Today we’d like to introduce you to Callan Eggen.
Hi Callan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story really starts at 19, when I was 240 pounds with barely any muscle and feeling awful almost every day. I had constant gut problems, low energy, brain fog, and my mood was all over the place. I didn’t have anyone guiding me or giving me real answers, so I decided to figure it out myself.
I spent months going deep into research on training, nutrition, gut health, sleep, recovery, and hormones. I tested everything on myself. Over the next 18 months I lost 80 pounds, and then kept going and rebuilt my body with lean muscle until I reached 210 pounds at a low body fat. But the bigger change was on the inside. My gut healed, the chronic sickness went away, my energy stabilized, and my head finally felt clear.
That experience shaped everything about how I coach today. I don’t coach people to look good. I coach people to be healthy, and when you’re truly healthy, looking good is just what happens.
I got certified as a NASM Personal Trainer and a mindbodygreen Certified Nutritionist, started my career training clients at Anytime Fitness, and eventually went independent to build my own coaching business. Today I run a hybrid business out of the Portland, Oregon area, training clients in person and coaching others online through callaneggen.com. I help everyday people fix the underlying stuff first, things like gut function, sleep, stress, and their relationship with food, and then build the training and nutrition on top of that. One of my clients is down 50 pounds doing exactly that.
I’m 21 now, and honestly I feel like I’m just getting started. My goal is to keep growing this business and help as many people as possible feel the way I feel now, because I know exactly what it’s like to be stuck on the other side of it.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not a smooth road. The first big struggle was my own health. Being 19, 240 pounds, chronically sick, and not having anyone who could actually explain why was frustrating and honestly pretty lonely. I had to become my own coach before I ever coached anyone else, and that took a lot of trial and error.
The second struggle was the business side. Being good at training and nutrition is one thing. Building a business around it is a completely different skill set. When I went independent from the gym I started at, I had to learn sales, marketing, client systems, and content creation from scratch, all while still delivering for my clients every day.
Being young is a challenge too. I’m 21, so I have to earn trust fast. I can’t lean on decades of experience, so I lean on results, honesty, and actually knowing my stuff. I’d also say putting myself out there on social media was uncomfortable at first. Being on camera and sharing my story publicly didn’t come naturally, but I’ve grown into it because I know the people who need this message won’t find me otherwise.
Every one of those struggles ended up being the thing that made me better, so I wouldn’t trade any of it.
As you know, we’re big fans of Callan Eggen Coaching. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My business is Callan Eggen Coaching, based out of the Portland, Oregon area. I’m a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and mindbodygreen Certified Nutritionist, and I run a hybrid coaching business. I train clients in person here in Portland and coach clients online through callaneggen.com, so people can work with me no matter where they are.
What I specialize in is health-first body transformation. A lot of coaches hand you a meal plan and a workout and call it a day. I go deeper than that. I look at gut health, sleep, stress, energy, and your relationship with food, because those are the things that were destroying my own life at 19, and fixing them is what actually made my 80 pound transformation possible. When you get truly healthy, the fat loss and the muscle follow. That’s the whole philosophy: I don’t coach people to look good, I coach people to be healthy, and looking good is just what happens.
What sets me apart is that I’ve lived both sides. I was the guy who was 240 pounds, chronically sick, exhausted, and lost. I know what it feels like when nothing is working and nobody has answers. So my coaching is built on honesty over hype, sustainability over intensity, and teaching my clients to understand what they’re doing instead of keeping them dependent on me forever. My goal is that by the end, you don’t need me anymore.
What I’m most proud of is the results. One of my clients is down 50 pounds, and the wins that mean the most are the ones nobody sees in photos: better energy, better digestion, better confidence, people getting their life back.
For readers: if you’ve been struggling with your weight, your energy, or your health and you feel like you’ve tried everything, that’s exactly who I built this for. You can find me at callaneggen.com or on Instagram at @callaneggencoaching.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was an athlete. I played sports and I was always active, so being in my body and competing felt natural to me. But somewhere along the way I fell off. The sports stopped, the structure disappeared, and the habits went with it. By 19 the weight had crept all the way up to 240 pounds and my health had fallen apart.
Looking back, that athlete mindset never fully left. The discipline, the competitiveness, the willingness to put in work when nobody is watching, all of that came back the moment I decided to turn my health around. I just had to point it at something new. Now I get to use that same drive every day, both in my own training as a bodybuilder and in helping my clients rebuild themselves the way I did.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://callaneggen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callaneggencoaching
