MY TRANSFORMATION
2013 Light weights, cardio, ~1200 cals/day
2017 Lifting heavy, little to no cardio outside of walking, spent a lot of hours in the gym because it fit with my lifestyle at the time, ~2000 cals/day
2021 Mixing up my fitness to fit my lifestyle (lifting moderately, trained for a half marathon, took up boxing), ~2000 cals/day
Although I had a physical transformation, I think it's important to talk about my transformation from both an external and internal perspective. I not only changed my physical appearance over the course of the past 8+ years, but I've overall found ways to make myself feel better on the inside physically (by eating more food, less processed food, and more whole foods) and mentally (I'm in a much healthier relationship with health and fitness now that I've taken the time to really learn about how food and exercise affects the body). I’ve also learned over the last 4 years how to alter my fitness routine to fit my lifestyle because that changes over time as well. I used to have all the free time in the world to be at the gym. Now that I’ve turned my fitness into a business, I don’t train as many hours as I used to. Between 2017 and 2021 I gained 15-20lbs. This was the result of creating a more balanced life with my fitness, and I’m proud of the body I have today and what it continues to do for me daily.
THEN.
Through high school and college I was very body conscious. I hated my bigger legs and the dreaded female “pooch”. Consistently working out was never an issue, but working out in a way that would lead me to my goals was. Being in gymnastics and cheerleading growing up taught me the importance of motivation and habit when it came to the gym. I never had a problem getting to the gym, and I did a lot of (what I defined as) “weight lifting” AKA picking up 5-10 lb weights and doing a million reps on everything. That’s pretty much how I continued with working out through high school and most of college.
I never did any deep research on nutrition (and wasn’t ever really that interested in it). At that time a lot of what the industry was saying was “no carb” and “low fat” and “eat less”. Throughout high school I would bring a protein bar and a bag of carrots for lunch just about every day. That’s it. In college, I would have days where coffee was my breakfast and hummus with carrots and pretzels was my dinner and that was about it. I thought that the fact that I had stomach pain every time I ate was just something that was never going to be fixed. I truly believed that the less I ate and the more I worked out, the more I’d lose weight. I thought that I was “big boned” and that’s why my legs were bigger and that I was genetically predetermined to keep the stomach shape that I had.
NOW.
Fast forward to now. I’ve spent hours on hours reading nutrition information and how to structure workouts. I’ve become certified in personal training and am a fitness nutrition specialist. I’ve seen and felt the differences that having good nutrition and a solid direction with working out can do for yourself both mentally and physically. I’ve completely transformed my body with proper nutrition (I eat so much more!) and resistance training, and I’ve learned SO much that I want to share with all of you.
There may be times when my physique and diet aren’t quite where I want them to be, but I have the confidence that I know and understand what I need to do to get back on track. THAT is the most important lesson I want to share. Life isn’t about being perfect in the gym and always being on point with your diet. Sh*t happens. We go through those weeks where we have deadlines at work, birthday parties to attend, and we’re emotionally drained and we just don’t have the time or energy to get to the gym or prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. The important thing isn’t being PERFECT, but rather it’s having the knowledge and drive to get yourself back into your routine after falling out of it. Fitness and health are a LIFESTYLE that I want to help you HAPPILY achieve.
