I’m not going to sit here and write a long story about why I started running or whatever, because the truth is, I’ve been running for years and I love it. It’s my therapy and it is what keeps me sane to be honest. But, I will tell you about my injuries and a health issue that caused a big weight gain for me and altered who I am. So, short story about the injuries: I suffered multiple stress fractures in both tibias, left femur, and left foot in 2006 that took me out of running for about a year. It was a bitch and I still feel the pain. If you’re really interested in knowing the whole story, message me and I’ll fill you in. But here’s the main part of what I want to say….

I have never been the type of person to judge someone by their weight. Growing up, my best friend was over weight and got made fun of a lot. I was constantly sticking up for her and didn’t understand why anyone would be mean to someone about their weight. As I grew up, I realized that some people have medical conditions that actually cause weight gain, so, you don’t know what someone is battling and why they are the weight that they are. Anyhoo, here is the personal part: In August of 2008, I started gaining weight, my periods stopped, I was moody….you know, all the things that happen when a woman is pregnant, except I wasn’t pregnant. September and October came and went, still gaining weight, still no periods, and I was eating things I used to hate. Finally, I went to my doctor and was like “WTF MAN!!??” because I had no idea what was going on. A billion blood tests later and a few MRIs, it was discovered that I had a type of Pituitary/Brain tumor called a Prolactinoma. Yep. That is what caused me to gain almost 40 lbs in 3 1/2 months. 40 lbs is a lot, especially gaining it that quick, but I literally had no control over my body. So, I got started on all this medication that made me want to chop my head off because it made me SOOOO sick, but I still had to get the weight under control. Moving forward to now, I haven’t had insurance for over a year now because I’ve been in college full time and not working and so I’ve been without medication. My weight gain stopped in 2009 and I took 35 of the pounds off, but it changed my body completely and changed who I am. I got stretch marks, lost my confidence, and lost my boyfriend of 4 years.

So, working out and running now is about learning to love myself again. Again, I hate when people get judged because of their weight; you have no idea what is going on in their life. Well, I literally experienced that and even had people ask me if I had a baby and/or was I pregnant because I had gained the weight so fast. Trust me, I hated myself and in a way, I kind of still do. I hate that no matter what I do, I will always have stretch marks to remind me of a time when I lost myself even though I had no control. We’re all on this journey to getting fit and healthy and I don’t ever want any of my followers that are struggling with anything that this is easy for me or anyone else.

Some of you may be struggling with your own healthy issue(s) that caused weight gain and feel like you’re alone; well, you’re not. I understand and I’m here for you. We’ll get through this together.