Mackenzie Smith is one of the people who inspires me to be a better person in all aspects of health and fitness. So here she is. Thank you, Mackenzie, for sharing your lessons learned with Vale Tudo. To kick things off, how did you start?

Growing up, I played sports all through my childhood and into high school.

I originally started lifting in the gym during my volleyball off season because I wanted to get better at my sport (I sucked tbh). But at the same time, I was also at one of the lowest points in my life. I was really struggling mentally, dealing with depression and anxiety, insecurity, navigating trauma, relying on medications, and physically I was very unhealthy. That was my rock bottom.

I went to the gym with the intention of improving my performance, but almost immediately I noticed something else happening. The impact it had on my mental health was profound. It helped my anxiety in a way nothing else ever had. I felt calmer, more grounded, and more in control. I became addicted to that feeling in the sense that I craved the relief and clarity it gave me.

Over time, I started to see how much it affected every other area of my life. It built my self-worth and confidence. It taught me discipline and consistency. It showed me that I could set goals, work through hard things, and actually follow through. It completely changed how I saw myself and showed up in the world.

Shortly after I started training, I found a podcast that really sparked my interest in nutrition. I went down the rabbit hole learning about food, health, and how the body actually works. Once I addressed the nutrition piece, everything changed. I was able to get off my medications and truly get my life back.

That was incredibly eye-opening realizing how much the foods I was eating were impacting my mental and physical health.

I’ve now been consistently training for about 12 years and coaching for the last six. And it all stems from that initial experience — using fitness as a way to get my life back, and now wanting to help other people do the same.

What do people get wrong about health?

I think one of the most conventional, unchallenged assumptions people hold about health is that it takes too much time, or that it has to come last.

A lot of people believe that when work is busy or family needs them, health is the thing that gets pushed aside. The mindset is that you put everyone else and everything else first, and then your health comes after, once things calm down.

But in reality, it’s the opposite. Your health has to come first so you can actually show up better in every other area of your life.

What I see over and over again is that when people don’t prioritize their health, they’re more reactive, more stressed, and constantly operating in survival mode. They’re trying to pour from an empty cup. And then health starts to feel like another stressor or burden on top of everything else.

And that’s the part I think people get wrong. Health shouldn’t take away from your life. It shouldn’t feel like something you’re constantly juggling or sacrificing for. If it does, you’re doing it wrong. It should actively support your work, your relationships, your ability to be present and overall add to your quality of life.

Putting your health first doesn’t mean it has to look perfect. It doesn’t mean ideal conditions, endless time, or some flawless routine. It just means it needs to be a priority.

When you start with your health, you go into work, relationships, and life more calm. Everything else becomes easier to handle because you’re not constantly depleted.

Health isn’t something you fit in after life happens. It’s the foundation that allows you to handle life when it does and actually improve every area of it along the way.

What is the point of fitness?

For me, fitness is about truly living life.

It’s about being able to experience life without feeling restricted or limited by my body, my energy, or my health. I want to be able to go on adventures, try new things, play sports, and pour into the people and experiences that matter most to me without a second thought.

When I first got into fitness, it honestly started as just wanting to look better because I didn’t like how I looked. But over time, it turned into something so much bigger than that.

The process was incredibly transformative for my mental health, and that’s been a huge driving force for me the last 10 years. As my physical health and mental health improved, everything else started to change too.

Fitness has become the foundation for everything else. It supports how I live, how I feel, and how I move through the world.

So ultimately, fitness isn’t about being fast or strong just for the sake of it. It’s about building a body and a life that allow me to live the longest, fullest, healthiest life possible.

Best — and worst — exercise?

This definitely changes depending on when you ask me.

Right now, my favorite exercises are anything shoulder-related, because that’s the area I’m really focused on bringing up. Love me some lateral raises or Viking press.

My least favorite exercise has to be Bulgarian split squats. I feel like they’re everyone’s least favorite right?! Or at least one of those exercises you have a love-hate relationship with. You know they’re good for you, but that doesn’t make them any more enjoyable in the moment.

What do you eat?

I have a handful of go-to meals that I pretty much rotate on repeat.

Most of my meals are some version of a burrito bowl, burger bowl, stir-fry, or homemade pizza. They’re all stupid simple, quick to make, and easy to adjust depending on what I’m in the mood for.

The base is usually some combination of rice or potatoes, then some sort of veggies, then a lot of protein. Ground beef is my favorite but I’ll also eat chicken or seafood. Eggs and sourdough are staples for breakfasts. That’s basically my daily rotation.

I prep my own food. Every weekend I’ll prep my meals for the week so that during busy days I’m not having to think too much about what to eat. It makes everything easier and removes a lot of decision fatigue.

I typically eat four meals a day, spread pretty evenly throughout the day. That structure works really well for me in terms of energy, consistency, and making sure I’m eating enough to support my training and lifestyle.

Worthwhile supplements?

Creatine is the one supplement I recommend pretty much everyone take.

It’s one of the most researched, effective, and affordable supplements out there. I personally like taking it either in gummy form or as a powder, depending on what’s easiest.

Beyond that, some other staples I recommend to most people are magnesium glycinate, a quality multivitamin, and fish oil. Those tend to cover a lot of the basics and support recovery, overall health, and consistency.

I recommend getting labs done to determine what other specific supplements are necessary for each person. These ones are a good starting point for the general population.

I also think it’s helpful to have a solid protein powder on deck — either to bake into recipes or to use on days when protein intake is a little lower. It’s not a replacement for real food, but it’s a great tool.

As for supplements worth avoiding, I’d stay away from anything that feels gimmicky. Things like fat burners or “quick-fix” products usually promise a lot and deliver very little. If a supplement sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

What about your body do you measure?

I measure basically anything and everything. But keep in mind I’m a psycho with this given I’m a coach and enjoy living this way.

I love data and structure, and I like being really dialed in understanding what’s going on with my body. Right now, I’m also working with a coach to balance my gut health and hormones after a period of extreme chronic stress, which set me back a bit both physically and performance-wise. So healing and stabilizing is my main focus at the moment.

From a tracking standpoint, I use my Oura Ring to monitor sleep, steps, heart rate, and recovery. I also track my weight daily, take progress photos, monitor fasted blood glucose, body measurements, and track my macros. I like having a full picture rather than guessing.

That said, I don’t think everyone needs to track everything forever. In general, I think the most important thing for people to measure (at least for a period of time) is their food intake. Consistent tracking for a few solid months builds awareness around what you’re actually eating, how much you’re eating, and how your body responds to it.

Protein in particular is something I think most people under measure. They often think they’re eating enough, but when you actually track it, there’s usually a massive gap.

I also highly recommend progress photos, especially if weight loss is the goal. A lot of people get overly focused on the scale and forget that their body is often recomping. Having visual proof of progress is huge, especially during periods when the scale isn’t moving the way you expect.

How do you recover?

This is everything.

You can be doing all the right things — training hard, eating well — and your body will still not respond, or even move in the opposite direction, if you’re not recovering properly.

Sleep is at the top of the list, along with stress management. So many people think they can operate on five or six hours of sleep and be fine, and I’m here to tell you that’s not the case. Sleep is incredibly vital. Even one poor night of sleep can cause your weight to fluctuate a few pounds, and over time, chronic sleep deprivation will completely stall progress — no matter how dialed in everything else is.

Yes, you need to train hard. Yes, you need to eat well. But recovery has to be there too. They all go hand in hand.

A huge part of recovery that people neglect is stress — myself included. I learned this the hard way. I lived under chronic stress for years while building my business. Even though I was eating well and doing all the right things training-wise, I eventually had to pull back and focus on healing my gut and balancing my hormones because I ignored how much stress was impacting my body.

Stress management isn’t as obvious as diet or workouts, but it plays just as big of a role. Recovery looks different for everyone, but it has to be intentional.

I’ve had clients unable to lose weight for years until we addressed sleep and stress management. One of my girls had to quit her stressful job for this reason - and immediately the “stubborn” weight dropped off.

For me, recovery is both physical and mental. It’s making time to be offline, connecting with God, doing the things that genuinely fill my cup. Getting outside, getting sunshine, reading, journaling, writing, building community and relationships, and giving myself space to think and process.

I love getting out in nature — especially going to the beach — and having intentional time each week where I unplug, read, journal, and connect with God. Structuring these things into my life to reduce stress and support recovery has been extremely challenging but also the most transformative for my body.

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

This one is tough because I don’t know if there’s a single piece of advice that stands out above everything else.

But if I look back at what was truly the most transformative for me, it was focusing on nutrition. Learning how to fuel my body properly, prioritizing whole foods, eating enough protein, and sticking to the basics.

A big part of that was also learning to get in tune with my own body — understanding what works for me and what doesn’t, instead of following every new rule or trend. That process is genuinely what gave me my life back.

I always say that 99% of people’s problems would be dramatically improved if they ate real food and went to the gym consistently. And as simple as that sounds, it’s incredibly true.

So if I had to boil the best advice down to something, it would be this: find what works for your body, stick to the basics, and stay consistent. You don’t need extremes — you need fundamentals done well.

How are you challenging yourself in 2026?

This one is actually kind of funny because I’ve been reflecting on it a lot lately.

Every year, I usually force myself into something big. I want massive growth. I want to push myself, face fears, lean into discomfort, and go all in on whatever challenge is in front of me. And that approach is a big reason why I’ve had such transformative years over the last few years of my life.

But this year looks different.

At first, I was actively searching for some huge challenge to take on — and one actually presented itself. But I ended up turning it down. And that was a big realization for me.

I realized that the hardest challenge for me right now isn’t pushing harder. It’s pulling back.

I’ve been grinding for years — pushing myself hard in training, in work, in building my business — and it’s taken a toll on my body, my mind, my well-being, and even my relationships. My body has made it very clear that something needs to change.

So my challenge this year is learning how to pull back and give myself grace. And for me, that looks like setting hard boundaries with my time, saying no to things that feel important but aren’t aligned right now, and protecting my energy in a way I never really have before.

It means adjusting my training and sports protocols so my body can actually recover, instead of constantly pushing. It means sleeping more than I ever have. And it means intentionally incorporating stress-reduction practices into my daily life — not as an afterthought, but as a priority.

Pulling back from training so hard and pulling back from working nonstop has honestly been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

I know this might sound dumb to some people, but I’ve come to realize that growth doesn’t look the same in every season of life. What growth looked like for me last year is very different from what growth looks like for me this year.

Right now, pulling back is the growth. And that’s what I’m going all in on.

Where can readers find you?

I’m active on social media. Twitter and LinkedIn are my main platforms @smithhmackenzie and Instagram @fit_with_mackenzie.

I also host a podcast called The Endless Pursuit Podcast, which is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts. I have a weekly newsletter as well.

If you could make everyone do one thing for a month, what would it be?

I would choose walking.

Walking is one of the most universal things you can do for both your physical and mental health. Almost everyone can do it, it doesn’t require a gym or equipment, and it doesn’t feel overwhelming or intimidating.

Getting outside and walking every day has a huge impact on stress, mood, digestion, sleep, and overall energy. It gives your nervous system a chance to downshift, helps regulate blood sugar, and supports recovery in a way a lot of people overlook.

Mentally, it creates space. Space to think, process, breathe, and slow down. So many people are constantly overstimulated and stuck in their heads, and walking is one of the simplest ways to reconnect with your body and your environment.

If someone committed to walking every day for a month — even just getting outside and moving intentionally — it would change their life. Not because it’s extreme, but because it’s consistent, grounding, and sustainable.

Walking is one of the most underrated habits there is, and it’s often the foundation that makes everything else easier.

Mackenzie, thank you. In a year when you’re setting hard boundaries with your time and saying no to things, I’m especially grateful that you said yes to sharing what works for you and could work for so many others.