Meet Karlyn Benn of Inspyre You Health & Wellness in Roswell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karlyn Benn.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Karlyn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I struggled with weight all of my life. Growing up I was often the heaviest, and tallest, girl in the class. All of my friends were slim and I desperately longed for the attention they received. Despite being pretty popular, athletic and well-liked by both my peers and teachers, there was always something missing.

I didn’t like myself.

My worth was determined by how many people liked me and I would often go out of my way to make sure others were happy, all the while being miserable.

Fast forward to college and it just got worse. From the outside looking in, one would have never guessed how unhappy I was. I was constantly dieting and would become angry with myself when I wasn’t successful. Losing the weight only to gain it back was worse than never losing it in the first place… because now I was not only fat, but also a failure. It was around this time as well that I can recall my first bouts with depression.

It wasn’t until my mid 20s things started to change. I started dating a guy that was really into fitness and healthy eating. We worked out together and he helped me start to eat differently. And of course, this worked right lol. Because I really liked him and wanted him to like me too. However, despite my reasoning at the time being kinda superficial, some lasting changes occurred. I threw myself into the healthy lifestyle. Reading all the time, learning about food and exercise. I slowly but consistently started losing weight and when it was all said and done lost 50 lbs! Everyone was asking me for weight loss advice and boooyyyyy you couldn’t tell me nothing lol…. but then life happened.

I hit a rough patch. Ending up in a career I HATED, I fell into a depression. It was hard just to get out of the bed in the morning let alone workout and eating clean, forget it. So, needless to say I gained some weight back. And at the time, since my worth was in my weight, it only made my depression worse. After realizing that crying on the way to work, when I got off work, and Sunday night before work wasn’t normal, I quit. Yep. Just quit. No plan A, B or C. Just left. And although I wouldn’t recommend doing it that way, I wouldn’t change a thing because this was where my REAL journey began.

After a couple months of dead end job searching, a close friend of mine (a career coach) helped me figure out my purpose. By this time, I was pursuing my license in professional counseling but didn’t feel like that was all. So, we talked and I discovered my passion was in health. I enjoyed helping people lose weight but knew that yoyo dieting only led to more pain. I wanted to help people in a different way. That’s what led me to finding IIN, which is where I received my health coaching certification. That program was life changing. It taught me that there is more to losing weight than just what we eat. Our lives as a whole greatly impact our ability to even be successful at that. And I was living proof.

I began my own journey of healing from the inside out instead of the other way around. The program taught me that my work, spirituality, relationships and physical activity played a huge role but I took it a step further. I had to work on my soul. My inner being. Who I was as Karlyn and not who I had allowed myself to become through pleasing others. This was HARD work. I did a lot of reading, journaling, therapy for the therapist and shed a lot of tears. But through it all I developed such a deeper love for who I am that I felt like a new person. For the first time ever, I truly loved myself! And with that, I wanted the best for ME!

Through all of this, Inspyre You was born. For a long time, I would beat myself up for being a depressed therapist and “overweight” health coach. Changing the messages, we tell ourselves is not easy. But one of the many quotes I live by now is “You don’t need to be perfect to inspire others. Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfection.” Inspyre You is a private heath coaching practice whose mission is to empower women and girls to live a healthy lifestyle freely, without inhibition, and have the confidence to ROCK regardless of their weight or body image.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
OMG, not at all!! Working for yourself is hard. I sacrificed a lot!! Like A LOT!! As I stated before, there were moments of depression coupled with doubt that almost had me turn my back on everything I was working so hard for. But once you get a taste of what life is like doing what you love, it’s hard to imagine a life doing anything else. I love health coaching.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Inspyre You Health & Wellness – what should we know?
Weight loss is a billion-dollar industry. There are more diets, exercise plans and quick fixes that I would even care to discuss lol. How IY is different is that I focus on working from the inside out. The ladies I coach have to love themselves and put themselves first before anything else. While I do couple changing eating habits with the work that I do, the primary focus for the first several sessions are on them as a whole person, not just their weight. We explore their careers, relationships (with self, romantic, coworkers, friends, etc.), social life, spirituality and exercise.

Inspyre You Health & Wellness, LLC is a private health coaching practice that believes in promoting a healthy emotional and physical lifestyle. The focus of Inspyre You is to provide a safe place, free of judgment and social norms, where women and girls can express their difficult relationship with themselves and with food. Our coaching is tailored specifically for the individual, designed to help them accomplish their weight loss and image goals at a pace that is comfortable for them.

I am most proud of the fact that I am helping to change the quality of life for people every day. Life will never be void of difficulties, but the tools I equip my clients with help them better deal with the ups and downs, and being kind to themselves throughout the process. That makes me smile.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
My life experiences (is that a quality lol?). Everything I have been through gives me a different understanding of how hard this can be. So my qualities/characteristics would have to be patience and understanding.

Contact Info:

• Address: 555 Sun Valley Dr.,
  Roswell, GA 30076
• Website: www.inspyreyou.com
• Phone: 404.809.6801
• Email: [email protected]

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