Nichell lost 60 pounds

Nichell lost 60 pounds by exercising and meal prepping. During a deep depression, she experienced significant weight gain. Coaching cheerleading improved her mood and led to her joining a gym. After she released the weight, she decided to become a personal trainer and help people achieve their fitness goals. 

My name is Nichell, and I am a personal trainer. I grew up as an athlete and was generally pretty physically fit. By 2016, I had put on a significant amount of weight during a deep depression. With the unintentional encouragement of a friend, I got back into doing some things that I enjoyed (coaching cheerleading), which improved my mood. 

After the cheer season, I continued to feed into the momentum of my improved mood and joined the gym. I fell into a better routine and embraced positive habits relatively quickly: 

• I organized my workouts.
• I began to meal prep. 
• I practiced more introspective mental health work. 

I ultimately lost 60 pounds within six months. Within a year of my fitness journey and after increasing my fitness knowledge, I became a personal trainer! I’ve helped many other people with various fitness goals, and I could not be happier! Many of their stories can be found on my Instagram page @_thefitniche

How did you change your eating habits?
I started meal prepping, which changed my life. I’d meal prep on the weekend for the following week (for dinner). I also started planning out my diet regimens on MyFitnessPal for a week to organize my calories and macros. I still meal prep!

Tell us about your workout routine.
I worked out six days a week and continue to do so. Three days per week, I do cardio (intervals). Three days a week, I focus on strength training (arms and shoulders, back, and lower body at the time). 

What is your height?
I am 5’6”

When did you start your journey? How long did your transformation take?
I started my journey on November 29, 2016, and I reached maintenance on May 15, 2017.

Is weight loss surgery part of your journey?
I did not have surgery—just lifestyle changes in diet and exercise.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far?
This journey completely changed my life. I found out so much about my self, my tendencies, my interpersonal relationships, and my mental health. To narrow it down, the biggest lesson I learned is that anything having is worth working for. 

You HAVE to be accountable to yourself to do the work, even when it’s hard. You have to do it if you want to get to your end goal. No excuses and no cheating. You have to push to your limit. You get out what you put in.

What advice would you like to share with women who want to lose weight?
Do the work when no one is watching. Don’t try to impress anyone, including a trainer (if you have one). Give everything you have every time and commit to the process. Also, take progress pictures! Sometimes you don’t notice changes in yourself even though the numbers on the scale may go down.