Check out Christina Tattory’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Tattory.

Christina, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I have always been identified as fat. I was larger than most of the girls in my class but not what someone would call severely overweight. I was more muscular, had a broad back and shoulders, wasn’t even close to a size zero, and that made me different. Different was not good. I spent my entire teenage years being made fun of ― day in and day out. I tried so hard to look like those girls that I constantly went back and forth between completely restricting myself and then bingeing. The cycle repeated over and over again.

FITNESS

Losing 140 Pounds Was Easy Compared To… I have always been identified as fat. I was larger than most of the girls in my class but not what someone would call severely overweight. I was more muscular, had a broad back and shoulders, wasn’t even close to a size zero, and that made me different. Different was not good. I spent my entire teenage years being made fun of ― day in and day out. I tried so hard to look like those girls that I constantly went back and forth between completely restricting myself and then bingeing. The cycle repeated over and over again.

When I look back at pictures from that time it fills me with sadness. It immediately takes me back to how out of tune I was with my own body because of what others thought of me ― I remember constantly telling myself, “If I were thin like them everything would be better.” I truly believed that being thin would be a magical cure to all of it.

As the years passed some of those feelings still lingered and I started to isolate myself – I felt alone and depressed because I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin. By 27, I weighed my heaviest at 325 pounds. I was significantly overweight, and my doctor had major concerns. The realization of how unhealthy I was had a profound effect on me. Something shifted. That’s when I started to take control and change my life.

Months later as I was driving home, I felt an overwhelming amount of sadness and burst into tears asking myself, “What the fuck is wrong with me?!” By this point, I had lost close to 70 pounds, and that’s when I realized that the “if I were thin like them everything would be better” line that I used to tell myself was a complete lie. It didn’t matter how much weight I lost if nothing was going to change on the inside. That’s when the hard work ― the most important work ― was just beginning.

I’ve now lost 140 pounds naturally through hard work and dedication ― a truly remarkable achievement ― but that was relatively easy compared to the process of learning to love myself and being happy with who I am at any weight. I know that my physical health is in a far better place now that it was almost three years ago, but it’s the emotional change that is rarely talked about.

I have learned that the emotional journey is one of finding self-awareness, it’s learning to respect, embrace, and appreciate the body that you’ve been given for what it is and what it can do. It understands that validation comes from within yourself and from no one else.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
By day I’m a Product Manager for a company in Atlanta, but as a hobby, I run Run Lift Eat Repeat. I post healthier recipes, document my weight loss journey and share a lot about self-love. At the end of the day, if there’s ONE person that my posts help, that’s all I care about because I’ve been there before. It’s those “I read your non-scale victory and it really helped today” or “I made that recipe, and my family loved it!” is what keeps me sharing.

Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
Be consistent. Be real. Build organically. Even if your following is small, it’s BIG for the people that do follow you. At the end of the day, engagement is key. Just because you have higher numbers, doesn’t mean that your engagement is there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://runlifteatrepeat.com/instagram-links/
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runlifteatrepeatblog/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/runlifteatrepeat/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/runlifteatblog
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/runlifteatblog/

Image Credit:
Naomi Hopkins Photography
Run Lift Eat Repeat

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