Emily Wester

I grew up in sports; mostly volleyball with a few good track years and some pitiful attempts at basketball. I loved weight room days and tried to out-lift all the other girls on the team (and I did except for squats). When I went to college at The UofA, I didn't really know what to do in the gym without a coach telling me what to do. I was never really consistent with workouts after I left team sports. After college, I became a 911 dispatcher and decided to go back to school to become an EMT. Once I started full-time on the ambulance, I struggled to carry all the necessary equipment and lift my patients and stretcher. I wasn't strong enough or conditioned enough to do my job effectively. I reached out to a friend to help me come up with a workout program, and I definitely began to see some improvements in my strength, but not many changes in my body composition. I've always lacked self-confidence, struggled with my body image, and played the comparison game to other girls around me - especially in sports. Fast-forward to completing paramedic school, and I had stopped being active for over a year. High stress and little time for much else but studying and clinicals, coupled with a BiteSquad membership and eating out multiple times a day led to me gaining 35lb in just a year. My EMS pants no longer fit (the button would actually pop open whenever I bent down), I had to order larger shirts when I transitioned to paramedic, I was extremely uncomfortable in my own skin, and my self-confidence was in the toilet. I started "eating healthier," which really just meant I cooked at home more and cancelled that BiteSquad membership, but I "didn't have time" to workout. I was a brand new paramedic working lots of overtime with 24-48 hour shifts, and I was planning a wedding. I lost 10lb just from stress reduction and not eating out as much, but I still felt like crap and didn't like the way I looked.

Getting my wedding photos was the tipping point. Instead of cherishing them and reminiscing about the best day of my life, I hated them. I hated how round my face looked. I hated how big my upper arms were. I hated how you could see my back rolls through the sheen back of my dress. I knew I needed to make a change.

Through that journey, I fell in love with fitness again. I found enjoyment in the nutritional side of things and finding creative ways to eat my favorite foods in healthier ways. I have challenged myself to finish multiple mud runs, obstacle races, a half marathon, and to push myself in weightlifting. I felt the drive to help other people in a proactive way through education about fitness and nutrition rather than reactively on an ambulance. Everyone deserves to feel good. Everyone deserves to be confident. Everyone deserves to look the way they want. You deserve it, but you've got to work for it. It's hard to know where to start, and I can help clear that up. I have now been coaching clients online for a year and a half, helping them achieve their goals and become the best version of themselves. Mike and I realized our community was lacking in access to this education and in space for fitness, so we set out to bring Legendary Fitness to life. I'm so excited to be able to provide more fitness space and to share what I have learned about nutrition with this community. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to help more people take back their lives the way I have!