Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsey Rose.
Chelsey, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Yeah! So I grew up in San Diego playing Soccer and went on to get my black belt in Taekwondo so I was super active but never thought of it as working out or burning calories. I just moved, ate whatever I wanted, and stayed slim. I honestly didn’t even know that food correlated with weight!! It’s so bizarre to think that I never even considered that.
In my junior year of High School, I had already quit Taekwondo but then I also decided to quit soccer because it was getting to be too much being on the high school team + school. So I continued eating my usual diet of waffles, burritos, cheese fries, and sour patch kids but after a few months of that + no movement, things started changing.
I’ll never forget these two moments that I believe to be the turning point of me ditching the junk and getting into the gym.
I was still blissfully unaware that I couldn’t eat whatever I wanted haha so I was like 16, enjoying two eggo waffles with peanut butter and syrup when my dad came around the corner and just told me, “Hey. If you’re not going to be playing sports, you can’t keep eating like this.” I remember being shocked and a little annoyed to be honest. Like WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN’T HAVE THIS??? I ALWAYS HAD THIS! But as I said, I didn’t realize I was gaining weight.
I went bathing suit shopping with my mom and I don’t even remember what the suit looked like. All I remember is standing in the dressing room with my mom, staring at my body and not understanding who I was or what had happened to me. I hated what I saw which was me + about 20 pounds. I got so frustrated that I cried and just wanted to put my clothes back on and get the EF out of there.
This led to me getting my first gym membership when I was 16/17. I would walk there, go on the stair master for an hour, do some abs and then walk home because honestly, I had no idea what else to do. I was intimidated by the gym and equipment so I stuck to my little spot. I learned to love it once I saw that my weight was starting to come off, my clothes we’re getting loser and my cellulite was LEAVING! Best feeling.
I couldn’t NOT go to the gym. I became obsessed with the sweat, the alone time, the music, and the results. This, of course, led to me paying more attention to the foods I was eating (finally haha). I was getting books on dieting and reading them like it was my damn job. I started buying my food but since I didn’t have any money I just ate tuna and wheat thins for like eight months straight. How I didn’t get mercury poisoning is beyond me.
At this point, I was probably 18 and I decided I wanted to train for a bikini fitness competition. I was slowly getting more comfortable with the gym but I still had no idea what I was doing and since I had had coaches my entire life, I figured getting a coach for training would yield the best results.
I trained for a whole summer and didn’t cheat ONCE. I was so committed I even impressed myself. This was also around the time that I was getting on Instagram so I started sharing my workouts and meals with all eight of the people following me haha.
I spent WEEKS going to the gym and eating nothing but peanut butter, oatmeal, brown rice, tilapia and chicken, all to get invited on a trip to France two weeks before my show. I figured fitness competitions will always be around and a free trip to France is a once in a lifetime opportunity soooo I went to France! Haha – looked my best though so that was chill.
Coming back from France I was having a hard time finding the same motivation I had before. I didn’t have my coach anymore and nothing specific to train for and this is where I cheated for the first time in my life and tried to take a short cut to the results I wanted.
I took it upon myself to see a psychiatrist and lie about having ADHD so that I could get Adderall. Not the move. It was the start of a bad bad bad idea. I started having Adderall every day and lost 20 pounds – not including the weight I had already lost from training.
My only goal was to be skinny – it was all I cared about. I starved myself, started having sleep paralysis and started to see food as the enemy. It wasn’t great + the results I had were just one big lie. I also kept this to myself which makes me feel even worse about it because I was promoting how well I was doing all while knowing I wasn’t doing anything healthy at all.
After three months of this my parents found out and convinced me to get off it – thank God. This was the next turning point. I gained 25 pounds back, was lazier than ever and had a decision to make. I either go back to cheating, or I figure out how to lose the weight the healthy way.
Ever since then I’ve been on my path of endless trial and error of different workout classes, diets, routines, and at the of the day, I’ve finally accepted that the only way to get what I want it through hard work. It’s been ten years and I can honestly say I’m finally in a place of self love, working out correctly and consistently, and I have a great relationship with food.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not understanding how food and weight gain were related turned out to be a struggle. Getting into Adderall was a HUGE obstacle because the whole thing was a set back that made me weak mentally and physically. Then if I’m being honest, moving to LA was a bit of a struggle as well. You’re suddenly surrounded by models and everyone’s opinion about what to eat, what not to eat, how much to work out, when to stop eating, what stores to go to, how to look, etc.
Luckily that didn’t wear on me for too long though. I remember I submitted a photo of myself in a bikini to a model recruiter for a job and she slammed me saying “Chelsey – if you want to get jobs out here you’re going to have to step it up. All the other girls are looking in their BEST shape. You NEED to step it up”.
I remember being SO DAMN PROUD of that photo and would still love that body. I wasn’t doing anything except eating clean, whole foods and going to the gym. I was finally doing everything on my own and I was doing it the healthy, known obsessive way and was getting cash back for it. I happily never submitted for another modeling job again after that. I knew I was killing it and knew I didn’t need approval from a man, or another woman for that matter, to feel amazing.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I now work for myself through my online business “Chelsey Rose Health” and I work as a one on one personal trainer/manager at ‘Show Up Fitness’ – a boutique personal training studio. I work at the West Hollywood location and will soon be popping in at the brand new SD location that just opened in La Jolla!
I took the four month internship at Show Up Fitness almost two years ago and that’s really when my business started to change online and in person. I now specialize in helping women ages 25-35 declutter the noise of the health and fitness industry. Coming from personal experience I KNOW there is so much info out there that every woman is wanting to believe in and just HOPING will work.
I teach women through my 10 Week Body Program not only how to train properly and how to eat properly but WHY. I teach them why their endless HIIT and Cardio classes aren’t working, why they get injured, why they’re not losing weight around their belly’s plus why what most of what they see on social media is BS. I also teach them what TRULY matters when it comes to eating, plus I help them figure out just how much they should be eating PERSONALLY on workout days and non workout days.
Women that have completed my 10 Week Program commonly tell me things like: “I have been a binge eater every day for as long as I can remember and ever since working with you I’ve probably binged 4 times in the last year!”. “My legs are ACTUALLY changing!! I’ve never seen a change in my thighs or calves. I honestly didn’t think it was possible”. “You seriously changed my life” – No joke I get this one all the time! It makes me so happy I could cry!
What am I proud of?
I’m most proud of the one on one relationships that I have developed with women all over the country. I’m proud to be a woman that other women feel comfortable talking to about their deepest darkest habits that they don’t even share with their loved ones. But I’m most proud of my CLIENTS when I get those texts!! When someone that has had an eating disorder her entire life finishes my plan and texts me her AMAZING before and after photos and tells me that I changed the way she thinks about food and that it is no longer a daily mental battle for her – that makes me proud.
When the client after client tells me that they currently look and feel better than they did in high school – that makes me proud. When a client that has felt trapped in their body and starts my program telling me they hate their body and don’t recognize themselves, I feel proud when they send me photos months later showing me that they’ve lost SO much weight and they’re more confident than ever.
And I must say I’m proud of myself for doing the Show Up Fitness Internship when I was already so busy. I was busy in a job I hated and trying to make this healthy and fitness life workout for me. Show Up showed me an opportunity to be able to quit my restaurant job and make training my full time job. I was going to the gym to train my 1 client at 7 am, sitting in class from 8-noon, working out with class from noon – 1, going home to work on my blog from 2-4 then I’d get ready and go to my restaurant job from 5-1 am, and do it again the next day. I did this for four months and have never been so sleeping deprived but, it paid off! (It always does )
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Oh man – is there even a better place than San Diego?!? Luckily my business is online which is something I knew I wanted because I wanted the freedom to be able to work from wherever.
Although – Show Up Fitness just opened up in La Jolla and I think it is an AMAZING location for a gym. We are steps from the beach and I think that just puts people in a good mood and motivated them to workout. If you’re just starting a gym la Jolla might be a little challenging but I think San Diego, in general, is a fantastic place for a gym. Everyone wants to get outside and move so you could even start with an outdoor boot camp and build from there!
Pricing:
- One on One personal training at Show Up Fitness (Prices range from $50.00-$200.00 a session)
- Start my 10 Week Body Plan for $65.00/week
Contact Info:
- Address: 1020 Prospect Street CU-1B, La Jolla, CA 92037
- Website: www.chelseyrosehealth.com
- Phone: (858) 254-2935
- Email: info@chelseyrosehealth.com
Image Credit:
@palindrome.media
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