\nIf you have ever been rejected by someone you have a crush on, then you know just how devastating that can feel. But when one girl found herself in that position she decided she wasn’t going to let some boy get her down. Instead, she turned her entire life around, lost 140 pounds, and in the end had the last laugh.
\n[post_page_title]Doing it for herself[\/post_page_title]
\nAfter being rejected by her college crush, one woman decided to get him back and prove him wrong. However, she didn\u2019t just do it for him. After struggling with her weight for much of her life, she decided it was time to make a few changes in her life.
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\nShe knew that she needed to slim down; she knew that she had to take care of her body; and she knew that she wouldn\u2019t be happy until she could look in the mirror and be proud of her achievement. While it may not be easy, she felt this is what she needed to do. What would her crush think then, however?
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\n[post_page_title]The woman in question[\/post_page_title]
\nTo truly understand this amazing story and the incredible transformation this woman went through, we need to learn a little more about the woman herself. So, say hello to Rachael Heffner! Hailing from Indianapolis, this 27-year-old has recently become the lady of the hour thanks to her story.
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\nIt has been shared by thousands of people across the globe, and she has inspired even more with her transformation and her determination to change her appearance, and give herself a better life after her rejection. Her incredible journey through heartbreak and changing her life has touched everyone’s hearts.
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\n[post_page_title]Weighing in on her size[\/post_page_title]
\nAt her heaviest, Rachael weighed in at 285lbs. Although she knew that she was heavier than most, she didn\u2019t see her weight as an issue. After all, she had been like it for much of her life. It wasn\u2019t until her former crush rejected her that she decided to undergo this transformation – and what a transformation it is!
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\nRachael felt like this was her opportunity to get healthy and begin a positive change in her life. While she did this largely for herself and her own health, it was a definite compliment when her former flame realized he had made a mistake. However, you probably won\u2019t expect her response.
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\n[post_page_title]Growing up[\/post_page_title]
\nFrom an early age, Rachael had always been a little bigger than most. She has since noted that she was \u201cchubby\u201d and her full-time working parents normally just allowed her to eat what she wanted when they were both at work. Because of this, she piled on the pounds – but things went from bad to worse when her mother was diagnosed with systemic mastocytosis.
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\nHer health began to deteriorate, and she sadly passed away when Rachael was just 7 years old. She had lost her mother and her best friend at once. Unfortunately, this was the catalyst for many of the difficult things that Rachael would later face.
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\n[post_page_title]Finding solace in food[\/post_page_title]
\nAs Rachael struggled to deal with the grief of losing her mother, she began to find comfort in food. She had learned very little about healthy food and nutrition from her mother and father as a child, and without her mother around she knew even less.
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\nIt’s not uncommon for people to cope with grief through comforting foods, and once you start it can be hard to stop. So, she filled her stomach with junk food such as potato chips, sugary snacks, and a huge amount of soda. On top of this, she would always have large portions of food for her main meals. In the end, she got heavier and heavier as the years went by.
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\n[post_page_title]No control[\/post_page_title]
\nIn fact, Rachael has since noted that she had little control over what she ate or what she drank. She would find herself subconsciously reaching for a new packet of potato chips even though she had just finished a packet, and she would guzzle soda as if her life depended on it.
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\nFor the most part, she was addicted to soda and fizzy drinks. She would drink four large bottles of Mountain Dew, Sprite, Coca-Cola and more every single day, and her body craved the sugar that came with them.
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\n[post_page_title]Going to college[\/post_page_title]
\nBy the time she was just 19 years old, Rachael weighed in at 300 pounds, and she was extremely unhappy with her life. She hated the way that she looked, and she felt uncomfortable – but she found solace in going to college and meeting new people.
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\nIt was here that she met one particular man. Before too long she had developed a crush on him, and she finally plucked up the courage to ask him out. However, her heart was broken when her crush rejected her without even thinking about it.
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\n[post_page_title]Making it clear[\/post_page_title]
\nDuring an interview with British newspaper The Daily Mail, Rachael spoke about the reaction for the first time and how it made her feel. Although he tried to cover up his reasoning, he made it quite clear that the reason he didn’t want to date her was because of the way that she looked.
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\nWhile she may have had an interesting and fun personality, he just wasn\u2019t attracted to her because she was a lot heavier than the other women at college. Rachael was hurt, and she was determined to show him that he had made a mistake.
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\n[post_page_title]A New Year\u2019s Resolution[\/post_page_title]
\nWhile home from college during the holiday period, Rachael decided to make a New Year\u2019s Resolution. She was going to finally lose weight and become healthier and happier in herself. She put her plan into action almost straight away and went to buy a pair of running shoes the next day.
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\nHowever, she didn\u2019t stop there. When she got back to college, she threw all of the junk food out of her kitchen, and she set herself the goal to lose 139 pounds. That was about half of her body weight.
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\n[post_page_title]Making a replacement[\/post_page_title]
\nAlthough she was motivated, Rachael initially struggled to get into this new healthy routine. This was largely because her body missed the sugar from the soda that she was drinking every day. Her body was craving the sweetness, and she didn\u2019t know what to do about it.
\nIn the end, she decided to replace the soda with Gatorade until she was able to wean herself off it completely and settle with glasses upon glasses of water. She was making progress, and she could see that it was starting to make a difference.
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\n[post_page_title]Cutting down on portions[\/post_page_title]
\nAs Rachael got used to this new lifestyle, she also tried to make changes to her diet. Instead of relying on take-out or buying food on campus, she started to make her own meals at home.
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\nShe would buy fresh ingredients and follow recipes to create the food from scratch, and she would also cut her usual portion sizes in half. It was a huge sacrifice, but she knew she had to make it to achieve the results. Her body was struggling, but she was pushing through.
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\n[post_page_title]Getting hungry[\/post_page_title]
\nBecause her body and her stomach was used to large portion sizes and sugary treats, Rachael found herself getting extremely hungry. She felt as though she was never full, and that she was always craving some sort of food.
\nYet, she remained strong and tried to curb these cravings. Whenever she was feeling overwhelmingly hungry, she would snack on fruit and vegetables, and she would drink as much water as she could to fill the hole. It was a tough few months, but her stomach eventually began to shrink.
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\n[post_page_title]Starting to move around[\/post_page_title]
\nAmazingly, Rachael was so determined to continue to lose weight that she even started to work out. She went to the gym with her college roommate and did everything she could to get her heart pumping and her legs moving.
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\nAlthough she started with just a gentle walk on the treadmill, she was soon able to work her way around the gym and add new exercises into the mix. She incorporated both cardio and weight lifting into her routine to shift the weight once and for all.
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\n[post_page_title]Losing the weight[\/post_page_title]
\nAs the weight continued to fall off, Rachael eventually managed to get down to a weight of just 145 pounds – and she was almost unrecognizable. Her college friends and her former school friends had to double take when they walked past her in the street, and she had a newfound confidence.
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\nThis new figure and new appearance seemed to pay off, because, for the first time in her life, Rachael was being hit on by men she passed in the grocery store, or even on her way around campus.
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\n[post_page_title]The only one that mattered[\/post_page_title]
\nHowever, the only man who mattered to Rachael was the man she had a crush on in college. She had been rejected in the past, and she was over the moon to see him crawling back when she had lost the weight. Finally, he asked her out!
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\nYet, Rachael surprised herself when she turned him down because she didn\u2019t want to go back there. Even though he apologized for the way he spoke to her, she was not ready to forget just yet. She had even more goals to achieve.
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\n[post_page_title]One last problem[\/post_page_title]
\nRachael was over the moon to see the results of her weight loss, and she could see the changes in the mirror. Unfortunately, she soon realized that losing such a huge amount of weight also comes with a few negative effects.
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\nBecause she had dropped numerous dress sizes, her skin was sagging. It was especially saggy on her stomach, and she filmed a video and posted it on Facebook to help raise money to get it removed. Amazingly, she reached her goal and was able to book it in just a few weeks later.
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\n[post_page_title]Joining forces[\/post_page_title]
\nHowever, this surgery was not going to be an easy feat. She knew there were risks associated with the skin removal surgery, and she wanted to be as prepared as possible for it. She read that the best way to recover quickly from the surgery was to build up your core muscles and make your abdomen as strong as possible.
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\nSo, she teamed up with a personal trainer and decided to spend a few weeks in the gym, making sure that her muscles were ready for the impending surgery.
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\n[post_page_title]The week of surgery[\/post_page_title]
\nBefore too long, the day of surgery had come along, and Rachael was ready to get under the knife and truly complete her weight loss journey. What she didn\u2019t realize was that she would also hit another goal this week.
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\nJust a few days before she made her way to the hospital, Rachael decided to weigh herself one last time before the excess skin was gone for good. It was then that she discovered she had reached her goal. She was 130 pounds, and she had completed her mission!
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\n[post_page_title]Two weeks later[\/post_page_title]
\nThe skin removal surgery was a huge success, and Rachael was over the moon with the results. Her body looked completely different, and she had come such a long way from her college years. However, she couldn\u2019t stop thinking about the fact that she didn\u2019t believe her journey was over.
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\nShe knew that she had so much more to give, and she wondered about what she could do next. After hours of thinking, she knew what she had to do. She was going to become a professional bodybuilder.
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\n[post_page_title]Getting started[\/post_page_title]
\nRachael couldn\u2019t undertake any strenuous activity straight after surgery, so she had to wait a few weeks before she could put this plan into action. However, she started to create an exercise routine that would transform her weight loss journey into a strength-building journey.
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\nShe started off on the treadmill when she was finally able to exercise again, before making her way over to the weights section and ultimately upping the ante until her body began to show signs of change. Within just a couple of months, she was a completely different person.
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\n[post_page_title]Life today[\/post_page_title]
\nNowadays, Rachael is a far-cry away from the woman that she used to be. Not only is she physically different, but she is also mentally happier and healthier. She has since quit her job to pursue her bodybuilding and personal training career full-time, and she is doing extremely well for herself.
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\nShe now parades along the stage in her bikinis, flexing her muscles, and proving to those who doubted her that she has been able to transform her life for the better. She is the new and improved Rachael.
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\n[post_page_title]Unconventional milestones[\/post_page_title]
\nRegarding all of the work she\u2019s done as a professional bodybuilder, it has brought upon a number of milestones that she never thought she would do. In fact, Rachael said that appearing on stage during these competitions was the first time she had ever been in a bikini.
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\nShe also said that it was the first time she could finally show off all the hard work she\u2019d been doing to her friends and family. The feeling must have been immensely satisfying.
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\n[post_page_title]Tons of awards[\/post_page_title]
\nPerhaps what makes her journey even more impressive is that she didn\u2019t just become a bodybuilder. She became one of the best in her region. This is apparent when you consider that she won first place in a handful of competitions in such a short span of time.
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\nShe won competitions such as novice figure, novice physique, open figure, open physique, and Miss Indiana overall women\u2019s physique. Oh yeah, and she also won the award for best new competitor. Not too shabby, eh?
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\n[post_page_title]The unsung hero[\/post_page_title]
\nBut there is one person who Rachael has felt the need to praise throughout all of her accomplishments – her trainer, Adam. \u201cI thought I was serious before I met Adam,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I feel like even in the year and a half that I\u2019ve known him, my mental state has changed completely.\u201d
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\nIt seems that even when she was skinny, she wasn\u2019t sure if she could take things to the next level, and Adam helped her out there.
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\n[post_page_title]Recurring doubts[\/post_page_title]
\nNo matter who we are, we all have our share of doubts. No matter what we\u2019ve managed to accomplish, there are always those thoughts we have that try to bring us down. \u201cI still had doubts,\u201d said Rachael. \u201cI believed in myself, but I still had doubts in myself.\u201d
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\nThis is a completely normal feeling, and perhaps especially normal for someone who wasn\u2019t always a fitness mogul. It makes sense that she would have occasional flashbacks.
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\n[post_page_title]Ultimate confidence[\/post_page_title]
\nAnd yet, just when she needed it most, she met Adam. He worked as a physical trainer at ARC Fitness, and when he met her, he graciously got on board with her goals. \u201cWhen I met him, he was the only person I ever met that asked me my goal.
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\nAnd he was like, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s do it.\u2019 There was no question, like, \u2018Are you sure?\u2019 There was no nothing. He was just like, \u2018Let\u2019s do it.\u2019\u201d This was exactly the boost that Rachael needed.
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\n[post_page_title]From trainee to trainer[\/post_page_title]
\nDue to the fact that Rachael and Adam hit it off so well, she spent a lot of her time at ARC Fitness. And when she eventually become a professional, winning all kinds of awards, the staff took notice.
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\nSoon enough, Rachael wasn\u2019t just go to the gym to get trained, but to train others as well. In fact, she currently works at ARC Fitness as a director of operations. Sounds like a perfect fit, when you consider how inspiring she is to countless others.
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\n[post_page_title]Giving her credit[\/post_page_title]
\nBut as helpful as Adam was, he gives her all of the credit. \u201cShe\u2019s one of the most committed competitors I\u2019ve ever had the privilege to coach. I\u2019m just amazed, and I couldn\u2019t be more proud of what she\u2019s accomplished.\u201d
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\nAdam is someone who understands that he didn\u2019t need to force Rachael to do anything. He knew that her willpower was there from the getgo, and that was all he needed to train her to take the next step.
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\n[post_page_title]Emotional for him[\/post_page_title]
\nAdam further elaborated on what it was like watching Rachael blossom into a bodybuilding professional. \u201cIt was very emotional, especially for me, because I\u2019ve been there. I\u2019ve been there from the very beginning.
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\nI\u2019ve seen that change from the very beginning – where she said she would never get on stage, to the mindset that it took to change, to the mindset that it took to change other people, and love herself.\u201d And Rachael herself has a lot of thoughts about loving yourself as well.
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\n[post_page_title]Love yourself[\/post_page_title]
\nOn the subject of loving yourself, Rachael hasn\u2019t shied away from making it clear to her followers how important it is. \u201cLove yourself today, because at the end of the day, you\u2019re all you have. ”
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\n“You\u2019re number one, and if you\u2019re happy with yourself and doing you, everyone else will follow. Winning attracts other winners. Moral of that – surround yourself with great people.\u201d This is a direct quote from her Instagram, and there are many more.
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\n[post_page_title]Reward in mind[\/post_page_title]
\nIn addition to loving oneself, Rachael says that preservering is all about knowing you\u2019ll get rewarded in the end. \u201cThe reward of helping people, inspiring people, getting up on stage and doing something that I love, that I had no idea I loved until I did it. That\u2019s my reward.\u201d
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\nFor anyone who\u2019s ever had a goal, and gone through rough trials to achieve that goal, they\u2019re well aware of how valuable envisioning a reward at the end of the tunnel can be.
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\n[post_page_title]Enjoy your food[\/post_page_title]
\nShe also has pearls of wisdom regarding certain misconceptions of dieting. \u201cYou can\u2019t eat healthy your whole life and deprive yourself of things. Food is meant to be enjoyed. It\u2019s not meant to be feared. It\u2019s not about that. You have all the power over food. Food has no power over you.\u201d
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\nHer words hit home, especially because there are so many people in the world today that purposely eat less in order to get skinny, when they really should be eating right, and striving to be healthy.
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\n[post_page_title]Proving pops wrong[\/post_page_title]
\nPerhaps the craziest thing about this whole story is that when Rachael was younger and overweight, she didn\u2019t think she\u2019d live past 25. After she decided to lose the weight, her father told her, \u201cI\u2019ll believe it when I see it.\u201d
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\nShe responded by saying, \u201cOkay! I\u2019m going to prove you wrong.\u201d Not only did she eventually prove him wrong, but she has already surpassed the age she said she would never make it to. And she\u2019s looking healthier than ever!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you have ever been rejected by someone you have a crush on, then you know just how devastating that can feel. But when one girl found herself in that position she decided she wasn’t going to let some boy get her down. Instead, she turned her entire life around, lost 140 pounds, and in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":64105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n