Jen Ekblad, ACE WMS, FNSJen is the resident weight management and fitness nutrition specialist at Improve Health + Wellness Coaching. She specializes in innovate workouts and clean eating on a budget at home and on-the-go.
CertificationsACE Weight Management Specialist
ACE Fitness Nutrition Specialist American Red Cross Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED Connect with me! |
My story begins in 2006, at the age of 19. I remember it like it was yesterday. My father sat me down and with a look of sadness in his eyes, he explained to me that their insurance company had classified me as a medical liability because of my weight for my age and was going to jack up their premium. I was absolutely crushed and so embarrassed. I was the heaviest I had ever been in my life, tipping the scales at 210 lbs. So, I decided to do something about it. I joined Weight Watchers® and just 3 years later in August 2009, I met my goal weight of 150 lbs.
After graduating from college in December 2009, stresses crept back into my life and the weight came back on. I battled with losses and gains over the next couple years. In June 2011, I met a man that little did I know would become my best friend, partner and love of my life. He was on his own journey to losing weight. We became friends and partners through I AM AN OVEREATER and The Chippewa Valley Challenge. He even motivated me to join a local gym and get fit. I still struggled to lose weight, but at least I was exercising. Dan started training for a body building competition. I couldn’t believe the transformation he was making He invited me to watch one of his competitions. I was inspired! So, in January 2013, I decided it was time to gain back the discipline I once had. I took a leap of faith and entered my first NPC bikini competition. On January 6, 2013, I weighed 174.9 lbs. I worked with a coach, trained hard, and when hit the stage on April 20, 2013, at 127 lbs, a weight I hadn’t seen since elementary school. The one part I left out of the story is that my motivation to reach my goal weight and compete started off as positive, but then turned negative and steamed from anger toward those who doubted me and fear of my coach. A combination that would soon enough send my world crashing down.
Throughout my training a passion was discovered—fitness and nutrition. During my training, I was hired on full-time at Anytime Fitness. After competition, I pursued my certification as a personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and launched my company, Jenuine Enterprises. I was high on life!
Then, in the fall of 2013 the scale started to go back up and I could see my body changing, except this time it was different from anything I had ever seen before. I could physically see the fat starting to pool in my thighs, butt and stomach. I tried to fight the weight gain by prepping for another competition. So, I depleted my body again and could lose a bit of the weight, but I didn’t look anything like I did back in April. I was frustrated and disappointed after the show. But at this point in time, I hadn’t given any credit to what I had put my body through at the beginning of the year.
After almost a year of restricting my diet and overtraining, I was exhausted. I thought I would just “take a little break.” So, I went back to eating “normally.” I wasn’t eating super unhealthy foods, but I was eating more than I had while I was training for competition. Harmless, right? A few pounds were gained, and then a few more and a few more and before I knew it, I was back up to the 160s by January 2014. In a year’s time, I had lost and gained over 80 lbs. By July 2014, I was back to the 170s—the point where I had started training in January 2013. That same month, I was laid off from my job. This was kind of a blessing in disguise, because I had even more time to work out which allowed me to hold my weight right around 170 lbs. Then, I started a new job in October 2014 and the rate at which I gained weight accelerated. My eating habits had changed a bit and I was struggling to workout. After a long day at work, the last thing I wanted to go was go to the gym. The gym, for me, had become a place I hated to be, yet I felt the need to keep forcing myself to go there. By the end of 2015, I broke into the 190s. It is safe to say that at this point I had reached my breaking point. Thankfully, I had the support of my best friend, partner and love of my life, Dan, and my family. I also had a coach by my side, working with me on fitness and nutrition. However, I still wasn’t losing weight. I was eating well and exercising, yet my weight continued to go up. Something was not right.
I reached out to my doctor and set up an appointment. She was aware of my training back in 2013, the extreme amount of weight I lost in a 4-month time span and now my struggles with weight gain and the ability to lose weight. She ran numerous blood profiles to rule out any possible underlying issues. All my tests can back with flying colors and I was hit with a heavy dose of reality. I had to accept that I took my body to a very dark place. I depleted it for months, yet demanded that it perform like a superhero. There is a great deal of controversy on the topic of metabolic damage and I am not saying that that is indeed what I have done, but what I do know is that my body is smart. It is much smarter than me. It is now protecting itself which means we had to change the game plan and I respect that.
With my doctor, nutritionist, coach, family and Dan by my side, I am focusing on the positive and living the life of a Warrior of Wellness. This is a marathon, not a sprint—it is a lifestyle. So, now, my goal is not to lose weight, but to live the principles set forth in this workbook.
If there is one thing you take away from my story, I hope it is this: love and respect your body.
After graduating from college in December 2009, stresses crept back into my life and the weight came back on. I battled with losses and gains over the next couple years. In June 2011, I met a man that little did I know would become my best friend, partner and love of my life. He was on his own journey to losing weight. We became friends and partners through I AM AN OVEREATER and The Chippewa Valley Challenge. He even motivated me to join a local gym and get fit. I still struggled to lose weight, but at least I was exercising. Dan started training for a body building competition. I couldn’t believe the transformation he was making He invited me to watch one of his competitions. I was inspired! So, in January 2013, I decided it was time to gain back the discipline I once had. I took a leap of faith and entered my first NPC bikini competition. On January 6, 2013, I weighed 174.9 lbs. I worked with a coach, trained hard, and when hit the stage on April 20, 2013, at 127 lbs, a weight I hadn’t seen since elementary school. The one part I left out of the story is that my motivation to reach my goal weight and compete started off as positive, but then turned negative and steamed from anger toward those who doubted me and fear of my coach. A combination that would soon enough send my world crashing down.
Throughout my training a passion was discovered—fitness and nutrition. During my training, I was hired on full-time at Anytime Fitness. After competition, I pursued my certification as a personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and launched my company, Jenuine Enterprises. I was high on life!
Then, in the fall of 2013 the scale started to go back up and I could see my body changing, except this time it was different from anything I had ever seen before. I could physically see the fat starting to pool in my thighs, butt and stomach. I tried to fight the weight gain by prepping for another competition. So, I depleted my body again and could lose a bit of the weight, but I didn’t look anything like I did back in April. I was frustrated and disappointed after the show. But at this point in time, I hadn’t given any credit to what I had put my body through at the beginning of the year.
After almost a year of restricting my diet and overtraining, I was exhausted. I thought I would just “take a little break.” So, I went back to eating “normally.” I wasn’t eating super unhealthy foods, but I was eating more than I had while I was training for competition. Harmless, right? A few pounds were gained, and then a few more and a few more and before I knew it, I was back up to the 160s by January 2014. In a year’s time, I had lost and gained over 80 lbs. By July 2014, I was back to the 170s—the point where I had started training in January 2013. That same month, I was laid off from my job. This was kind of a blessing in disguise, because I had even more time to work out which allowed me to hold my weight right around 170 lbs. Then, I started a new job in October 2014 and the rate at which I gained weight accelerated. My eating habits had changed a bit and I was struggling to workout. After a long day at work, the last thing I wanted to go was go to the gym. The gym, for me, had become a place I hated to be, yet I felt the need to keep forcing myself to go there. By the end of 2015, I broke into the 190s. It is safe to say that at this point I had reached my breaking point. Thankfully, I had the support of my best friend, partner and love of my life, Dan, and my family. I also had a coach by my side, working with me on fitness and nutrition. However, I still wasn’t losing weight. I was eating well and exercising, yet my weight continued to go up. Something was not right.
I reached out to my doctor and set up an appointment. She was aware of my training back in 2013, the extreme amount of weight I lost in a 4-month time span and now my struggles with weight gain and the ability to lose weight. She ran numerous blood profiles to rule out any possible underlying issues. All my tests can back with flying colors and I was hit with a heavy dose of reality. I had to accept that I took my body to a very dark place. I depleted it for months, yet demanded that it perform like a superhero. There is a great deal of controversy on the topic of metabolic damage and I am not saying that that is indeed what I have done, but what I do know is that my body is smart. It is much smarter than me. It is now protecting itself which means we had to change the game plan and I respect that.
With my doctor, nutritionist, coach, family and Dan by my side, I am focusing on the positive and living the life of a Warrior of Wellness. This is a marathon, not a sprint—it is a lifestyle. So, now, my goal is not to lose weight, but to live the principles set forth in this workbook.
If there is one thing you take away from my story, I hope it is this: love and respect your body.