About Nelia & Elena

I know what it feels like to believe you are the problem

The same cycle, over and over again

The stricter I became, the harder it was to continue.

I would become extremely hungry, tired and demotivated. Eventually, I would allow myself one small piece of something sweet.

But it rarely stopped there.

One piece quickly became everything I could find.

I struggled with binge eating and felt completely out of control around sweets. The cravings were almost constant. I would eat sweets before normal meals and continue eating them afterwards. I often hid it because I felt ashamed of how little control I believed I had.

Then came the guilt.

I had broken the rules again. I had failed again. I had ruined my progress.

So I would promise myself that I would start over.

On Monday. The next day. After the weekend. After the holiday.

And when I started again, I made the rules even stricter.

Less food. Fewer carbohydrates. No sweets. More control.

The stricter the diet became, the more intense the hunger and cravings became. Eventually, I would lose control again.

Strict diet. Restriction. Cravings. Binge eating. Guilt. A new start.

Over and over again.

I believed my body was working against me

After enough failed attempts, I stopped questioning the diets and started questioning myself.

I felt like a failure.

I believed I simply did not have the right genetics to become lean. I thought I would always struggle with intense sugar cravings and that other people had something I did not.

More discipline. Better genetics. Stronger willpower.

I wondered why I could not just eat normally. Why I could not stop after one piece. Why I could not follow the same plans that seemed to work for everyone else.

What I did not understand was that my body was not failing me.

I was repeatedly placing it in situations where extreme hunger, restriction and cravings were a natural response.

I did not need more discipline.

I needed more knowledge.

Knowledge changed everything

My turning point came when I decided to educate myself as a nutrition coach.

For the first time, I started to understand the bigger picture.

I learned how what we eat can influence how we feel, how different foods affect the body and how our nutritional needs can change during different periods of life.

I learned about calories and macronutrients, but also about satiety, habits, accessibility, planning and our food environment.

Most importantly, I learned that no single meal, food or day determines our results.

The overall pattern matters.

That knowledge changed the way I looked at food, and it changed the way I looked at myself.

The problem had never been that I was weak or incapable. The problem was that I had been trying to create lasting change through methods that were never designed to fit a normal life.

The chocolate that changed everything

One of the biggest turning points came when I started including a little chocolate in my diet every day.

At first, this felt completely wrong.

For years, chocolate had been something I either had to avoid completely or something I ate without feeling able to stop. I believed that eating chocolate would prevent me from reaching my goals.

But I included it while still eating in a calorie deficit.

And my weight continued to go down.

I was still making progress, but I no longer felt deprived. I did not need to eat as much chocolate as possible before starting another strict diet because the chocolate was not going anywhere.

I could have some again tomorrow.

That simple change helped me understand something incredibly important.

Food becomes far less powerful when it is no longer forbidden.

At the same time, I stopped cutting out entire food groups. I included carbohydrates, protein and fat. I focused on building meals that gave me energy, satisfaction and fullness rather than trying to eat as little as possible.

Slowly, food stopped feeling like a constant battle.

A completely different relationship with food

Today, I can eat anything.

Not because every food has the same nutritional value, but because I understand that health and progress are created by the full picture.

What I eat during one meal does not define my lifestyle. Neither does one day, one weekend or even one imperfect week.

I can enjoy chocolate without feeling that I have ruined anything. I can eat more on some days and less on others. I can choose foods because they nourish me, because they satisfy me or simply because they taste good.

There is space for all of it.

That freedom did not come from avoiding food, following stricter rules or developing stronger willpower.

It came from knowledge.

Learning to train for more than a smaller body

My relationship with exercise had to change too.

For a long time, training was closely connected to weight loss. Exercise was something I did to burn calories, become smaller or make up for what I had eaten.

A hard workout could feel like a punishment after eating more than planned. Movement became a way to compensate rather than something that added value to my life.

But exercise should not be used to earn food.

And it should never be a punishment for eating.

Today, I train for completely different reasons.

I train to become stronger. I train for more energy, better health and the confidence that comes from seeing what my body is capable of.

I train so I can handle everyday life, take care of myself and have more to give to the people around me.

I want to be a present and energetic mum, a supportive partner and the best version of myself.

My body is no longer something I exercise to fight or shrink. It is something I want to strengthen, support and take care of.

Of course, it is completely valid to have physical goals. Wanting to lose weight, build muscle or change your body does not make your goals wrong.

But training can give us so much more than a number on the scale or a certain appearance.

It can give us strength, energy, joy, confidence and a sense of achievement.

That is the relationship with movement I want Nelia to help more people discover.

Why I created Nelia

When I decided to educate myself, I knew I did not only want to change my own life.

I wanted to help other people avoid spending years trapped in the same cycle.

I wanted to create what I needed when I felt alone, ashamed and convinced that something was wrong with me.

Nelia was created to bring knowledge, food enjoyment, movement, balance and community together in one place.

It is a platform for people who want to lose weight, become stronger, improve their relationship with food, create better habits or simply feel more confident in the choices they make.

Nelia gives you practical tools, nutrition guidance, structured workouts, recipes, education, progress tracking and a supportive community.

But Nelia is about more than following a plan.

It is about understanding why you are doing what you are doing.

Because a plan can help you for a few weeks or months.

Knowledge can support you for the rest of your life.

You do not have to do it alone

One of the hardest parts of my own journey was feeling alone.

I thought everyone else had it figured out. I thought I was the only one who struggled with cravings, loss of control and repeated fresh starts.

I know now that this is far from true.

There is incredible strength in learning and growing alongside other people who understand the process.

Nelia gives you a place to ask questions, share experiences, celebrate progress and continue moving forward even when life is not perfect.

You do not need to become a new person overnight.

You do not need another extreme diet.

You do not need more guilt, shame or empty promises.

You need knowledge, tools, support and a realistic approach that works in your actual life.

No diets. No extremes. No bullshit.

Nelia was created because lifestyle change should not feel like a punishment.

It should help you feel stronger, more capable and more confident.

It should give you more freedom, not more rules.

I cannot promise that change will always be easy. But I can promise that it becomes much simpler when you understand your body, your habits and the choices available to you.

The words I wish someone had said to me at the beginning of my own journey are the same words at the heart of Nelia:

All you need is more knowledge. The rest will follow.

Welcome to Nelia.

Elena Mellingen
Founder of Nelia