Where’s the best place for listeners to connect with you?: You can find me on Instagram @coachmollyfitness where I post fitness and nutrition tips, entertaining reels, free workouts and more.

Describe your weight loss journey.: My relationship with weight loss is complicated to say the least. As a freshman in high school at nearly the same weight I am now, I was told that I was in the overweight category because of my BMI. Coming from a point of thin privilege, I know that my experiences do not compare with others but this experience shaped the next several years in a rough way.

I started swimming when I was 6 years old and have had a passion for fitness ever since, when I got to college my desire for a “fit” lifestyle continued and that led me to the weight room where I fell in love with lifting. While I was crushing PRs, spending hours in the gym and doing ridiculous amounts of cardio, I thought I was learning the dos and don’ts of fitness and nutrition but I was under-eating, depriving myself of carbs, developing chronic pain and so much more. Without realizing it, I became consumed by my fitness routine in unhealthy ways. Looking back, you could label these behaviors as disordered eating but at the time I just thought I was doing what other people were doing.

After graduation, I moved to Denver, Colorado. In my first year there, I was lucky to have my own personal trainer who helped me discover how to use proper form, recover effectively and take a step back from all of the things that I thought I knew which encouraged me to learn more and dive into a fitness career.

In the meantime, I was still struggling with low energy levels, chronic pain and gut health issues. About a year a half ago, I switched to a plant-based diet which helped me heal my gut. Because of that, I did end up losing a little bit of weight, I can now absorb nutrients better and have seen changes in my physique because of that.

Weight loss is a part of a lot of people’s journey but for me it led me on the wrong path for a long time.

As a fitness professional, I'm determined to educate the public and my clients on ways to build a healthy relationship with movement and nutrition that doesn’t focus on numbers in any way.

What’s a skill you developed as a result of working through your weight loss process?: From my personal experiences, my mindset on fitness has shifted completely. Over the last few years, I’ve realized that fitness isn’t about being the skinniest, going to the gym the longest, lifting the most weight or depriving yourself of good food and fun with friends. It’s about creating long-lasting healthy habits, finding balance, having fun and ultimately improving your mental AND physical health.

This mindset shift has led to daily practices of meditation, journaling, yoga and more that help me in my fitness and in my daily life.

What has that skill led to outside of weight loss?: As a personal trainer and nutrition coach, these skills that I’ve learned for myself have directly helped my clients. Through my education, background and experiences, I am able to give them the tools they need to make real, sustainable changes and set goals that make their life feel more fulfilled rather than more stressful.

What advice would you give to someone working through their weight loss journey?: Fitness should be about adding to your life, rather than subtracting. So, avoid the all-or-nothing approach. The most important thing for your fitness, nutrition and health is balance and moderation. It is not about eating perfectly all the time or never missing a workout.

Real success comes when you have more energy, improve your performance, and feel more confident in yourself. Ignore the numbers and focus on how you feel or what you are doing Weight and size are poor indicators of health and athleticism.

What's something most people don't know about you that has nothing to do with weight loss?: I have worn glasses since I was 6 months old. I am blind. I cannot go anywhere without glasses or contacts. When I got contacts in 7th grade, I was so amazed at the freedom I felt from not having to wear something on my eyes.