Emily Pendleton

MORE ABOUT ME

I started my health and self-love journey at 19 years old. This is the year I started to prioritize my emotional and physical health. My sister wanted to help me, so she challenged me to go Vegan with her. I was very resistant to the idea, but eventually came around. Before this point, I had never looked at a nutrition label before, and had no idea what macronutrients or calories were. Within a month of going vegan, I had dropped from 260+lbs to around 230lbs. This is when I realize how VERY important it is to fuel your body correctly.

I began exercising with my roommates around the same time (whom I am VERY thankful for), and realized how hard people work to keep themselves healthy. I could barely stay on the elliptical for 10 minutes, and I was extremely embarrassed how heavy I was breathing and how much I was sweating! Little did I know, everyone feels this way when they exercise.

The same year, I picked up and moved to California. I had continued working out on occasion, and remained Vegan. I had plateaued on my weight loss (230-240lbs). I expressed frustration with it to my coworkers, who introduced me to what they were doing, the "Paleo Diet". The moment I gave up my Vegan diet, I began dropping weight. I realize now that I was eating far to many carbs, and not enough protein, which is very common with Vegans if you are not intentionally trying to stay balanced.

I was on a roll with my nutrition, so I began trying new styles of exercise. I hired a personal trainer for a few sessions, and he made me feel SO STRONG! Although I couldn't afford to continue with personal training, this motivated me find something that focused on strength training. After looking into a few different options, I found a smaller gym that was owned by a very sweet/ badass couple. After doing a free trial, one of the trainers (Brad Salyer - IronClad Strength and Conditioning, Roseville, CA) saw how passionate I was to learn powerlifting, and took me under his wing for a very affordable price. I met with him I believe 2 times a week where I learned an incredible amount about powerlifting and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).

At this point I was also taking a weightlifting and bootbcamp class at the local college, ran on occasion and worked a VERY active job in catering. All of these things combined, along with a low-carb Paleo diet, I dropped from around 230lbs down to 170lbs (my lowest weight to this day). I had around 20% body fat, and around 136lbs of LBM (Lean Body Mass - this is everything in your body MINUS fat). This made my total weight loss around 90lbs.

Over the next few years, I attended multiple different types of gyms, and loved every single one of them! Powerlifting, Weightlifting (Olympic Lifting), Crossfit, Strongman, Brazilian Jujitsu, Functional Fitness, and even HIIT group training at commercial gyms. I love researching styles of training and exercise, and how they benefit people. There is never ending information out there, and it 100% my passion to help people see their potential and reach their goals!

Our every day life is full of stress, anxiety, and often things we cannot control. We are constantly (and discretely) told to compare ourselves to others.. that we aren't enough. My message is that YOU ARE ENOUGH. YOU ARE STRONG. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. YOU ARE LOVED, AND YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU DESIRE. <3

I hope to help as many people as possible in my lifetime to find self-love, confidence, and strength within themselves. I am here for you, and can't wait to meet you!