“Generational Inspiration”

Lea Fuchs is a NASM certified personal trainer, PN level 1 certified nutrition coach, fitness online coach and natural IFBB bikini competitor. She has a Bachelor of Arts double degree in International Business, and now focuses on helping her clients create a healthy and sustainable lifestyle through fitness and nutrition.

I grew up in a small town in Germany with my parents, twin-sister and older brother. At the age of 15, I moved out and across the globe to do a so-called ’High-School Year’, spending one year living and studying in Kentucky. I didn’t know anyone at first and I was hardly able to communicate in English , so this experience ’forced’ me to step out of my comfort zone for the first time. Not everything went as planned – I had to switch host-families, since the woman I first lived with pretty much kept me isolated & did not allow me to leave the house without her and to meet friends. Until I was actually able to move in with my best friend from High-School, I had to face a very difficult couple of weeks. I felt completely helpless, I was scared, I didn’t know how to get out & honestly felt like being kept in prison.

Today I know that everything happens for a reason and that I am never put in a situation that I’m not able to handle. That time showed me how much I can count on my parent’s support & love as well as the support & love of other people, especially my best High-School friend and her parents & siblings who made me part of their family and are still my family away from home. Over 9 years have passed, my ’sister’ visited me in Germany and I’ve been back in KY twice, the last time for her wedding.

After my first year away from home, I went on many more adventures. As soon as I graduated from High-School in Germany, I moved to Sydney where I spend one year working as an Au-pair, traveling most parts of Australia, Bali as well as Thailand. It was one of the best times I ever had.

However, at that point I didn’t know that some of the hardest years would follow.

While still living in Sydney, I got diagnosed with gastritis & on top of that, I had to deal with a bladder infection. The pain was so severe, that I was afraid to eat and even drink water because every time I did, my stomach started to hurt so badly that I couldn’t function properly.

Within a few weeks I had lost so much weight that I was dangerously underweight and nothing but skin and bone. Unfortunately the medicine I got subscribed didn’t help, so I started experimenting with my diet & was eventually able to heal myself mainly by switching to a plant-based diet and eliminating gluten.

I then returned to Germany, where I started to study International Business and also spent 1,5 years at the partner university in the UK. Since my health issues in Sydney, I was simply not able to put on weight and found myself unhappier and more insecure in my body than ever before. I honestly thought that I rather looked like a 12 year old girl and not a young woman. There was hardly anything left from my usually so positive and bubbly self and I remember many days when I stayed at home instead of going out with friends because I simply felt so uncomfortable in my body.

One day, I received a message from my mom saying that one of my best friends had messaged her asking if I was anorexic. Even though I knew she was only worried about me, it hurt – a lot.

I decided the very same day, that I finally had to change my life in order to gain control again. I started going to the gym regularly and eventually got into weightlifting. I educated myself more about nutrition and realized that I had been eating way too little calories. Since it’s mentally never easy to gain weight, even if it’s for the best, I had to not only work on my body but also my mindset – so that’s when my self-development journey started as well!

While still being in school, I moved to San Diego for an internship where I spent 4 incredible months working as a Sports, Event and Marketing Manager at “VAVi Sport & Social Club“ in San Diego, where I planned and executed various events such as the ROC �Race in LA and the Del Mare Opening Day in San Diego and managed multiple sport leagues and tournaments.

In 2017 I then moved to Los Angeles for my second internship, working for a well-known travel agency. The time in LA was life-changing. Training at Gold’s gym Venice for months and meeting some of the most amazing people as well as diving deeper into the world of self-development, I was able to create a vision for my life for the very first time. I got clearer and clearer about what I wanted in life and who I wanted to become. LA became my home & I am planing on moving back as soon as possible.

With a lot of patience, commitment and dedication, as well as the support of various coaches, my friends and my family, I was able to slowly rebuild my confidence. My passion for bodybuilding has only grown since then and led me to competing as a natural IFBB bikini athlete for the first time this year at the “James Dennis Classic Pro-qualifier”, where I placed second in my class & I will most likely compete again next year.

But for this year, my main focus will be my business and serving others!

Fitness has taught me so much about myself and has truly transformed my complete life. I was not only able to get stronger physically, but over the past years I have also grown a lot mentally. I now strive to be the best version of myself every day and refuse to ever stop evolving. My passion for health and bodybuilding has let me to changing my career in order to be able to support people, who want to feel confident and energized every day of their lives.

So when I graduated from college with a double degree in International Business, I didn’t wait any longer and acquired my NASM Certificate as a personal trainer, am currently working on my nutrition coaching certificate & have started my online coaching business because I knew that my mission is to help other people become the healthiest, happiest and most confident version of themselves.

While I worked with several clients in person, I know that working as an online coach 1:1 allows me to reach & serve more people who need my help and also allows me to work with clients from all over the world. By creating individualized workout and macro plans and also working on mindset & habits with my clients, I ensure that every one gets the best possible results.

In my spare time, I love to continue to educate myself about nutrition and fitness to ensure that my knowledge and practices remain at the highest level. Next to working out, I also love nature, sunsets, any outside activities, meeting and connecting with amazing high-achieving people, reading and listening to podcasts.

Please join us on this Gratitude:UnFiltered……..

Joshua T Berglan