If you know me, you know that fitness is pretty much my entire life. From majoring in Exercise and Sports Science, to training clients, lifting weights, and being a full-time manager at my gym, Athens Health and Fitness, I am fully engulfed in the fitness realm. What started off as a hobby (if I can even call it that) has changed my lifestyle tremendously over the past 3 years.

It all started a little over a year before I was introduced to the gym. I was not very good at keeping a balanced nutritional diet. I loved sweets and would binge-eat junk food like crazy. I’m talking about eating a full dozen donuts at once or eating a whole box of cookies. Yeah… I am ashamed. I know it’s bad.

It gets worse though. Once I got introduced to the gym, I did a full 180. My total calories for the day were always less than 1000. I would have 2 bowls of cereal a day. Not to mention, that was on top of being a cardio bunny and ab queen, doing 20-minute ab circuits AT LEAST two times a day. Let’s just say weighing 115lbs when you are close to 5’9” is nowhere close to ideal.

I was still exercising in this maniac matter when I saw a “Hiring Part-Time” job sign at my gym. I decided to apply since the gym was my new obsession, and I was hired immediately the next day. This was my first ever real job, and I was so excited! Being around my new boss, Kayla, started to shed light that my style of training was completely insane. I guess you could say she became my ‘inspiration’. She was everything I wanted to emulate, overall, being a great person with a sick physique. I am a relatively shy person, so I didn’t openly ask how she works out. I creepily watched from a distance, slowly gathering what she did. After feeling like a stalker weirdo, I decided to do more research on my own about weightlifting.

After trial and error for several months, converting to a new form of training and eating, my passion for weight training grew exponentially. The newbie gains were real. I was able to see a great physical change in my body, while being able to eat more than two meals a day! The shift from an unhealthy mindset of only having a six pack, changed to desiring food to use as fuel to grow my body.

Oh, I should probably mention that I have healthily and happily gained over 40 pounds! I don’t think my past self could even fathom such a number, but my devotedness for this field reflects who I am, and I am glad the fitness realm has made a such a significant impact on my life!