A little background: I recently divorced (August 2018) out of a verbally abusive relationship where I was put down a lot for my weight, on top of many other things. I started working with a personal trainer soon after that and lost close to 20 lbs with him, but it unfortunately became too expensive for me to continue. I eventually lost motivation to go to the gym and took almost a year off and subsequently gained all that weight back. I started my OTF journey in September of this year and it has totally changed my life for the better. The community alone is enough to keep me excited and happy to take a class 5-6 days a week.

On Thursday, I had a lot on my mind. I was actually crying on my way to my 6:45pm workout due to a combination of stress and a lot of emotional pain I'm going through at the moment. I went into my studio, did my first partner workout and worked my a** off. LOVED IT! None of that stuff I was crying about on my drive there never even crossed my mind once.

But what really put the cherry on top of my night was at the end of my workout. My coach asked me, "How much are you down? It's gotta be like 15 lbs!" I said "Actually, none at all, but I've lost inches!" He said "you just look soo different! You look great!"

I don't know if that coach is part of this subreddit, but if he is reading this: please know that your words meant so much to me and brightened the rest of my evening. I cannot put into words what that gesture did for me and I cannot thank you enough for that.

And this, my friends, is why OTF is the best thing that has happened to me for as long as I can remember and keeps me coming back for more!