My name is Britney; I’m currently living in Orange County but spent the last 10 years in the DC area. My heart and family all reside in southern California and I recently made the move back west. I’m a professional graphic designer during the day and by night I’m either found in my local Orange Theory, my gym, doing yoga with my roommate or creating something yummy in the kitchen.

I started a blog after creating a fitness instagram page in 2014. My fitness journey, the real one, started on August 11, 2010. I was 23 years old. I walked into a weight watchers meeting. This was the beginning of my journey and I didn’t even know it. I had walked into Weight Watcher meetings so many times before, with the hope to change but this time was finally different. I stepped onto the scale like I had done so many times before and saw my starting weight. 250 pounds. Two hundred and fifty pounds. I was measured at 5’8, given my materials and joined the other meeting go-ers in a semi-circle near the back of the room. My mom (my weight-loss partner in crime) was with me.

Before I go any further I feel like it’s important to talk a little about how I got to that number. Because, just like losing the weight took time, I didn’t gain all my weight overnight either.

I had been overweight ever since I can remember. My weight had always been an “issue”. My parents and grandmother would try to bribe me with money, gifts, clothes, etc. to loose ten pounds or to stop eating snacks after school. Even with all the discussion of my weight I honestly didn’t seem to care and my weight never really bothered me. It only bothered me when the ones that loved me the most told me that I was fat. It drove my younger sister crazy that I was overweight and she would constantly try to monitor my snacking, yelling at me every time I tried to snack, “you’re fat!” but I just took it as sisters being sisters. She still loved me, so did the rest of my family, but they were clearly worried about me and how my weight was going to affect my future.

Going through old boxes recently in my parent’s storage room, my youngest sister discovered a diary I had from 11 years old. I wrote about how my grandmother told me I was overweight and that she would pay me for every pound I lost. I wrote about how it made me feel and I even said I would think about it. How does an 11-year old lose weight? I didn’t even know why it bothered her or anyone, I was comfortable with myself and I loved myself. I told her I would work on it. I just thought one day I would grow taller or stop being so hungry all the time, but that never happened.

Instead things just kept going, life kept moving, and I continued gaining weight. I was really active as a kid and teenager. I played soccer, violin, swam on a year-round swim team and still got A’s and B’s in school. I just couldn’t seem to lose any weight. I went to jazzercise class with my mom, went on power-walks on the weekends with family but I would snack heavily before dinner because I would be so hungry and then I would eat dinner and dessert. My mom started thinking I had a medical problem that made it impossible for me to lose weight. She had me tested so many times for thyroid problems but that was not to blame. I was perfectly “healthy” in that regard. I just kept gaining.

When I got to high-school, things slowly started to make more sense to me about my weight gain and by the time I was a Junior I decided to try the Atkins Diet over summer break (with my mom). I will never forget the first day we stood in the kitchen thinking of what to make for lunch. We got out mayo, mustard, deli meat, sliced cheese and sat down with plates full of meat and mayo. Thinking back on that day now, it honestly makes me sick to my stomach! I did the Atkins diet for 40 days straight. I became obsessive, even peeing on ketosis sticks daily to make sure my body was in ketosis. I was losing a pound a day (not healthy at all!) but I was finally feeling great, my family was happy, and I had baggy jeans dropping off my waist and butt. A first for me at the time.

Fortunately, I had to get a physical to join the swim team, during which they discovered that I had extreme amounts of protein in my urine, which was extremely dangerous. I explained to them that the reason was because I was in ketosis and they told me to stop immediately or else my body would be in danger. I returned home that day and told my mom what the doctors had said. I was so upset and thought they were wrong, but I had to pass the physical so I started slowly adding carbs back into my diet in hopes that my protein levels would even out. Well they did and the doctors approved me to swim. However, after 40 days with almost no carbs I went crazy with the taste of carbs again. I ended up gaining all the weight I lost and more back by the time I graduated high-school. Looking back at this experience I realize how unhealthy and how much harm I was doing to my body by eating that way. I thought I was being healthy because I was losing weight but in reality I was damaging my body further.

I had actually been to several Weight Watcher meetings with my mom growing up. I knew what it was and I had seen my mother have her own transformation. But I was never ready to fully admit that I had a “problem” or that I needed to make a change with my body and my mind until all of a sudden.

So I went off to college and ate horribly, completely stopped working out (other than walking up a few hills to class or dancing at a frat party), began drinking, baking cookies and cakes in our dorm rooms, and was going out to eat constantly. Food was a social thing, it was our excuse to take a break from studying, it was a time to have fun with friends and it was Chipotle every Thursday and Saturday night because we were all addicted.

In my Sophomore year of college I decided I would try to lose weight again. My grandmother offered to pay for Nutrisystem. I thought at first it would be great; never have to think about what I was going to eat and wouldn’t have to make weekly trips to the market. I ended up following the Nutrisystem meal plan for about 3 or 4 months. I stuck to the prepackaged food and lost about 20 to 25 pounds. I started getting compliments about my appearance but also questions about why I was never at the cafeteria or going out to parties. I started to slowly think more and more about Nutrisystem and how I was supposed to maintain this lifestyle for the rest of my life. I thought to myself there is no way I will be able to eat this food every day for, forever. I also didn’t understand how it would keep working; wouldn’t my body get used to it and just stop losing weight? I over thought the entire process for weeks and slowly returned to my old habits, gaining everything I lost back and more.

I graduated from college two years later and got my first graphic design job. I went out with coworkers every day for lunch in “fast-food” alley (think every fast food place imaginable). I went to happy hours and out to dinner because I was too tired to cook.

I honestly hate to even write this out and I hate to say that this is what broke me down and made me finally realize I had a problem, but here it is – I’m going to say it. I was visiting my then boyfriend and we were talking about what to eat while driving back to his house, and he looked at me and said he was tired of being over-weight and he thought I had also recently put on some extra weight. I was so upset; he was the one person in my life who never had a problem with my weight. He never mentioned it and he always said I was beautiful and now he was saying what my parents and grandparents and society had been saying all along. I was furious, I was confused, and I was sad.

We ended up breaking up that weekend and my life changed forever. I went back home and was upset for quite some time and then one morning I literally woke up and said that enough was enough. Just. Like. That. I know that people really don’t believe me sometimes when I say that, but it honestly just finally clicked. My mind decided okay I’m ready to do this. I didn’t think any more about what would happen or how long it would take or how painful and exhausting it would be. I didn’t think about it at all, I just did it. My advice would be to not over think the process, don’t question it and don’t be afraid of change.

Soon thereafter I realized that although I've always had a love for creativity and I truly enjoyed graphic design, sitting in an office for 9 hours a day wasn't what I wanted out of life. After picking up my life, quitting my job, and making the big move across the country to California, I decided to follow my dream of becoming a nationally certified personal trainer. I want to be able to help as many people realize their body’s potential as possible.

Along with my professional goals I hope to further myself and find a partner in life to build a family with and who will always push me to do better. I never want to settle, I always want to have goals and dreams!

74+ pounds down, I feel healthier than ever! My inspiration comes from knowing how horrible it can feel to be overweight. I was there a majority of my life but I finally figured out how to make a change and it makes me want to share as much of my story as possible in hopes of helping even just one other person make that same change I made! The feeling of being healthy and maintaining my healthy lifestyle is inspirational!

Just like you, I have challenges, one being making sure I don't get addicted to weighing myself on the scale. I know this seems insane but during the 14 months that I lost my weight I became addicted to seeing the number on the scale go down. I would weigh myself 3-5 times a day. I also sometimes struggle with making sure I'm balancing out my social life with my health life (the gym and the kitchen) and work life!

I get asked constantly about how I stay so motivated and honestly it is knowing I have so many people depending on me to lead by example. My followers keep me strong and motivated and I also just have a huge inner fire burning making me want to always be the best I can be. I’m most proud of myself for maintaining my weight loss. I was a yo-yo dieter growing up in my teens and young adulthood so being able to maintain for almost 4 years makes me beam with pride! I am also proud of myself for following my dreams and changing my life so completely!

I feel my story hits really close to home for a lot of you because I struggled and let's be honest, I still do! Everyone struggles but not a lot of people feel vulnerable enough to actually share their troubles because they are scared of what people might say. Once I got rid of my fear of what others thought, I was able to truly empower other woman. My story is raw, honest and real. It's messy and it has its ups and downs. It's okay to fail or mess up or eat 5 donuts and still want more but the next day it's time to grind again! My hope is that you feel you can accomplish anything as long as you give it your all!

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Sending love, luck & calm vibes.