My name is Ashley Esunis, I am a Beachbody coach. Even though my story may be difficult to share, without it, I wouldn't be who I am today. All my life, I have been victimized by ugly statistics. My childhood was tainted by sexual, physical, mental and emotional abuse. I am the second of six sisters, and I've always been the ugly duckling. I remember being self-conscious about my weight all the way back to three years old. I hated people taking pictures of me because of how my body looked. My father constantly had something to say, “Don’t pound your feet like that when you walk it sounds like a herd of elephants”. When I was 8 a friend of mine’s mom told me that I should go on a diet. At fifteen, I struggled to hold my family together as my parent’s divorce raged on four long years. At sixteen, I was sexually assaulted and when my mother found out I was practically interrogated for what felt like forever and I felt like nobody believed me. Why would someone want to rape some fat girl?! At 19, I became a single mother; her father refused to talk to me half way through the pregnancy and just disappeared. I met a guy and relocated to Michigan, that didn't work out due to the sharp edges of my heart caused by postpartum depression, low self-esteem, and an unhealthy body image. So I moved to Hawaii in 2007. From 2007 to 2009 I worked for the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration. While on duty in April of 2009 I was injured. The workman’s compensation doctor misdiagnosed my injuries and over prescribed medications to manage my pain. Three months later with no physical improvement, I moved back to Illinois in hopes that a different doctor would be able to help me. It took my team of doctors nearly two years to find out I had a pinched nerve in my neck, and all of the muscles on the right side of my thoracic spine had been sprained, torn, or pulled. As time passed, my body adapted to the addictive medications thereby causing my medicinal dependency. Long term use of these addictive medications affected everything that I am. My cognitive behavior completely changed. I could barely hold a five minute conversation. Two minutes later, I barely remembered speaking to anyone at all. The simple act of breathing was tear-jerking painful, let alone actually moving. I went from 208lbs to 289lbs within the most painful two years of my life.
As my weight went up, my health deteriorated. My doctor told me that my only resolution would be to have gastric bypass surgery. Due to my barret’s disease, Gerd, and other gastrointestinal issues that were most likely caused by my pain medications the only surgery I could have was the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. With this type of weight loss surgery, the surgeon reduces the size of the stomach (melon to tangerine) using staples and it results in creating a smaller pouch. The re-sized pouch is then attached to the middle part of the smaller intestine. Similar to the other weight loss surgeries, this limits the level of food you eat and reduces the amount of nutrients that are absorbed into the smaller intestine.
The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery helps patients feel full a lot quicker due to the restriction of the stomach pouch and the changes that occur in the hormones released from the bowel and the stomach which is what “controls cravings”. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass is one of the most commonly type of weight loss surgery performed for morbid obesity. And it’s known to resolve type 2 diabetes up to 80% of the time.
Some of the life-long risks that come with this surgery are “dumping syndrome”- this happens when the food moves too rapidly through the smaller intestine; cause nausea, weakness, sweating, faintness, diarrhea, infection, leaking, pulmonary embolism, gall stones and nutritional deficiency. Nutritional deficiency, which is a very serious side effect can lead to other diseases/illnesses that are irreversible. I will be fighting nutritional deficiency for the rest of my life.
Now I know what you’re thinking – she had surgery that’s why she lost the weight… what a cop out! But I’m going to tell you that’s not the case. Even with surgery I was only supposed to lose 75 lbs. My eating habits were forcefully changed due to the surgery so yes that part was easy but I was working out at the gym every day at least 2-3 times a day sometimes for 2-3 hours a day!! I plateaued at 165 lbs. I am 5’7” so per the medical field I should be 140-150 lbs… So technically I was still overweight. My body fat % went from 42%bf to 32%bf. After working so hard I was frustrated! My dad still had hurtful and negative things to say. I didn't get it! I was doing all the right things! Working my ass off at the gym and eating as healthy as I could but not losing any more weight and I freaked out! I noticed that one of the instructors at the gym, Jill Flores who is my coach and my friend, introduced me to Shakeology. I know that nutritionally from my surgery I am at a constant loss. I have zero appetite, I force myself to eat. I literally have to set alarms every 2 hours to go off on my phone to put something in my mouth… It’s awful! However, it’s also very easy to give into bad habits that I had before surgery and that sets me up to gain everything back. Which I refuse to be just another statistic!! I looked around at the gym and saw the body builders and thought wow! If only my body was like that!! So I started flirting with body building only I had no idea how to start, where to start, or what to do to get started. My school schedule began to consume my life so my gym time was being cut short. Jill, my coach told me about turbo-fire and I LOVE turbo kick! But I when I saw Body Beast it was like a shining goblet! I knew that was EXACTLY what I wanted and needed! I started my first round of body beast on August 26, 2013 and I haven’t quit since! Within six months I lost 13 lbs of fat and gained 25 lbs of muscle. Which was a brand new concept and VERY difficult for me to comprehend. Here I've been fighting with the numbers on the scale my entire life and now I’m gaining weight?! WHAT THE HECK?! I learned through Body Beast that the scale isn't everything. So not only did I change my body composition from 32%bf to 28% bf I also gained my FREEDOM FROM THE SCALE! Currently I am struggling with my nutrition; if I don’t eat my protein my hair falls out. If I don’t drink enough water I get headaches. When my nutrition is off I can easily over train my body which sets me up for failure. Even when I am 110% on with my nutrition while body building I am still fighting malnutrition due to my surgery. There is NO quick permanent fix. There is NO magic pill, surgery anything… It’s hard work but it’s worth it. Yes I will have to work out and fight with nutrition for the rest of my life but that’s because I didn't know that I had what it took to come back from my injury. I wish I had tried Shakeology first and learned how to fight through the pain, but I’m done letting my past hold me prisoner. I am done beating myself up for my past mistakes. I am done allowing myself to make excuses. I am more than just your average statistic. Yes, I come from a broken home. Yes, I was abused. Yes, I was a teenage single parent. Yes, I was the fat kid. Yes, I tried anything and everything to for once be the “pretty skinny girl”. Yes, I suffer from depression, and anxiety. However, I will not allow my "statistical status" to define me. Moreover, I consider myself to be a work in progress; I can and will get better in time. Words such as “can’t”, “fail”, “give-up”, are eliminated from my vocabulary. Most importantly, I give my all and try my best which helps me achieve most goals I set my mind to. My fitness journey isn't pretty or easy to share but I refuse to let it stand in the way of who I can be tomorrow. My fitness isn't only for me; it’s for my daughter too. Fitness is one of the ways I can set a healthy example for her while proving that statistics do not limit or define us.

I LOVE to learn! Body building has taught me how to connect with my body on a higher and more intimate level! I'm so excited to see What my Body and I can do TOGETHER now that we are ON THE SAME TEAM!!! :)