My Story of Pain, Persistence, and Purpose
For a long time, my life felt defined by things I couldn’t control—my infertility, the loss of my baby, my mother’s death, years of grief. Eventually I realized I could control one thing: what I did next. My transformation didn’t happen overnight—it was built through difficult choices and small steps, even when I didn’t know where I was headed.
The Beginning of a Difficult Chapter
My journey began in 2015 when I was diagnosed with infertility and told I would not conceive naturally. I pursued IVF, going through more than 20 medical procedures in the early years, plus surgeries and hormone medications. Every procedure carried hope; every setback carried disappointment.
In 2019, I became pregnant through IVF—a baby girl, due in January 2020. At nine weeks, I learned there was no heartbeat. I lost my baby, and it changed how I saw the world.
My story of loss didn’t end there. In 2017, I lost my mother to heart disease, and losing her while already dealing with infertility left me feeling alone, angry, and lost.
I continued IVF for three more years, still hoping. After a severe allergic reaction to a hormone medication sent me to the emergency room, I thought about everything I’d fought through for so many years. I was exhausted. Eventually I realized I couldn’t keep living only around what I had lost—I needed to take care of the life I still had.
The Decision That Changed My Direction
On November 27, 2022, I made a conscious decision to take my life back. I was afraid I’d fail, afraid I’d start and eventually stop—but I knew I couldn’t stay where I was.
I worked with a dietitian, learning about nutrition, mindset, and my relationship with food. I completed a 28-day medically monitored detox and lost 15 pounds of what I experienced as inflammation. More importantly, I started feeling better, and understood that changing my life wouldn’t come through one dramatic decision, but through many small ones repeated over time.
Learning Persistence Through Fitness
In January 2023, I joined EOS Fitness and started meeting with a personal trainer once a week. It wasn’t always easy, but I kept showing up. That became one of the biggest lessons of my journey: persistence doesn’t always feel powerful while you’re doing it—sometimes it simply looks like doing the thing you promised yourself you would do.
Then, in May 2023, I discovered Aquabike. It gave me a different experience with fitness. I attended classes three to four times a week alongside my nutrition plan. After 90 days, I had dropped two clothing sizes—but what mattered went beyond the physical. I noticed shifts in my mood, sleep, and energy, and connected to a supportive community—my “gym squad.” For years I had felt like I was carrying so much alone. Now I had people around me who encouraged me to keep showing up.
From Finding Fitness to Finding Purpose
Eventually, I started reaching goals that once seemed difficult. I finished working with my dietitian and trainer and began taking other fitness classes. Then, about six months after discovering Aquabike, I became a fitness instructor and earned my certification.
I had entered the fitness world to change my own life. I never imagined I’d eventually help encourage others through fitness. That’s where purpose became real for me. My painful experiences didn’t disappear, but my life was becoming about more than what I had lost.
On November 27, 2022, I weighed 195 pounds. On November 27, 2025, I weighed 125 pounds—a 70-pound difference. But that number is only one part of the story. The bigger transformation was learning consistency, discipline, commitment, and dedication—learning I could take care of myself, finding people who encouraged me, and discovering purpose when I thought so much of my life was already defined by loss.
I still have difficult days, and I still carry the memories of infertility, pregnancy loss, and losing my mother. Healing didn’t mean pretending those experiences never happened—it meant learning they could be part of my story without being the entire story.
Pain, Persistence, and Purpose
The pain taught me I needed to care for myself. Persistence taught me that progress comes from continuing to show up. And fitness helped me discover a purpose I never expected to find.
Aquabike became part of that journey—so did nutrition, my fitness community, and the decision I made on November 27, 2022, to try again. I don’t know what the future holds, but my hardest chapters are part of my story—they don’t have to be the ending.
If you are looking for a new way to make movement part of your own journey, explore Aquatics Fitness and discover how aquatic fitness, consistency, and community can become part of your routine.
