Hello, beautiful. I want to start off by saying that whatever you are going through, you are not alone. I promise you there are other people out there who have struggled with or are still struggling with some of the same things.

My name is Carly Compton, and I am a healthy lifestyle coach. What does that mean? I help individuals develop a comprehensive healthy lifestyle through exercise, nutrition, and self-love. I have always struggled with body image issues; it wasn’t until about a year ago that I fully started to love myself. I have been an athlete my entire life, so physical fitness was never an issue for me. However, I struggled with my nutrition and internal perception of my body. I developed an eating disorder my junior year of high school and battled it for about five years. Those were some of the darkest years of my life. I was working out, eating healthy, and wanting to see results FAST. But when those results did not happen quickly enough or to my satisfaction, I turned to bulimia.

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I moved to Maui, Hawai’i, in 2014, where, in hopes of recovering from my eating disorder, I joined a community of coaches and first began helping others through online groups. These groups, however, often celebrated losing the most weight rather than actually transitioning into a healthy lifelong journey. But I was still struggling with bulimia. I was trying to help others find their own healthy lifestyle while I was living a misleading and unhealthy life myself.

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Fast forward to now! Turned off by the focus on weight loss, I decided to create my very own at-home workout/lifestyle program. Today, I am fully recovered from my eating disorder. I can finally look in the mirror and love what I see, and I am helping individuals across the world find this balance and happiness. The “high school junior Carly” never imagined this is where she would be.

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It is so important to understand just how worthy you are. Don’t be like “high school junior Carly” and fall into society’s trap of trying to obtain the perfect body. Keep your chin up, love yourself relentlessly, and remember: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

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Check out Carly’s program via her website: www.paradisefitnesswithcarly.com

Follow Carly’s program on Instagram: @paradisefitnesswithcarly

Check out our podcast with Carly on the Promly Garden!!

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The views, opinions, and stories expressed in Promly Garden articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policy of Promlyapp.com. We aim to give Gen Z a voice and welcome articles and opinions from Gen Z contributors who want their voice to be heard. Please send any articles, poetry, or artwork you’d like to see published on the Promly Garden to heypromly@promly.org.

With immense gratitude, the Promly Team.

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