I remember when I was getting out the backseat of a friend’s car and the inseam of my designer jeans ripped, which became a normal occurrence.  I had to get patches sewn into the inseam of my jeans all the time because I was in denial that I needed a larger size.  Every day I made absolutely sure that my outfits were put together perfectly, hair and make up were always done and every last detail in my appearance was perfect, because that was the easy part.  The hard part was to actually do something about what I was truly insecure about.

Despite my bulging belly, I took a break from the pool one summer day at my parents’ house and walked inside to get some chips and fruit juice.  The towel that was hiding my belly fell and in a very jovial way my dad poked at my belly and asked what “that” was.  He was kidding around with me, but it needed to be said.  All 160 pounds of me returned back to college, still in denial but things were starting to make sense.  By the end of that summer, there was one day I looked down while I was wearing my favorite pink mini-skirt and I saw cellulite above my knees.  It was no longer something that could go unnoticed – it was there, visible to my eyes.  I knew I had to take control and it was never going to change unless I did something about it.

My mom was my go-to fitness guru.  I saw her transform over the years where she went from a size 10/12 to a size 2/4.  She taught me “calories out vs. calories in,” and she was always a phone call away wipe away the tears and teach me to be patient.  Looking back now I realize that I did not understand what I was doing and that it was not the healthiest way to lose weight.  I tracked calories daily, careful to only consume 1000 each day.  The elliptical was my best friend because I was intimidated by anything else. I dropped 20 pounds within six months, then allowed myself to eat more but I continued to count calories and watch my portions.  I also maintained a regular cardio routine, but it got boring and it was easy to slack off.

Nearly a decade later my life changed before my eyes. I had been doing spin, yoga, hired a trainer, even ran half marathons. But one day I stumbled upon a gym I was interested in trying. They implemented circuit training, combining high intensity cardio and lifting along with plyometrics and my body changed significantly. I thought it was impossible to get any smaller but I was so wrong. 

The workouts alone were challenging, but I could not have done this without the help of Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet. Everything Tosca explained made perfect sense, like only eating healthy, whole foods and pairing protein with carbs to balance your blood sugar.  Along with tracking my foods, I began tracking my macronutrients online, and quickly found I was still not eating healthy.  After reading her book, I slowly began changing my diet to make it healthier and found a macronutrient ratio that worked for me. Because of my transformation, I became so passionate that I had no choice but to become a personal trainer to help others do the same.