This is such a hard post for me to write, but I'm doing it regardless... because I know I'm not the only one who needs to hear it. When I was the girl on the left, I HATED my body. I hated the way I looked and desperately wanted to be somebody else. Is there anything wrong with the girl on the left? Hell no! Should she feel like she is less beautiful, capable and WORTHY than the girl on the right? Absolutely not. Should she spend every waking hour worrying about the way her '

Many of you might have seen my Insta story a couple weeks back where I showed you my 2 second transformation. But for anyone who missed it - I thought it was really important to post it here, too. This is just a friendly reminder that it is SO DAMN EASY to manipulate the camera so that it shows only our best angles. But, they aren't our only angles. Take it from me, NONE of us look as good as our social feeds do. Behind every photo, there are always the other 500 photos it to

For those of you who’ve been following my fitness journey, you may already know that I am a HUGE advocate for self love, balance, and sustainability - and openly talk about overcoming personal traumas related to extreme bullying and body dysmorphia. But, rarely do I openly talk about the ripple effect that these past traumas have on my everyday life. From the outside, it may look like I have it all together. From the outside, it may look like I never have to deal with the eff

I'll be honest, these past few weeks haven't been easy. I haven't been motivated - both in and out of the gym. I haven't been reaching or breaking any PRs. I haven't been tracking my macros as closely as I usually do. I haven't been feeling the greatest about my body. But, you know what? That's life. There will ALWAYS be good weeks & bad weeks, but it's how you deal with them that dictate how successful you will be in the long run. So, instead of giving up and letting these p

Growing up, I always felt like I needed to hide every. single. inch. of my body. I mean, seriously. Who wears long, black leggings underneath a simple dress in the middle of summer... in Florida!? If I wasn't already dying from the heat, I probably would have worn a sweater, too, so that I could hide my "arm fat" in this photo as well. I actually brought one with me and ended up having to carry it around the whole day. (Talk about "baggage"...) I was so ashamed of my appearan

PROM 2011 ➡️ BRIDESMAID 2018 LEFT PHOTO: I remember this constant feeling of never being enough - not BEAUTIFUL enough, not SMART enough, and because I was graduating and had NO idea what the future would look like for me, I definitely didn’t feel ACCOMPLISHED enough either. At this point, I hadn’t really experienced anything. I lived in this constant state of fear that I would be mocked by my peers, so I never let myself truly open up and discover what I was passionate about

Alright, it’s about to get VERY real up in here. I used to spend all of my time stressing about what I looked like. I used to cover myself in hoodies and baggy clothes and extra layers that hid my body so that people wouldn’t notice what I looked like underneath it all. That way, if they couldn’t see my fat rolls or my chunky legs or my big arms, I could finally be seen as EQUAL to everyone else. But what I truly realized was that I didn’t see MYSELF as equal. And all that ti

Happy Tuesday everyone! Thought you guys may want to see the results of my cut last month. Although it isn't too drastic, I challenged myself to stick to 5 weeks of an slowly-increasing calorie deficit (dropping 100 calories from my diet each week), with little to no additional cardio (just whatever cardio I was doing while teaching at F45 Yorkville) and a consistent, 5x/week weight training plan. And, I gotta say... I'm super happy with my results! I managed to keep most of

Soooo excited to start my BETA babes on their first week of my upcoming Stronger Ever After fitness challenge! As these girls start my new program tomorrow, I thought I would share some important reminders that ring true when starting ANY type of fitness journey: 1. Only YOU Have The Power To Change Your Life Your life, your compass. If you aren't happy with the way things are, it's up to you to make the decision and take active steps toward changing it. Nobody else can chang

If there's anything I've learned over the course of these past few months, it's that whether I'm "bulking" (trying to gain weight, predominately in muscle mass) or "cutting" (trying to lose weight, predominately in fat mass), my body has always been absolutely BEAUTIFUL just the way it is. This is a friendly reminder that you do NOT have to GAIN or LOSE weight in order to be more beautiful, more sexy, more attractive, or any other aesthetic-related adjective in the dictionary

To anyone who's ever felt like you're not THIN enough, To anyone who's ever felt like you're not PRETTY enough, To anyone who's ever felt like you're not SUCCESSFUL enough, To anyone who's ever felt like you're not TALENTED enough, To anyone who's ever felt like you're not ATHLETIC enough, To anyone who's ever felt like you're not GOOD enough, To anyone who's ever felt like you're not WORTHY enough... This post is for you. ✖️ Remember that you are SO much more than the number

Happy Monday everyone! Friendly reminder that today is the start of a fresh new week - which means new goals, new challenges and new opportunities for growth. Here are a few ways you can totally maximize your Monday: Wipe The Slate CLEAN This is especially important if we may have slipped up on our nutrition over the weekend, or haven’t reached a set, specific goal. The best way to start a new week is to completely leave the past behind us and wipe the slate clean. Let go of

Sometimes having so many things on the go - whether it’s work, exercise, school, or a combination of responsibilities - can be exhilarating. This onslaught of opportunity can work to our benefit by showing us how much we’re really capable of accomplishing, and further pushing us to achieve our goals. However, there are other times when the buildup of all of these responsibilities can work to our detriment and simply be WAY too much for us to handle. So, how do we prevent burn

Today I wanted to revive an old piece I wrote about confidence. I think we ALL strive to be more confident & it's always great to be reminded about what confidence truly is. So, what is CONFIDENCE? ➕ Confidence is SEXY. It's looking in the mirror and feeling absolutely comfortable and incredibly beautiful in your own skin. ➕ Confidence is FAR FROM PERFECTION. It's loving your body, flaws and all, and being able to open up about your imperfections without fear of judgement. ➕

Whenever I feel like my life is getting too busy, or if I'm feeling "too sore" or "too tired" to get my scheduled workout in, I like to write down a list of reasons why I SHOULD work out to help reframe my mindset and get myself motivated to GET SHIT DONE. So, for anyone looking for a little motivation to help get yourself into the gym today, here are 7 reasons why you should work out TODAY! 1. It's MOOD-BOOSTING! ☀️ Exercise releases a ton of endorphins in your brain that

I'll be the first to admit that there were times throughout this journey that I didn't love my body. But, I truly believe that those moments were doing me a great disservice, and ultimately preventing me from achieving my goals. Let's be honest, nothing good ever comes from looking in the mirror and saying "I hate my thighs". Instead, we should look at our bodies like the unbelievably strong and totally beautiful machines that they are. There are so many times when we take ou