ALEX | ENTREPRENEUR | BRICK, NJ

STORY

I was a "troubled" high schooler.  Always cutting classes, making trouble, and being the "class clown."  I have always craved making an impact on those who I was around, it just took me a little while to realize it feels better when it's a positive impact vs a negative one.  After barely passing high school and trying one semester of college, I realized that route wasn't for me.  I enlisted in the US Navy in 2014.  I craved the structure and leaned into it.  However, bad habits die hard.  I still wanted to "be bad," and I had not learned habits that would help me reframe my mindset toward positive impact...yet.  I worked my way up the ranks in my 5 years on active duty and ended up being the leader of my division in two years.  Through this process I learned a lot about myself.  I was in an organization called "CSADD," Coalition of Sailors against Destructive Decisions.  We helped give other options to junior sailors, who, like myself at first, felt there was no other place to turn except toward destruction.  During this process I found a mentor who helped me reframe that mindset within myself.  Shortly after that I became the Vice President and then President of CSADD, mentoring others to become positive impacts on this world. This is where I felt fulfilled and had the biggest impact.  I was dealing with some domestic violence trauma that I encountered in 2018, and shortly after that I went on deployment overseas for 9 months, finally embracing my sexuality, and realized that I was living a lie of being straight to adhere to society norms.  Then I ended up transferring out of the military, moving my life back to my home state to acclimate to being around the ones that I had left for 5 years, and starting a new job in the corporate world as an engineer.  Needless to say it was a LOT all at once.  I was deflecting my Domestic Violence trauma that entire time and finding anything else to focus on.  When I got settled in a house and in the first couple months of my new job, I finally had time to sit with myself and unpack what I had just been through.  I looked at myself in the mirror and realized I was mentally, physically, & spiritually unhealthy. From 2018 to 2019, I gained over 50lbs.  With the space I was giving myself, I realized I needed to channel my energy toward something, I started going to the gym.  I was in a good groove, feeling better physically but still mentally carving my way out of my own way.  I was drinking a lot and partying with my old friends from home that I had left all those years ago to join the Navy.  I started to see progress in myself and learn more and more about physical health and decided to shape up some more.  I dove head first into learning as much as I could about human body movement.  I was pushing myself harder in the gym, then COVID-19 lock down happened.  I had a choice here, use it as an excuse to crawl back to my comfort zone or push through and come out stronger.  I chose the latter.  I bought a pair of dumbbells online for a crazy COVID-19 price and continued my journey toward health and fitness.  Long story short, I built a home gym in my apartment during the pandemic and never missed more than 3 days a week of working out to date even while taking care of my mother who suffers from MS and was having a year full of MS attacks, working full time as an engineer, starting my online coaching business and breaking off a marriage engagement.  Here we are in 2021, I am 50 lbs of fat down and 10+ lbs of muscle up from my starting weight.  I am mentally and physically healthier than ever before and getting more fit every single day.  In March of 2019 I started my own online coaching company, guiding women like me to tap into their inner badass and learn to change their own lives in a sustainable way!  I believe that changing the world starts from the foundation up.  Changing people's lives through health and fitness not only changes their bodies but mindsets.  That helps people create space between thoughts and response, this in turn changing the culture in their own lives which is infectious.  My goal is to create a culture of positive influence all over this world.  I have helped over a dozen people achieve sustainable lifestyle shifts through health and fitness, and I'm just getting started.  I still currently work my 9-5 as an engineer but my goal is to be a full time online fitness coach in the next 2-4 months!  I want my story to be a positive light for those that feel STUCK in their minds and bodies that aren't serving them in positive ways. - @alexgr.fit

Walk Out Song - Just Like Fire by Pink

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