“I’ve started to celebrate what my body can do instead of what it looks like. Even if my body isn’t perfect, it’s something I built, and I can appreciate that.”

As a Senior Editor at BuzzFeed, I cover lifestyle topics including books, work and money, health, and home.

Me in 2026. In hindsight, I wish I had thought to take progress photos showing the difference in my body, but I wasn't in a place where I wanted to have many photos of myself like that (and I still don't). My strength training journey has been so much more about how I feel than the way it makes me look. 

However, I will say that I don't look like someone who's been lifting weights three to four times a week for the last two years. You really do have to put A TON of work in to get "bulky."

"Was scared shitless but booked a few appointments with a trainer, worked my ass off for about six months, and then passed the same lift test with a better company!Ever since, I’ve fallen in love with lifting and found it’s the best way to achieve peace with my body image. I’ve started to celebrate what my body can do instead of what it looks like. Even if my body isn’t perfect, it’s something I built, and I can appreciate that."

"I also think that the whole CrossFit and 'Instagram gym girls' thing helped in getting more women to give a chance to lifting weights and made it seem less of a boys' club, at least where I live. When I was a teen, most girls were into either dancing or swimming or stuff like volleyball, or maybe yoga, great activities, but strength training was generally considered a man's choice, at least among the regular non-sporty crowd. Now I see a lot of women in my gym's weight room: adult ones, school girls, buff dads training their teen daughters, couples, you get the picture."

"A year on, I lift three times a week. I’ve lost a stone and a half and toned everything up. I can deadlift more than my body weight, and squats and bench are getting easier.

I love the feeling of being in competition only with myself. And I’m still amazed to be a person who goes to the gym three times a week. Never thought this would be me, but it’s working."

"I just started working out on my own at a weightlifting gym, and I absolutely love it so far. Watching videos from MegSquats helped a lot. Seeing how strong she is and the other women she features in her videos is motivating. 

I still have hip pain that I'm working through and really intense strength asymmetry, but I absolutely love lifting. It's made me so much more robust in my day-to-day life. I'm hoping I can connect with other women in my city that lift, too. 

Shortly after I started lifting, I came home still in my gym clothes and went to get my daughter up for breakfast. She asked why I had on funny clothes, and I told her I was going to the gym more now. Then, unprompted, she said, 'Mama, get strong like daddy and carry me.' That was enough to have me fully hooked forever."