Spotlight: Katie ! @thisjourneyofme

Katie Has been a "friend of the Dive Bar" for about 4 years, first as a customer, then ambassador, and eventual team lead! We have grown with her and watched her build two careers simultaneously, raise her daughter, and even her "coming out" in 2020. She is also our partner in developing the  ButterdFinger McFlirty Dive Bars - available NOW but selling out like hot cakes!

Her journey with food and her weight is something we can all appreciate and learn from, so we were excited to feature her in our second SPOTLIGHT article!

 

Katie's before and after transformation pic!

 

1) Tell us a bit about you (job, location, relationship, parent?)! How and when did you begin your weightloss journey. Did it start with WW or was that the final thing that helped/worked? I'm 39 years old, almost the big 40 in a couple weeks. I've lived in South Florida most of my life. I'm in a long distance relationship with my partner, which we're planning to live together soon. I'm a mom to my beautiful 9 year old daughter & fur baby Zoey. I've lost 90 lbs total (I put on during pregnancy & it took years to get off) I started originally with keto & walking, but knew I needed a more sustainable solution so went to WW & began doing yoga on YouTube 3 days a week.

2. Did you discover the WW online community before losing weight or did the network of people help you? If you learned of it afterward, was it helpful in keeping a new lifestyle?

I had already lost half my weight when I found the online community. I knew others' stories would motivate me & help hold me accountable. It was super helpful, I found easy recipes & snacks to help me along on my journey. 

 

3. How is your relationship with food different nowadays? Were you a social eater, emotional eater, or do you feel that you may have been addicted to select foods?  My relationship with food is far healthier today, in a mental capacity. I used to punish myself by not eating certain food because I was always taught foods are "good and bad" and exercise was punishment for eating the "bad" foods. I've worked at healing my relationships and how I view food over the past 4 years. I now enjoy eating without emotional attachment or a reward/punished type mindset. Some days I eat to fuel and some days to enjoy myself, and am proud of how far I've come.

Lost 90 pounds... But doesn't miss it!

 

4. Has your weight loss brought on a new confidence or made you stronger in any way? Do you look back at the person you were a few years ago and see differences? Still see similarities? It's made me stronger in every capacity. I've been able to accomplish physical challenges I never dreamt possible, like holding a headstand. I've done a complete 360 from the person I used to be. I'm definitely way more confident, happy, and honest with myself about who I am. I still struggle with that girl who was holding herself back, but I've made huge strides & will never go back.

 

5. To keep healthy, you must see and avoid so many trends and scam items/books/diets. Are there any tips you can share on what is BS and what works? Is there anything that you tried years ago and would look back and say that was definitely misleading?  There's no magic pills. I had to find a sustainable plan that I can fit into my life for a lifetime. That goes for food and exercise. I also think therapy helps with healing and getting to the root of why we ended up there.

 

6. Besides your own flavor of Dive Bar (big time congrats!) what is your fave flavor Dive Bar, and how are they incorporated into your diet these days? Definitely hands down pumpkin spice latte 😋 and my bar is right there next to it. Super honored to have my own flavor. I've been working with dive bar since 2018, and can safely say there's no better protein bar on the market. It's helped me recently as a pre-workout as I've been weight training & getting I'm more protein. I love how the flavors change seasonally as there's always something to look forward to!

With Professor Phil, Summer 2022, near Dive Bar Nutrition headquarters in Venice, FL