my free training. That is like one of the first steps. It does walk you through your type. That is, there's five layers, like I said, of the nourishment code, that is one part of it. But this is such a great training just to get like even introduced to human design and your type specifically. I will link it in the show notes. But it is, it's called the reason you mom the way you do. And then if you want to know like more specific, I do think like this nourishment code will be like it will be like a revolution. Like, I'm so excited. I need to like make sure like I get this like trademarked because like this is something that I haven't found any other person teaching like human design with and combining the two. So we am doing sessions because I'm so excited about these. I will put the link in the the show note if you do want your specific nourishment code. What I've been doing for my clients is I have you, so once you purchase it, you will get an email, you have a quick form that you fill out, and then your form, once I get that, I will do a pre-recorded session just kind of explaining to you like what your code is. But I also give you a PDF that is laid out in writing that is yours forever. Um, it's never going to change. So if you ever need to like revert back to it, or if you need like a deeper question about it, like I'm here for that. But it is delivered to you within 24 hours after you purchase it. So I will, like I said, also put the link in the show notes. But I just want to say that our bodies, you know, we we've been given the answer to really like how truly we are supposed to nourish ourselves. And, you know, if you don't act on it, like it's just like mind-bottling to me that like you wouldn't want to know because like this has been so exciting for me. And like I am, you know, a true testament. Like I know human design works, but didn't realize like it can work so well in wellness. And I feel like, you know, this is what I was doing in my, you know, when I was specifically fitness coaching before, but like this is on a whole different level of fitness coaching because like it's truly a, you know, I would craft these plans for people. Like I said, of like what my best recommendation was of like what I would do. And like there's, you know, situation I would take into accountability. But, you know, some people wouldn't open up as much or wasn't enough time. Like it takes time to get to know people. This, this is the roadmap. This is your custom, you know, wellness plan. So I just want to say that I know this stuff works. And if you're ready and open, this is the moment that will change your life. I have a hundred percent confidence in it. A hundred percent confidence that this will change your life. I love you. I'm so glad you're here. Um, and I can't wait to see you next time.