"My Big Fat Revenge" Gets Me Thinking: What Motivates You?

Fitness and overall wellness weren't big parts of my life until early 2010, when I fell prey - in large part - to the good influences of a good friend who prioritized eating well and working out. Through that 'gateway friend', I came to realize the obvious - I just wasn't living my best, happiest life when I wasn't taking care of myself. When I couldn't even muffin top my way into my favorite jeans. When I couldn't walk up a staircase without losing my breath. When I buried my feelings in giant plates of pasta and cheese.

Something clicked in me that year - I changed my diet to one that focused on whole, non-processed foods and I embraced new fitness challenges, in particular the barre classes that helped transform my body from a pudgy-post-bad relationship-size 8 to relatively fit size 0-2. If you'd like to see how far I've come, check out this video Felicia, Amber and I shot following my first ever Physique 57 class in January 2010 - it's hilarious, but wow, I barely recognize myself.

So, what I'm getting at here is that I can relate to Oxygen's new, controversial docu-series, "My Big Fat Revenge", which focuses on two women per episode, who each undertake a rigorous diet and fitness regimen in order to improve their lives and "take revenge" on someone who did them wrong.

I'm not going to lie to you, some of the revenges are borderline CRUEL - watch the show’s first episode here, if you don't believe me - but as someone who was absolutely BRUTALIZED by my peers as a poor, awkward and pudgy kid, I can relate to revenge as a motivator. 

As part of a partnership with Oxygen this month, I'll be challenging myself via a series of classes at New York's Circuit of Change - think highly choreographed martial arts meets a yoga infused boot camp (oy!), and you'll get a pretty accurate visual of my experience in class - and sharing a bit more on what motivates me.



Tune into My Big Fat Revenge starting Tuesday, September 3rd @ 9/8c  — only on Oxygen, and participate in buzzfeed’s “can you caption this?” contest here! For a sneak preview of episode 1:






This post was produced in partnership with Oxygen Network.