Phoenix woman goes viral for sharing health journey on Instagram
Mar 27, 2018, 4:35 AM | Updated: 1:32 pm
PHOENIX — A Phoenix woman has made national headlines for documenting her health and fitness journey on the social media app Instagram.
MacKenzie Puricelli, a 21-year-old fitness coach from Phoenix, wrote in an emotional Instagram post earlier this month that she had been working on her body for the last three years, first allowing fitness to “take control” of her life before facing an eating disorder and making mental health her priority.
According to The Daily Mail, Puricelli first decided that she wanted to change her body the summer after her freshman year of college at Lindenwood University, hiring a coach, weight lifting meal prepping and changing her major to exercise science.
Puricelli said today she focuses on health in all aspects, eating food for “fuel and enjoyment” and exercising for “strength, empowerment, enjoyment and mental clarity.”
“That girl standing on the right who is 100 percent comfortable in her skin is someone I never thought I could become! But I’m freaking here now and cannot even put into words what it took to get here,” the post read.
“Fitness is not always a linear journey nor will it be easy, but you have the decision right now to decide how you want it to impact your life.”
Puricelli ended the post with some tips that she learned throughout her journey: “You will have to accept yourself even at the darkest of times, you will have to believe in yourself even when no one else does, you will have to stop letting food control your life, you will have to be the one that pushes yourself to become the best you, you will have to trust that there is a way out of your current behaviors and that you can become that girl who you aspire to be like.”
