It's always a little uncomfortable but yet soul-moving to share my story. I see how much growth I have experienced through tragedy. In 2017, I shed 45 pounds with nutrition & vigorous exercise. I made the decision to participate in a fitness competition. I eventually made contact with a remote-coach & began training. 3 months in I developed a disorder called rhabdomyolysis.

An uncommon illness known as rhabdomyolysis is brought on by excessive muscular-breakdown. Your body releases toxic electrolytes & proteins into the blood that destroy the kidneys & heart. To assess the severity of the disorder, Creatinine Kinase levels were drawn. Normal values range from 20 to 200, mine were 109,000. Completely off the charts & took them over 10 hours to dilute my blood down to get a value. The doctors were floored as this was the highest they had ever seen.

My body was beginning to shut down, my heart & kidneys were failing. Despite the fact of being a nurse, I was scared, I was now the patient at the mercy of time & a broken healthcare system. I was powerless to stop it, struggling for my health & life. I prayed that my body would start to repair itself. I was sent home after a prolonged stay in the ICU & cardiac step-down unit. After I was released, I was told it would be months, if not years, before I could exercise again. Statiscally, my body had an 80%- 90% probability of this happening again.

My CK levels didn't normalize for 9 months. By this point, I had begun to lose faith in myself, my ability to compete, my self-love & it became a downward spiral. I knew I had todo something, but I didn't know where to start. Regrettably, I gained everything I had lost plus more over the course of the following several years. I continued to put one foot in front of the other, but on the inside, I lost interest in the reflection in the mirror.

Being a nurse in the midst of the pandemic, my stress levels were at an all-time high, & I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life. Then we learned my father required a kidney-transplant. My physicians agreed for me to get tested, at this point my kidneys & heart were healthy again. In order to preserve my kidneys, they wanted me to shed 20-30 pounds, without exercise, before I could be considered, so I started working hard on my nutrition. I created a disaster of restrictive diets, & I put on more weight. I had reached my limit.

I contacted a friend from high-school, who was a health coach, as I knew he had helped a lot of other people lose weight without exercise. I was hesitant to sign up & assumed it would be another one of "Those Diets". To my pleasant surprise it was completely different. I lost 18# in the first month. I had the feeling that my life was returning. Even following the stressful days at the hospital, my sleep had significantly improved. I adhered to the plan. Every month more weight & inches were coming off.

I made the decision that I wanted to support people who had experienced similar struggles to myself, so I began to coach. I shed 104 pounds in 11 months & achieved my best-ever physical condition without engaging in any exercise. As I started incorporating healthy behaviors, I discovered how to really take care of myself. The photographs were merely for record-keeping purposes; nevertheless, it was the change in my body, soul, & mind that has changed my life forever. I was allowed to undergo the testing to determine whether I could be a donor, but they discovered I have a rare medical condition and excluded me from doing so.

Fortunately, my sister was virtually a perfect match. My dad & sister underwent a nine-hour kidney transplant, in August 2021. I'm happy to report that they are both doing fantastic. As a family, we were able to regain our health, & I will be eternally grateful that I finally said yes to my health and my future health. I am here TODAY to help you do the same.

Thank you for letting me share my story.