Natalie Nelson
Rock Solid since October 2018
Natalie Nelson is the cover and fitness model throughout Julia Karlstad’s book, Bariatric Fitness For Your New Life. She had the gastric sleeve procedure on August 24, 2017 and went through the largest portion of her weight loss transformation during the authorship of Julia’s book. To date she’s down 135 lbs. total from her heaviest weight being 302 lbs.
Natalie struggled with an emotional battle over food and inactivity for years, and she understands that bad eating habits and minimal or inconsistent exercise is what contributed to her weight gain. Outside of playing softball in high school, she never really committed to a regimented exercise plan until she started working out at JKFITNESS in 2016.
As a registered nurse, Natalie’s excess weight was causing her job to be extremely difficult. In fact, this is what drove her decision to have weight loss surgery. She was doubting her ability to continue in this profession at her current weight, and she was tired of being in pain, tired of being emotionally sad, and ready to be a positive role model and move forward with weight loss surgery. Natalie was inspired to make exercise a part of her weight loss journey because she wanted to be overall healthier and set an example to her friends, family, patients and coworkers.
Now that Natalie is over 100 lbs. lighter, her energy is unsurpassed compared to how she felt before the weight loss. Mentally, she laughs more and is just all around happier. She’s free from pain as her sciatica, acid reflux, back and hip pain completely resolved.Before her surgery she didn’t want to do much or see anybody; post-surgery she’s consistently active and socially healthy. Today, Natalie has embraced the active lifestyle and has made a personal commitment to consistent exercise and healthy meal planning. She literally has a new lease on life!