Weight Loss Was a Side Effect: How Gensgym Helped Me Heal My Mind and Body

A Single Reel

I remember the moment. I remember the day.

Scrolling through social media in the dark while crickets chirped and the world slept – besides me of course, and the thousands of other women who stay up at this hour doomscrolling themselves into depression.

Tears rolling down the sides of my face as the internal monologue began to play.

I’m not good enough… will I ever be good enough? Maybe not – maybe never.

And somehow, I always convinced myself that was okay with me.

Postpartum had swallowed me whole.

My weight was at an all-time high.

I felt unavailable to my kids, my husband and even more so myself.

I was working out every day, eating almost nothing, begging the scale to move – and it never did.

Every morning felt like failure.

Every night felt like suffocation.

I was convinced this was my life now.

Just misery, exhaustion.

A body I didn’t – and would never recognize and a mind I couldn’t ever escape.

But then I scrolled to a single reel.

I had promised myself I’d sleep after this – though I did that hours ago – something about this time told me I would keep my promise.

And I did.

Every day after that I saw every reason to.

Though I did not snap to it initially.

There she was.

It was her. “Another influencer,” I thought at the time.

Another lucky girl that I would never be.

But hold on… Something was different this time.

This girl on the screen was looking straight at me.

Not through me.

Not past me.

At me.

And that moment – that tiny, unexpected flicker of recognition – became the catalyst for how much my life would change.

And forever it did.

Change, I mean.

Who Is Gen?

Gen is the founder and creator of Gensgym – clever name, always loved it – and she lost 50 lbs and has kept it off for more than eight years.

No fad diets.

No starvation.

No quick fixes.

Just a girl who made a change and believed she was worthy of the promises she kept, even if circumstances and people tried to make her believe otherwise.

She became the internet’s diet-culture-demystifying-big sis.

The one who tells you the truth, even when it’s not glamorous.

The one who supports you whether you’re lifting weights or taking GLP-1’s.

The one who refuses to shame you for the path you choose.

The one who just wants to support you no matter where you come from.

She is true to her word.

That I can contest.

But what struck me most wasn’t her story – it was her eyes.

She looked like a girl who had simply decided to love herself more than she hated herself.

And something in me whispered, maybe I could do that too.

Maybe that could be me.

Angela… will that be me?

Why I Joined Gensgym

A month after that first reel, I was still, stagnant, miserable.

I continued to overwork, under-eat, and let myself spiral over the number that went up after I ran miles and ate only seven-hundred calories that day.

I didn’t think anything was ever gonna change. But watching her reels, seeing her stories it was the kind of hit I needed to feel inspired.

And – in my small town – embers like that were put out. Watered down and iced.

So, we moved. On a whim I might add.

My husband had just lost his job and we were being evicted.

But –new place, I thought.

Different vibe.

The opportunities felt endless.

Most importantly I felt the fog lift and could finally see what she had been telling me all along.

“You are worthy.”

So, I did it.

I took a chance and sent her a message.

…

She messaged back.

And I stalled.

Stared at the screen.

Was this fake?

Was this real?

What was happening?

Is she talking to me?

Before I go any further, it wasn’t the star-struck moment that got me. It was the moment that I had finally been graced with.

Vulnerability. Connection.

For the first time, I talked to someone about my problem.

For the first time, I talked to someone who knew where I was coming from.

For the first time, I talked to someone who looked at me and didn’t smile from humor but from grace.

That’s where I’m coming from.

Weight loss has always been something private.

Heck – almost frowned upon if you talked about it in my family.

If a woman tried to lose weight the words were, “Do you think you’re better than me?” or “You look sick, eat a burger!”

Gen listened.

Gen knew where I was coming from, because she was there.

She had just made it out alive.

After we set up a time to talk, I cried.

Honestly, the kind of cry that looks ugly on even the pretty Greek statues.

But what I didn’t know is that joining Gensgym wasn’t a fitness decision.

It was a self-respect one.

Someone told me I was worthy. Not with words, but with her eyes.

I was worthy of the change I always wanted.

The life I always dreamed of.

And little did I know, without it, I wouldn’t have ended up living to see today.

What Gensgym Actually Is

March 4, 2024 I had my first panic attack.

Angela, what does that have anything to do with this?

It actually has everything to do with this.

You see people think it’s just a fitness program.

Workouts.

Nutrition.

Accountability.

And yes – those things are there, and they’re solid.

But that’s not what it’s about.

Those are things they teach you on the side.

“Weight loss was a perk more so,” I realized after I graduated the program. “What I loved more about it was… the growth.”

Gensgym teaches you to look past the mirror.

Past the scale.

Past the version of yourself you’ve been punishing for years.

It teaches you to see the human inside the body –

The woman,

The little girl,

The teen who just wants to be loved by someone.

Herself…

Inside Gensgym I learned vulnerability.

I learned how to show up even when I didn’t feel like it. Because I knew I was worth it.

I learned how to build habits that don’t collapse under pressure and how to nourish my body without punishment.

How to trust myself.

And in learning all of this, it helped me believe in myself.

After that panic attack I didn’t quite recognize myself.

I had finally let the world get the better of me.

I fell into a deep depression.

Crisis hotline on the phone night after night.

Anxiety was my blanket. Depression my sun.

It was hard.

It was hopeless at times.

But…

My body got up and moved on its own.

At times I could barely speak, but my body rose.

Even gripped in the clutches of rot, my habits had been so instilled in me, I cried while I walked.

I cried while I grabbed an egg instead of a cookie.

I cried while I stood outside in the sun but felt the grey cloud hovering over me.

At this point I wondered why?

Why am I doing this when all I want to do is nothing?

Why?

Because Gensgym.

It was a community of women who uplifted each other. Coaches that cared to see you thrive. A woman who refused to let others live one more day in that silence.

Refused to let another woman watch her life go by.

They showed up for you.

Not because they had – because they wanted to.

What Changed for Me

I didn’t expect my “day one” to become every day.

I didn’t expect a choice to save my life.

I didn’t expect consistency to feel like devotion instead of discipline.

I didn’t expect to feel proud of myself in small, quiet ways – the kind that required no audience.

I didn’t expect to survive.

That was the darkest moment in my life.

I’ll confess and this might be too dark but I had considered ending it several times – but I promised myself I would make it through.

And in the program I learned that we are all worth keeping our promises.

So, I did.

Now, so many years after say yes that day, I have my own home. I gave birth to another beautiful child. I am pursuing my dream as being a published author.

And I am more in love with the woman I never thought I would be.

That program changed everything for me.

A Thank You

Of course, I have to leave off with a sincere thank you. And I truly mean this from the fullness of my heart.

To Alanna –

Thank you for being the steady voice in the noise.

For your clarity, your structure, your patience.

For the way you break things down so they feel possible.

For the way you coach without judgement, guide without pressure, and support without making me feel small.

You helped me build a foundation instead of chasing the finish line.

You helped me understand my patterns, not punish them.

You helped me feel capable again – not because you said I was, but because you taught me how to prove it to myself.

To the Gensgym Community –

Thank you for proving that women rise higher when we rise together.

For the shared wins, the shared struggles, the shared humanity.

For the message, the check-ins, the encouragement, the “me too” moments that made me feel less alone.

You made consistency feel like connection instead of isolation.

To Gen –

Thank you for being the light I didn’t know I was searching for.

Thank you for showing up online with honesty instead of perfection, with compassion instead of ego, with truth instead of trends.

You didn’t just teach me how to eat or how to train – you taught me how to see myself again.

You helped me look past the mirror, past the scale, past the shame I had been carrying for years.

You helped me meet the woman inside the struggle – the mother who was exhausted, the girl who wanted to be loved, the human who was trying her best.

You didn’t sell me a dream.

You handed me hope.

And that hope made me believe in myself again.

To the version of me who sent that message –

Thank you for being brave enough to reach out.

For being honest in your pain.

For being vulnerable in your fear.

For choosing to believe that your life could feel different.

For betting on yourself when you had every reason telling you not to.

You didn’t know it then, but that message was the beginning of our return.

And to the woman I am now –

Thank you for staying.

For showing up.

For choosing devotion over punishment.

For choosing nourishment over restriction.

For choosing hope over despair.

For choosing life and myself – again and again and again.

An Invitation

If you’re reading this and you’re where I was – awake at 2 a.m., scrolling through the dark, feeling the weight of your own potential – this is your sign.

Not to join Gensgym.

Not to start a program.

Not to overhaul your life overnight.

But to choose yourself.

To believe you’re worthy of support.

To believe you don’t have to do it alone.

To believe your “day one” could possibly save you every day after.

And if Gensgym becomes your doorway, the way it became mine…

Then welcome.

We rise here.

We learn.

We love.

Because as Gen always says, and I believe,  “The best is yet to come.”

Resources

If you’re curious about change that doesn’t rely on:

• quick fixes

• shame

  and has long lasting side effects of:

• confidence

• happiness

• And loving yourself to the fullest

  Gensgym might be the thing you’ve been looking for.

  Here’s the site and take a look for yourself: Gens Gym | Women's Natural Weight Loss

And this is my personal testimonial that I provided directly to Gen that she shared on YouTube.

I wish you the very best on your journey, friend.

Much love, confidence, and progress

-Angela