Daily Inspiration: Meet Niyah White

Today we’d like to introduce you to Niyah White.

Hi Niyah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
To simply put it, my life has been one crazy, unconventional journey. First off, I’m the only one in my family born and raised in Georgia. Growing up, I was always a silly, outdoorsy, musical, creative kid who was always giving and caring for others. You could always find me at a desk drawing for hours teaching myself the art of patience or outside barefoot in the grass running around and riding my bike or finding a way to doing something for others. Although my life seemed pretty great to those around me, my reality was the complete opposite. Secretly, I was suffering and putting on a façade, so that the people around me who didn’t really know what was going on in my life or how I was feeling wouldn’t worry about me.

During my elementary and middle school years, I had developed a problem with my relationship with food. I constantly ate until I felt sick. This poor habit of binge eating ended up with me being overweight. Unfortunately, due to realizing I was overweight and being told I need to lose weight by my doctor, caused me to develop other eating disorders. While dealing with that, I was having to put up with other things like bullying, abuse, a severe decline in mental health, family issues, and etc. By the time I got to my freshman year of high school, I had found a few coping mechanisms and tactics to help me in my day to day life. Once I hit my sophomore year of high school everything changed and all of my positive progress went down the drain. My motivation for life was gone, abuse continued, and the decline in mental health was back.

As a result, I began self-sabotaging, which led me to hanging with the wrong crowd and made poor decisions that hurt me and almost cost me my life. After a while with the help of my sister, I decided that enough is enough and that I need to be healthy and do what I need to do for me! I eventually found other more efficient coping mechanisms and changed my lifestyle. One of my top coping mechanisms at the time, hula hooping, has allowed me to do several small performances throughout this this year. In addition to performing, I have also been able to work towards my career as a personal trainer and as someone who influences a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Fitness helped me get through the dark parts of my life by shaping not only my physical health, but my mental health as well. Knowing how fitness has helped me with my life, makes me want to help others transform their life for the better.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Getting to this point in my life has definitely not been smooth to say the least. Like I had mentioned previously, I had multiple eating disorders which made the way I viewed food very difficult for me for years and even sometimes now. Also, around the age of 12 I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. Later on, when I was about 15 years old, I was diagnosed with PTSD. Having depression makes everyday life 10x more difficult. There are days when you can’t control your how sad, angry, or numb you are. It can also make the simplest task in life, such as getting dressed, so daunting. With anxiety, it makes communication with people hard and causes you to worry about every aspect of your life even when nothing is wrong. I tend to be a perfectionist at times unwillingly due to having anxiety. PTSD is a whole thing itself. There were also bad habits I had picked up that were extremely tough to drop. Learning to cope, heal, better myself, and get through life with all of this was a whole different ball game. Oh, did I mention there have been moments where I had worked more than one job at a time? Very tiring and a whole different set of challenges there too.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Most people know me for my performance/hooping videos, workout videos I post on social media and my training. I’m very transparent about my fitness journey and my life in general. I feel that these days so many people are tired of the fake and want something real and relatable. For me, getting this far in life, being able to work towards my goals and achieve them while gaining various opportunities despite everything I’ve been through in life has been the most rewarding! Even though life hasn’t been a “walk in the park” for me, I wouldn’t change anything because I realize such events in my life have shaped me into the woman I am today.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I personally feel that taking a risk, especially when it comes to something that you want to do in life, is important. Taking a risk is the first step into almost anything, whether it is going to school, starting a business, finances, traveling or even going to the gym. Risk-taking helps us to get rid of that silly “what if” feeling that’s lives in our brain rent free. It also opens up a variety of doors and opportunities for you. Never in my life would I have thought that the simple task of putting myself out there, even though I was nervous, would allow me to perform, work with brands, or even help me with my training career. Like I tell people all the time, the hardest part is showing up. Sometimes you just have to take that leap!!

Contact Info:

• Email: niyahwfit@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niyah.white/?hl=en
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/niyah.fit/?hl=en

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