Married to a Cajun I reside in the south, Prairieville, LA about an hour from New Orleans, home of the 2009 Super Bowl Saints, WHO DAT BABY! Part of my daily cardio and exercise routine is running after my 5yr old daughter Sophia, my 7yr. Old son Reese, and my 8yr. old son Noah. With three cats the boys still out number the girls 4 to 2, but Sophia, Belle & I still usually get our way in the end. HEHEHE! Not that I’m keeping score. I believe in balance. Faith, Family, Fitness. If one of these facets of my life are neglected the others suffer as they go hand in hand.
Standing 4’11 and full-figured weight has always been a struggle. At the early age of 13 I developed Anorexia where my lowest weight was 58 pounds. Always active, but never ate the healthiest I grew up with the mentality that food was a game, an enemy to be challenged and controlled. I must have been on every diet as a child....ice cream, cabbage, Clarksdale, slim fast, yes even diet pills. The philosophy I was brought up with was workout hard and eat whatever you want. My emotions turned to food for comfort so my attachment as an adult to food still was not a healthy relationship. My heaviest weight was 220 during pregnancy and remember I am 4’11 so that picture should be pretty clear of what that looked like. WHOA! So I know what it’s like to walk and have your thighs touch, bend down and not be able to tie your shoes. My largest dress size was a size 22. I will never be a size 4, but that’s so okay with me. God made with with curves and if He thinks that’s beautiful then so do I. I am not defined by my weight, but maintaining a healthy weight allows me to be the best, wife, mother, and friend.
With a degree in Marketing & Management & a Masters in Theology from Loyola, I knew I wanted to work with people, but did not fit that office suit 9-5 kinda job. Having taught group fitness classes since age 19, I knew that this is where my passion lie, little did I know this would be where I would learn to love me and help others to do the same. You see that 13 year old Anorexic survived for many many many years very happy, but not fulfilled, loving life, but not self. What changed all that you might ask. My beautiful family and my extended fitness family of Chalene Johnson and the many friends I have made along the way as a Presenter for Powder Blue and as a Beachbody coach. I believe my struggles with weight and anorexia have brought me where I am today, a happier healthier, wife, mom, friend, and business woman. It is my desire to pay it forward and help people realize that reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is not just about the workout or healthy eating, it’s about your overall love of YOU, which may need tending to through therapy. You were born to be FIT and healthy somewhere along the way your ability to cope has been tarnished, but not broken. We are here to help bridge the gap between the two.
