Courtney began her health journey at the age of 19. She had a friend of hers who owned a vegan supplement line and taught her that vegan was the only way to be healthy and lean. While chatting with Courtney, she told me that she literally believed that meat made you fat. Prior to Courtney’s first shred, she had not touched bacon in 12 years’ time! Courtney competed in two fitness shows back in 2013, winning novice class in the second show. During that time, Courtney shared with me that she only ate tons of fish and eggs. This diet ended up giving her mercury poisoning. Throughout this whole process she still believed that beef, chicken, or anything related made you fat and sick. Kind of crazy, right? Welcome to the world of fitness and extreme diets. Think that’s insane enough to deal with? It is only the beginning. While poking for a little more, I was able to get Courtney to tell me a little about competitions and the training. Courtney told me that the competitions and overtraining wreaked havoc on her body which eventually brought her to hypothyroidism. That mixture created an obsession with shoving her weight down, counting macros, and jumping from one thing to the next. This is unfortunately a situation a lot of athletes find themselves in after entering into this world. These days, I am thrilled to share that Courtney is doing much better. She connected with her good friend Lenny and finally decided to let go and trust the whole process. During her shred, she dropped 6.5 lbs and lost 10 inches. While that is exciting, Courtney is a million times more excited about everything she gained. Courtney says, “I haven’t had this much energy and endurance since I can remember!” She now looks forward to her meals and she can’t believe just how tasty beef is . She eats when she is hungry and says it is such a liberating feeling.