Meet Trailblazer Victoria Brady

Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Brady.

Victoria, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I always knew I wanted to do something to inspire and help other people! My weight has always been a struggle for me, starting from the time I was born (I came into the world weighing 10lbs 11oz). Being overweight my entire life, I used to hear all the time that I’ll never be “small” or “skinny” and for a while, I believed it. I even remember my doctor saying the same thing when I was a pre-teen. Throughout the years, I continued to gain weight, reaching my highest weight of 275 lbs. after having my second son in 2016.

I decided at the start of 2017, I would lose the weight, however, I kept falling off the wagon due to lack of time from being a mom to 2 boys under the age of two, planning a wedding, and working a full-time job. For the first six months, every week was a “new week to start over.” It wasn’t until June 2017, it hit me that a change had to be made. With my eldest son’s weight becoming a concern with his pediatrician, I saw the cycle repeating itself all over again. I knew I had to change if I wanted my boys to pick up healthier habits so they wouldn’t have to endure what I did growing up overweight.

Through trial and error, I eventually found a regimen that worked for me. I began drinking green smoothies as meal replacements after reading about the 10-day Green Smoothie Cleanse by JJ Smith. I cut out white carbs (sugar, bread, pasta, rice), fried foods, alcohol, and beef + pork from my diet. I worked out five days a week doing a combination of strength training & cardio and increased my water intake. Eventually, I got so motivated in my journey that I went into a challenge with myself — to transform my body and my life! Over a year later, I lost a total of 130 lbs. through changes in my diet and exercise. But I decided not to stop there!

This journey has shown me a passion for something that I NEVER thought I would fall in love with or become passionate about and that’s fitness! After discovering my passion for fitness in early 2018, I decided to marry it with my current passion of helping others, driving me to start my own fitness company, Glow & Grow Fitness, which is slated to launch the summer of 2019! The goal of my company is to spread awareness and show other women how to achieve their weight loss goals & live their best-fit life, no matter the challenges standing in their way!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This journey has not been a smooth road at all! There were many days where I was discouraged & depressed because of the process, especially when the numbers on the scale didn’t move, however, I was not defeated! Once I changed my mindset from negative self-talk to positive, I started to see results. I reminded myself that this is a lifestyle change and that it will require something I always struggled with, patience, along with perseverance.

Three things that really helped me be successful in this journey:
1. Set and focus on reaching small goals instead of focusing on the larger goal. This makes the goals feel more attainable and you will be less likely to give up. This can be applied to anything in life!
2. Find activities that you enjoy and allows you to be active at the same time! The same should be applied to how you eat. Allow yourself to have a cheat meal every so often that way you don’t get bored or feel deprived.
3. Most important advice I could ever give: Don’t limit yourself. Nothing is impossible unless you make it impossible and where ever there’s a will, there’s always a way!

Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
While my current job is in marketing, I am preparing for the launch of my fitness company, Glow & Grow Fitness. Glow & Grow Fitness will focus on helping people lose weight and keep it off. Services that will be provided include: online & in-person training & coaching, in-person group workout sessions and online training guides. And with marketing being my first love, I also plan to provide marketing/graphic design services, specific to other health allied professionals in the industry!

Currently, I offer free resources to help others get started with losing weight through my social media platforms, Instagram and Facebook. I have a free beginners weight loss guide that details everything I did to lose weight and includes a 30-day sample meal & workout plan along with workout videos that people can follow (which is posted on my YouTube channel). I also created a list of my top 10 tips for weight loss success as another resource to help people on their journey.

What I’m most proud of is also what sets me apart from others and that’s my transparency (which is why I go by Vickinosecrets on my social media platforms). Going through this weight loss journey empowered me to share my story as well as my progress with the world. This makes me different because my clients will know that what they see is what they will get with me! Additionally, knowing firsthand how it feels to struggle with being obese and trying to lose weight, I plan to use my personal experiences to motivate my clients to keep pushing. I hope to show others that there is a fitness professional who not only understands how they feel but also knows the obstacles they are facing with losing weight.

Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
Some of my favorite apps for information, design creation and tracking my weight loss progress: Fitbit, Fitonomy, Workouts for Women, Muscle & Motion, MyFitnessPal, Canva, and YouTube (PopSugar Fitness).
These apps help me stay in the know on health & social trends as well as help me when I am creating workouts or content for social media.

Fitness professionals I follow on Instagram to keep me motivated or even to expand my knowledge base include: Jeanette Jenkins, Massy Arias, Brittne Babe, Muscle & Motion. I also enjoy blog articles and watching webinars through the American Council of Exercise (ACE) to learn more about effective coaching & training for weight loss among a host of other topics.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/vickinosecrets
• Phone: 4045794534
• Email: glowandgrowfit@gmail.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/vickinosecrets
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VickiNoFitnessSecrets

Image Credit:
Wooten Photography

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