Empowered Women - Facing Adversity
My name is Christina. If you have been following Fitness Flair, you may know me as the Owner and Founder, but today I want you to get know my story before I built the business.
My health issues began when I was in elementary school. My parents got divorced and my weight skyrocketed. I delt with child abuse and neglect during my upbringing. I won’t name who was involved as some of those relationships today are on the mend and working on healing together. However, during that time I developed my emotional eating, and I was placed on my first diet in the 5th grade. With that, I began my unhealthy relationship with my body image and food. For decades I battled depression, self-worth, began cutting myself in my late teens and into my early twenties I had attempted suicide twice. I was raped by multiple men; I was also sexually molested by hospital staff when I was going in for an MRI. As you would imagine, during this time in my life I was also suffering with PTSD and was undiagnosed with this for decades from all my trauma. I also had a miscarriage that I told no one about and didn’t open about until over a decade later. I was so used to dealing with everything alone because whenever I reached out for help be it at school or with family, I was ignored. I was taught a very young age that I only had myself to lean on. So when I had to go to the hospital when I had an injury one night, I climbed the stairs of my apartment on my hands and knees, hopped on one foot and drove myself there. You can imagine the depression I was battling from this one instance alone.
While I always had a lot of strength, there was a constant tug of war. At a young age I became the person for everyone I wish I had for myself, because I never wanted anyone to feel alone. I was the friend that people came to and leaned on when in trouble. Even when I was picked on by bullies, I would be there for my friends when they were too. Later I found out some people became afraid of me which I found odd. I think it was just because I stood up for myself.
I had started to get a great start on things in my mid-20s. I was going to the gym regularly, losing weight, ran my first ever 5k. Then signed up and did my first ever obstacle course race called the Warrior Dash when that was still around. It made me feel powerful. Then, came the most random foot injury imaginable. Middle of the night my foot fell asleep, I went to stand up off the couch, and it rolled forward. It happened so fast and I fell to the ground. I swear I could remember feeling my toes touching the bottom off my foot. When I drove myself to the hospital (it wasn’t my driving foot that was injured in case this may confuse you) and got an x-ray nothing was broken but everything was detached. I had to do a follow up with my primary. I get there they do an x-ray and he told me I would have been better off breaking it. I asked if I would ever be able to run again. He said I would never be able to do more than a mile again. He then told me to come back in a year for a follow up. Shit you not. I wasn’t even given any physical therapy. At this age I didn’t think anything of it, but I knew I had to do something. So late at night I would go to Planet Fitness and go at the slowest speed possible and walk. I could feel my foot tightening up at night and I would wake up with my big toe under my foot so you would only see the other 4 toes and my foot would be curled into a "C" shape. I wish I took pictures back then. I ended up going to a random running store in Detroit which just so happened to be owned by a foot doctor who was there that very day and gave me a brace to wear at night. I wore it every night and it took years for that pain to go away. Because I had tendons detached from my ankle, and I can’t remember the specs today under it, I do remember when it rolled hearing it pop. It was like taking bubble wrap in your hands and twisting it really fast and hearing “Pop, pop, pop!” Anyways, I refused to allow this doctor to tell me my future with this had gone to hell. So for one year I trained my ass off. I actually ran a half marathon! It took work every damn day. Yes, I fell off that treadmill at night at Planet Fitness. Was I embarrassed? Yes, but I also didn’t give a damn because I wasn’t about to let this dictate the rest of my life. My follow up appointment with that doctor and having him do an x-ray and a side by side with a jaw drop and look at me was priceless! But, overcoming this amazing milestone, life soon took a turn for the worst.
Fast forward, there are so many more situations that I could go over but we don’t have that kind of time of a full life story here. So, let’s go into when my health took a turn for the worst. Since I put my own needs on the back burner to take care of everyone else, the stress of everything going on in my life caught up with me. HARD! The constant hospital visits I kept to myself, urgent care visits, doctor appointments all in my late 20s. I had metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, optic nerve damage and was at risk of going blind in one eye, waist circumference of 58 inches, over 300 pounds, my immune system was breaking down so I constantly had tonsil stones, tonsilitis and had to get steroid shots. They refused to do surgery to pull them because of my age, but they are in such horrible shape now. Then, came when I was bleeding heavily for 180 days straight. Yes, you read that right. The birth control couldn’t stop it. Looking back, I wonder why they didn’t put me on anything for loss of iron. I was leaning on so many unhealthy alternatives at this time to stay awake which led to weight increase. I was constantly driving from work, to being a caregiver with my grandmother who was diagnosed with dementia, then a cousin who had to have help with being picked up from school. May not sound like much, but the distance I had to drive, I would leave my house before the sun came up and wouldn’t come home until the sun came down most days. I would also have random days of my grandmother calling me, causing me to leave work randomly losing pay wondering if I would lose my apartment. I was falling asleep behind the wheel. Days like this meant fast food, which was 4 to 5 days a week for months. This was when I had to make the hardest choices of my life and I had to pull back on the ones I loved. This was when I was told I had to have a hysterectomy. I was so pissed off being told this was happing in my late 20s. The doctor I had at the time who had me as a patient since I was in my teens, knew about my weight struggles and said I needed to lose weight as well because of all the added hormone issues I was having. I asked for help. She handed me a brochure on calorie counting. That was it. I went in the parking lot and kicked my tires because I was so mad. I refused for this to be the only route for me. This very moment changed my life.
A co-worker was selling Thrive vitamins, so I said fuck it. I will try anything. She sold me on the whole energy thing. At this point I was living off 3 rock stars during my shift at work. I was also drinking a double shot of espresso from Starbucks before work. I would also buy those Frappuccino things from McDonalds on the way home and sometimes before work. Yes…both McDonalds and Starbucks before work!!! After a month of taking Thrive, my period regulated. Not at all what I expected. Back at this time I was a promoter because of what it did for me. I did lose some weight; to date I am no longer on them. However, what this did was make me open my eyes. Something was wrong nutritionally. This made me look online for schools for health. That was when I found the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I scheduled the appointment for their live online open house. When I was in it, they were talking about the school, what it was like, the program and then when they got to discussing the type of students who attend...it spoke to me. I began to cry. I got chills. There are moments in life where you have this overwhelming feeling that you are exactly where you are supposed to be and that if you do not jump at what is being presented before you, you will regret it. I threw that program on my damn credit card and said I would figure it out. I graduated in January 2019 and it changed my life forever that moment on. As it taught me how to look at my health from the whole perspective. My relationships, spirituality, financial wellness, work, environment and more. As you would imagine coming from the life I had, this made a profound impact and set the tone for everything that came after.
Fast forward to today, I graduated in December of 2024 Magna Cum Laude with an AAS Health and Wellness Promotion from Macomb Community College. I left my health insurance career of over 13 + years in the summer of 2025 after I got back from my honeymoon. I did do a semester full time the fall of 2025 at Wayne State University for their Nutrition degree, but decided it wasn’t for me. My passion is overall wellness. The full spectrum and decided to transfer to Purdue Global and I will begin my BS Health and Wellness in May of 2026.
My health journey is on-going. I am not perfect and will never strive to be. My outward appearance due to my weight may not look like I am knowledgeable. It is the adversity I have to face every day. Especially with the decision to build a business called Fitness Flair. I was afraid to walk at graduation because of it and I was afraid to build this because of uneducated people who are cruel and pass judgment but fuck them. I struggle with my demons and PTSD. Life still throws its hardships at me, and I use the tools I am learning to do the best I can to my ability every day. I got in this to do better, and to help teach people to do better. To meet them where they are at. If I can help people to prevent them from having to endure my hardships, then I know I did my job. My exterior has changed constantly throughout my life and it will continue to do so. With my health history, I know I will always be prone to this. If I am able to have a child in my future (as I am now 38 years old and yes, I SAVED MY UTERUS ON MY OWN!!!), my body will change yet again!
Where do I plan to take this business after I complete my second degree? That has yet to be determined. I have many ideas and dreams, but at the core I really want this business to create a community for everyone to feel accepted and supported on their journey. We all see the constant hate on the internet. The people who think there is a one size fits all solution for everyone, the people who are quick to judge those who need tools such as surgery, shots, medications to help them (when used appropriately) as though they are some cheat code. I could go on a rampage all day on those people, but they are ignorant and uneducated and quite frankly a waste of my time. So, if you are someone out there who may need these things, don’t feel ashamed for it. You know your story and what it is you are going through. Everyone’s circumstances are different. Their health struggles, their environment, their lack of support, finances, the list of variables continues. At the end of the day, it is about learning what works for you individually that doesn’t cause self-harm and doesn’t create further damage in the process for short term success. As life change can begin out of a scare and cause us to be desperate in the beginning and lead us down some dark roads and bad choices that could hurts us more. It’s about giving yourself grace, loving yourself in the here and now and that success along the way isn’t just the end goal, it is every small step in the right direction you take every day. Those should never be overlooked or shrugged off. Give yourself the damn credit you deserve and to hell with the dumbasses out there who don’t need your time of day for YOUR JOURNEY!
If you feel you have a story that needs to be shared & would like to be featured here on my blog, please head over to the Empowered Women Campaign from the drop-down menu on our website for further information! Someone out there will benefit from your story and your experience. Let us women work together and create the community to support one another on our journey’s!
Sincerely,
Christina Griffith
Owner and Founder of Fitness Flair
Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach
