“The thing I appreciate most about my life is my gratitude. Gratitude turns what you have into enough and then some.”
-Milana Istakhorova
Owner & Founder of More Than Fitness
***
“At age 20, my older sister was getting married and we decided to go on a diet together to lose weight for the wedding. We both started on an extremely restrictive diet; by the end we had each lost 30 pounds. Sounds great, doesn't it?
Except it wasn't.
It was miserable, I was starving, cranky, and couldn't focus. But I was so happy that I was thin. Unfortunately, because I hadn't learned how to eat appropriately, I gained all the weight back. Over the course of the next several years, I went up and down 30 pounds 2 MORE times with the help of restrictive dieting. With the weight loss came confidence and what I deemed "self-love" and I was "taking care of myself", however, with the weight gain all of that was lost. I was angry with myself, I told myself I had no self-control or will-power, and that I wasn't strong enough to keep the weight off.
Finally, one day I was sick and tired of feeling like garbage in my heart and in my body. I hired a personal trainer and started learning what MY body needed in order to function well and look the way I wanted it to look. It was just as much a journey of mindset work as it was weight loss. From that total transformation from the inside out, I decided to try my hand working part time as a kickboxing instructor. I fell in love with working in fitness. So in love, that I left graduate school, and decided to pursue personal training as a full time career. I've since obtained many certifications and worked with hundreds of clients.
While working in corporate fitness for the last couple of years, I noticed that the pattern I experienced on my weight loss journey was strangely similar to the majority of the women I was working with. The work I was doing with my clients quickly became more about the mindset shift. Women have been raised with a very specific understanding of what kind of body is considered beautiful or attractive. The majority of women in this world do not fall into that category. Furthermore, even the women who DO fall into that category have tremendous body image issues. Due to the trauma women experience around the way their body looks paired with the reputation of the fitness industry, so many women avoid the gym like the plague. They're afraid of: what might happen, who might think or say what, not knowing what to do or what Instagram post to believe, etc.
My company, More Than Fitness, is creating a revolution in the fitness industry and is teaching women how to approach fitness differently. Fitness is more than dieting and exercising. Fitness is about community, play, movement, and nutrition - and it looks different for everyone. I take my clients on a journey of deep, long-lasting, holistic transformation of the mind, body, and soul. My mission is to take the fear out of fitness, end the cycle of body trauma and shaming and help women start on a new venture of self-love.
My biggest goal for my clients isn't to help them lose weight so that they can THEN love themselves; it's to guide them in falling in love and deepen the connection they have with themselves so that their body reflects who they are on the inside, regardless of dress size.
I want women to know that they are already incredible, gorgeous goddesses exactly as they are. Women have enough fighting against them in this world, from corporate America, to politics, to the media, etc. we don't need to be fighting against ourselves as well.
Give yourself the compassion and grace you would your best friend or daughter, name the things you love about yourself and celebrate every wonderful part of yourself daily. And most importantly, fall in love with everything you are - yes, even if you're unhappy with your appearance.
Change that comes from love is deeper, more real, and more sustainable than any change that comes from hate.”
Best advice you ever received?
“Was actually from a meme on the internet!!! "Master how to remain calm."
Not only does this do wonders for your mental health, but it also does wonders for every individual organ system in your body.”
Image | Heartbox Photography
Hair & makeup | Becky Lau, Beautiful One Makeup Artistry