Having worked with Juliana Rico as a personal trainer since 2007, I have grown in strength, mobility, and improved health. During the pandemic, I also worked with Juliana as a health coach, focusing on overall health with the goal of losing weight. We discussed meal plans and eating habits, and Juliana coached me through losing 50 lbs! I reached 135 lbs which was my weight before I started gaining weight 20 years ago!

Working with Juliana is a delight due to her friendly, positive, and active listening skills. She is insightful at solving problems to overcome emotional attachment to food and discovering reasons why I keep doing things that are not helping me to reach my goals. I highly recommend Juliana Rico for both health coaching and personal training. I have seen visible and concrete results that are transformative—to be and to live as a healthier, stronger version of myself!

Juliana is a great trainer because she listens to you and your body while still pushing you to do more than you thought was possible. Today, I told Juliana I was feeling fatigued after a hard week. She told me that we could take it as easy or as slow as I wanted, but after getting started, she soon made me realize that I was going to be able to do more than I thought. I ended up getting an amazing workout that made me feel rejuvenated and strong. I never thought I would be someone who could lift heavy weights, but Juliana has made that possible for me. Through her thoughtfully curated workout plans and most importantly, her patience, she has made me confident in my growing strength. She has also made me a “gym girl” - not afraid of even the most intimidating machines (like the Smith Machine!). I can’t wait to continue my journey with her!

What do you appreciate or love most about working together? I love that you personalize workouts for what I am interested in and my strength goals. You always hold me accountable for trying my best!

How would you explain our work or process to someone who is thinking of doing it? First you assess where I’m at and ask what my goals are and then you create a program to fit my needs.

What was your biggest "aha" moment while working together? How did you feel you transformed or changed as a result? I learned a lot about good form and how much more I can lift with good form and breathing. I never thought I’d be able to do a pull up!

Who is this work perfect for? Can you describe that person? Anyone can benefit from this work!

Juliana’s work is almost like a therapy approach to weight loss. She doesn't just give you an exercise plan and a nutrition plan. She coaches you through hard times and moments of weakness and offers support when the journey feels like it’s too hard. Juliana’s approach is so different from what’s available on the market because her focus is having her clients eat whole healthy natural foods. She is not a trainer that will tell you to load up on protein powder. Juliana meets you wherever you are on the fitness journey. If weight training / the gym isn’t your thing she will hear you out and try to find a different solution that you’re more comfortable with. She also helps you identify what areas in your life outside of diet and exercise may be causing an obstacle for your fitness goals and together you strategize a plan to overcome it.

Juliana meets with her clients once a week and in that meeting you strategize a plan for the week. That plan is complete with homework the client should complete ( meal prep, training guide, etc.) throughout the week you stay on your plan as best you can. There is room in the plan to eat out with family and friends. Together you strategize a plan that is enjoyable for you. At each session you evaluate your progress. And, throughout the week Juliana offers support and answers any doubts that may arise.

I was so scared to stop tracking calories. So scared to stop eating protein shakes and protein bars. Juliana showed me that I can lose weight eating natural food even if I don’t track the food. As a result of eating more natural foods I was able to lose weight, reduce sweet cravings, and solve issues with my digestive system such as bloating.

Anyone seeking to lose weight especially post pandemic weight should seek Juliana. If anyone wants to lose weight and doesn’t know where to start. Anyone who works in an office who likely has a sedentary lifestyle would be a great candidate. Also anyone who thinks they are doing everything right but feels like they cannot lose those last few lbs should seek Juliana. She will put together a doable and approachable plan no matter where you are at.

Juliana is a great trainer. She always has a good attitude and she does not pass judgment. She is always full of solutions. Sessions with her are always from a point of understanding and never from a position of reprimanding the client for falling off the plan. She helps you figure out why you deviated and how it can be avoided.

What do you appreciate or love most about working together? I appreciate the fact that you put so much time and effort into building a workout around my strengths, weaknesses, and goals. This takes significant time and effort and it’s clear you come to every session prepared and focused on what we need to get out of it.

How would you explain our work or process to someone who is thinking of doing it? Our process is very personalized, more so that with anyone I’ve ever worked out with before. We spend a number of sessions getting up to speed on my abilities, and thereafter, once we start a program, you continue to tweak exercises and level/weights based on how I’m doing at that moment. Nothing is set in stone!

What was your biggest "aha" moment while working together? How did you feel you transformed or changed as a result? No one moment, just continued improvement in form, performance, each and every time. But if I had to pick one, doing a pull-up!

Who is this work perfect for? Can you describe that person? Anyone who wants to put in the time and effort to improve themselves, and could benefit from a hyper-customized program to meet their needs.

Personal training has always been a fickle journey for me. As someone who has an extensive background in body image issues and disordered eating, it’s really difficult to find the right personal trainer that makes workouts feel empowering and safe. Juliana always encouraged me to think about our sessions as a way to get stronger - without the pressure of diet culture or mainstream beauty standards. We were here together to move to feel better, not look better. This was a pivotal shift for me as I reclaimed my relationship to working out. Our sessions over the last three years have been crucial to rebuilding my mental health and self-esteem. I always felt listened to, and deeply valued, as a client. I cannot recommend Juliana enough.

Walking into our sessions, I always knew I was going to receive a nice challenge, endless support, and a respect for my boundaries. It took me longer than most to come around to working out inside once the pandemic was over, and Juliana went above and beyond to accommodate this. Without missing a beat, she would always have weights and equipment waiting outdoors so I could focus on feeling grounded in the workout and not feel distracted and anxious. She never pressured me to move indoors and allowed me to return at my own pace. I always left our sessions feeling like I had just spent an hour with a good friend, as opposed to a coach. I am forever grateful for Juliana.

I love how Juliana has methodically helped me increase my strength and fitness. I feel like she knows how to slowly and safely lead someone to the next level, and I love that she is a real partner that can offer encouragement and positivity.

Juliana understands your goals, provides a workout plan to help you reach those goals, and helps you push yourself in the sessions. Not sure there was a single "aha" moment but after a few months I began to see how much stronger I was getting. I was able to do exercises with more weight and for more reps. I then saw my body was looking more toned.

With Juliana as a guide, I do believe anyone at any age and at any fitness level has the ability with some patience and dedication to get to a greater level of strength and fitness.

I love that Juliana holds me accountable to my fitness goals. She is a great coach, pushing me when I need encouragement or motivation, and designing our work outs to fit my needs on that day (if I am tired, sore, stressed and in need of a good high intensity session, etc.).

Working with Juliana means you are working towards a healthy lifestyle and not just trying to achieve a specific goal. When I started working with Juliana, I had a weight loss goal and she helped me achieve that. She also shifted my mindset towards a healthier overall lifestyle that wouldn’t require a lot of restriction, but rather balance between exercise, nutrient dense meals and taking breaks when needed.

When I started to notice that I was becoming more muscular and toned was my biggest aha moment. I felt like I had achieved the strength I always wanted, but never knew I was capable of.

I think Juliana is a perfect trainer for anyone who is looking to embrace a healthy lifestyle or has a very specific fitness goal. Juliana knows how to cater her programs towards individuals and she will hold you accountable to what you are trying to achieve. She is also a pleasure to work with, funny and kind- I always look forward to our weekly sessions!!

You are a truly human-centered coach who takes the time to fully understand the individual psychology and needs of your clients and tailor not just programs but the way you approach motivation. I love that you took my desire to not think about weight given my history of disordered eating seriously and have focused training entirely on strength, function, and mental energy. I started working with you after a knee injury and you’ve helped me build so much more confidence in my body’s ability to be strong, adapt, and recover from injury instead of drowning with anxiety over these setbacks. I also just love the conversations we have while working out! Makes the time fly, and it’s wonderful to work with someone who I admire and feel so aligned to in my values.

We started with an assessment of all-over fitness, and from there you built a tailored plan to meet not just my physical needs but what is right for my finances and schedule too - you’re so flexible in meeting clients across different mediums and make a huge impact in motivation and fitness whether training 2x / month or 5x / week. It’s amazing!

Our work has really taught me what parts of my body I need to target to become strong all over, and how to move with mindful attention and proper form to avoid and heal from injuries. I get so much value not just out of our sessions but taking the things I learn and the approach to fitness into my at-home practice. I never did at home strength workouts before, and now I am buying heavier and heavier weights as I continue to build strength and it feels so good! I am working out significantly more than I was when I started training with you just because I’ve unlocked love for strength training and want to do it multiple times a week, at home or with you in the gym.

I used to work out in a way that was so focused on how I look - doing exercises to target specific areas for aesthetic and fueling a negative relationship with exercise as a route to body appearance. I also did a lot of group workout classes, cardio, and low impact workouts like pilates which were fun, relaxing, and had some effect but didn’t build functional full body strength and I stopped seeing improvement after a while - I couldn’t even do a push up after years of working out like this. Working with you has helped me see the importance and payoff of building complete body strength, and how targeting areas like my back and chest which I (and many women) completely used to overlook not only makes me function better in my life, but also has the side effect looking and fitting better in my clothing as well!!

I consistently tell friends who are self conscious about the gym because they haven’t self identified as “athletes” throughout their life to give training a try after working with you. I never identified with or succeeded at team sports, so it took me a while to find my love of exercise in adulthood as a solo activity for myself, but I felt like my only route was group exercise classes. I’ve gained such an amazing education to build on an already active lifestyle and make it as functional and effective as possible by working with you. I think anyone at any level of fitness could gain so much from working with you, especially those who are feeling like they’ve plateaued with group workout classes or home fitness and want to level up, challenge themselves, and learn!! I think your magic touch is particularly special for women, and the way you approach fitness helps combat so many of the toxic messages we ingest through our lifetimes.

I loved working with Juliana because she had such an easy approach to things, she gave me all the information but broke it down to baby steps so I could take action without being overwhelmed.

Juliana helped me lose my baby weight. I had never worked out or really worried about what I ate. After having two babies my body had completely changed and I could not seem to get back to my natural weight. She built a nutrition plan based on what I enjoyed and without many restrictions. Working out was easy because I would show up to the session and would do as she said, she would also give me workouts to do on my own.

I had a few “aha” moments in coaching sessions with Juliana, one of the first one’s was understanding that the little bites I took from my kids leftovers added up as well.

I think this work is for anyone trying to discover how to improve their health without drastic measures.

Juliana helped me lose 20 pounds in a matter of 8 months. I felt like it was a slow process and we had many ups and downs where I felt like I was never going to reach my goal.

Juliana constantly reminded me of focusing on enjoying the process and was never judgemental when I failed to do as planned. I think the biggest “aha” moment for me was when I discovered that my binge eating at night was due to my lack of eating during the day. Juliana and I would see each other via facetime 3 times a week, 1 coaching session and two training sessions; I would constantly text with her as well. This work is for anybody that needs accountability to stick to their nutrition and exercise.

I’ve enjoyed my journey with Juliana, she has a coaching style that makes you feel heard but she is also very truthful. She would understand when I did not follow through with the plan but would also explain how this could affect my goals.

Our workout sessions were fun, challenging but I always felt safe and encouraged. I was able to lose weight and through the process I learned how to love my body and forget about the number on the scale. I currently love the way my body looks, even though I keep working on it; I learned this is a forever journey. Juliana taught me the tools to get healthy and to keep on moving forward with my own journey.

I did 6 months of health coaching with Juliana, through it all I learned how to manage my nutrition without counting calories, healthy habits like exercise, sleep hygiene and meditation.

I now understand how my body feels when I eat healthy and when I don’t, I always felt bloated and had low energy. Juliana helped me connect the dots between my nutrition, stress and lifestyle habits and now I feel in control of my food choices, not bloated and have sustainable energy daily. I think this is a program for someone who is ready to learn how to eat healthy and want a healthy lifestyle.

What I loved the most about working with Juliana was that she understood my background and we had a lot of similarities. The program consisted of weekly calls to check that I was adhering to the plan, enjoying it and making progress. My biggest “aha” moment was when I literally felt the difference in my body when I ate home cooked meals compared to fast foods. This work is for anyone who feels overwhelmed and does not know where to start to get healthy and fit.

I started training with Juliana in 2018 but when covid hit she started offering remote sessions and we never went back to training in person. I’ve been able to stay consistent with my workouts because it is easy to workout from home and when I travel, I just facetime Juliana and she walks me through my exercises. Juliana keeps me accountable, motivated and even when I don’t want to workout I show up because she’s in my calendar. I feel strong and love how my body has changed, I also feel very confident when working out. This work is for anyone who needs accountability to workout and wants to get strong.

I’ve been a client of Juliana for 5+ years, we started training in person but when covid happened I moved down south, since then we have been doing remote sessions. I love it because I can workout from my living room or from any gym when I travel. She gives me work to do on my own and updates my programs monthly. She adapts her programs to my goals and keeps me consistent at working out. This work is for the person that wants to get in shape and stay consistent.

I've been working with Juliana for 1 year now and I can honestly say it's been life-changing. When I first started, I was out of shape, unmotivated, and didn't know where to start. She took the time to understand my goals and created a personalized workout plan that pushed me without being overwhelming.

Not only have I lost weight and gained muscle, but my overall energy levels have increased and my confidence in the gym has improved. Juliana has also helped me to improve my nutrition habits and provided me with valuable advice and support every step of the way. She creates a safe and supportive environment where I feel comfortable pushing myself to my limits. Thanks to my trainer's expertise and guidance, I'm well on my way to achieving my fitness goals and living a healthier life.