My ex-husband and business partner (Drew Manning) started his amazing journey of Fit2Fat2Fit a few years ago. Through this journey, our websites and New York Times Bestseller (Fit2Fat2Fit: The Unexpected Lessons from Gaining and Losing 75 lbs on Purpose) we’ve been able to help thousands of people all around the world make a healthy lifestyle change.
As a women’s fitness specialist I’ve realized my approach is a bit different from the norm, and that is all because of the way I grew up and now live my life.
You see, self-love has never come easy for me. People look at me and think that because I look a certain way, have all of this success, and travel the world that my life must have always been rainbows and unicorn farts.
Judging someone based on their appearance cuts us off from getting to know the human being inside.
Yes, my life is all sunshine and magic now, but it didn’t start off this way. I had to put in an excruciating amount of effort, heartache, and grit to get to this point.
The point where I actually like myself.
After suffering through some trauma as a child, I found myself in a place that sadly, too many of you can relate to. I became self-destructive, hateful, bitter, depressed, and unsure of my place in the world.
I was lost.
I was scared.
I hated myself and my life.
I had to be homeschooled for a year because the mere thought of going to school triggered a series of panic attacks.
I hated so much how I looked and who I was, that I would not allow anyone to take my picture. I’m not even in my high school yearbook!
Things got so dark that I finally sought help. As I grew from child to woman, I started seeking a lot of counseling in hopes that I could “fix” myself.
Over time, the counseling did help, and I began to heal, bit by bit, but I still found myself at war with my body. I still did not accept it. Because of this, I abused my body with food, negative thoughts, drugs, and other avoidance tools.
I had just started making progress on loving and accepting my body, and actually experiencing more bouts of happiness than sorrow, when I went into a downward spiral during my divorce.
Do you know what it feels like to wake up and physically feel pained to have to get out of bed? To avoid every mirror?
To tell yourself day in and day out that you’re not good enough and that’s why your life and/or body isn’t how you want it to be?
I do.
I know that feeling all too well.
At the peak of my depression, I knew I needed to figure out this “self-love thing.” I knew something had to change.
What I didn’t know, was where to start.
How could I REALLY change my mindset for good? How could I stop hating my body?
How do I end this mental and physical war?
The researcher in me dived deep into techniques and tools that were proven to help someone’s mindset and make a lasting change.
Through this research and trial and error, I began my journey into self-love.
It wasn’t easy, and self-love is still a muscle I work on daily, but by consistently choosing to implement some highly efficient core tools, I was finally able to see a shift.
I started to be happier, laugh more, accept parts of my body I always loathed, and these little successes added up to the huge milestone of genuinely falling in love with myself and by connection… my life.
For the first time in a long time, I loved myself and I loved my life.
Coming from such a dark life to one where I love so much, I became passionate about helping women all across the world find this same joy, this same peace. I became passionate about helping them embrace their life and their body wholeheartedly.
There is NOTHING I am more passionate about than this. THIS is my purpose.
I know how hard life can be for us. I know all about the pain and the suffering. I know how harshly we judge our bodies and can’t help but compare them to others.
I know how bad it makes us feel to think we aren’t good enough for someone, or the guilt that eats at us because we feel like we’ve failed as a parent/spouse/friend/leader/provider.
And that’s exactly why this site is here. It’s here to pass on to you all that I know. All the tools and resources that I use myself, to create my awesome life. I want you to be able to do the same.
And while my main focus is being a mother of two beautiful girls, business owner, and eating #AllTheFood, through this site, the free weekly lessons I provide, my programs, and private community, I can be there for you too.
So please, pour yourself some coffee/tea/wine, take a look around, and feel free to hang out until it’s not fun anymore.
Any questions, I’m here for you.