Hi, my name is Maria and I am a Personal Trainer & Fitness Nutrition Specialist. My passion for fitness started with my obsession as a teenage girl to gain weight and build a booty as I was always kind of underweight and considered as “flat”. This obsession of mine went away really quick when I gained a few pounds and shaped my body but still couldn’t feel good enough. After that I lost control of my appetite and I ended up gaining lots of weight without really liking it. I started having really bad body image issues since I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be “thin” or “thick” or “fit” or “curvy” or “skinny”. I started hating food and hating looking myself in the mirror since I always felt like I either had more fat that I should or that I was too skinny than what I was supposed to be. So after years of experiencing and fighting this urge to feel good and feel normal and happy with my body I discovered, after an MRI, that I had some slipped discs in my spine due to an injury. Doctors told me that this would have been the end of my fitness journey and that it is really sad because I am such a young woman. Today, I am here, lifting weights with no pain and no discomfort, feeling blessed for every day that I get to exercise and absolutely loving my body the way it is. It took me some time but I’ve realized that we are not supposed to have a “label” and that there is so much more to fitness than looking good. Fitness is supposed to make you feel good, to push you further, to challenge you in new ways, help you mentally and physically, not just build you a butt or a six pack. I said to myself that I am going to help women over the world feel this powerful. I am going to help them realize that they don’t have to fit in today’s trends and expectations. Strong is the new sexy! We’re getting stronger in order to enjoy life! Not to please anybody!