Meet Courtney Armstrong

We were lucky to catch up with Courtney Armstrong recently and have shared our conversation below.

Courtney, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

My journey in developing confidence and self-esteem began during the COVID-19 pandemic. During that timeframe, I was only a freshman in high school when the schools across the states closed, which initially seemed like a dream of a lifetime. Like many others my age, there was nothing but time on my hands to scroll on social media all day. I always created short videos just for fun but always kept my account private. After months of being isolated at home, my health started to take a turn. I turned into what one would call a “couch potato” and just laid around and fell trapped into boredom eating. Not just simple boredom eating but eating all sorts of junk food in the book you name it. I would never exercise anymore and my sleep schedule became poor. I took laziness to the extreme and it quickly caught up to me when I gained a significant amount of weight. Of course, the time came when public schools opened back up, just as students had to wear face coverings to prevent the spread of the virus. Not only was I not pleased to go back but I ended up moving schools so now I was the new kid who didn’t know anyone. This is when I experienced anxiety for the first time because it was hard to adjust to getting back out of the house, especially in a new environment. I had gained over 50 pounds and continued to eat poorly in excessive amounts to cope with my feelings. That of course only made me feel worse afterwards and I struggled with body image and my overall health because of my decisions. It took me roughly two and a half years to decide that I was tired of being comfortable with being uncomfortable and wanted better for my overall health. I decided to stop eating fast food and drinking soda. I didn’t like how it would make me feel because I lacked portion control and became gluttonous. I then began walking every day after my meals if I could and throughout school before jumping into the gym. Once I started becoming consistent in valuing the nutrition my body needs and what I put in my body I was able to feel better and walking those steps allowed me to lose weight. I started going to the gym and quickly realized my health isn’t just an on-again/off-again journey, it’s a lifelong commitment to myself. I loved the results I built up for myself and finally regained self-confidence and healed my self-esteem. I began documenting my journey on social media since I spent that period of time prior not posting anything due to my lack of confidence. Once I started, my platform quickly grew with those who could relate to struggling and wondered how they could improve. Little to my knowledge I made a simple post about my weight-loss transformation and it reached millions of people on my platform it gave me the encouragement to keep posting how I was able to improve myself. I kept posting and it would always reach a significant amount of people. Each post allowed the opportunity for my fitness motivation and proper balanced meal ideas to expand and I built an amazing community of supporters who followed me along the journey. The best part is I can encourage others to work on improving their health and becoming the best version of themselves.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a health and wellness motivator who enjoys creating content regarding the importance of taking care of oneself for longevity while finding balance as well. I found inspiration through my weight loss as an opportunity to feel and look my best on my graduation day from high school in 2023. By that time, I was in the best shape of my life and I’m still currently maintaining the best shape while spreading content to those on how they can achieve any goal they set their mind to. I immediately attended college right after graduation and I’m currently in my junior year in the Allied health profession. Pursuing this type of career regarding overall health really gives me the drive to keep going not only for myself but to help others in my community around me whether they’re local or global. I only have one year left of clinical’s and I plan to obtain my master’s degree after I graduate next year while continuing to do content creation because it gives me a passion for something to do surrounding what I specialize in. Every day I get to learn something new and improve. I have been blessed with opportunities to work with brands surrounding fitness and health based on my content and look forward to potential collaborations in the future.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three most important qualities that stand out to me consist of facing and overcoming hardships, knowing that it’s okay to not know everything, and your mindset determining your outcomes. When I feel like I’ve fallen off or failed myself in a sense it is very important to realize that not everything is going to be in my control or work in my favor. I’ve learned that accepting hardships will occur but eventually, it subsides and allows you to reflect back as a potential lesson learned. I try and I even may fall a couple of times but I always get back up and continue to try because that’s the purpose. Trial and error except the only error is trying without continuing to go further. It will always be forever admirable that one does continue to try for themselves. Another quality I’ve learned is that I’m constantly learning each day I’m alive and continue to do so as I get older. It can be challenging to try new things whether it’s school, recording a content video, or a variety of other factors because I’ve become comfortable with what I do know in contrast to what I don’t. Learning to step out of the comfort zone is a growing opportunity and understanding the value of prioritizing your health, mental or physical, is a learning process that I am a testimony to. Lastly, is understanding nothing is your own worst enemy except your mindset. For so long I was uncomfortable with my body and what I had done as coping strategies. I knew I was heading for trouble when I would get out of breath just from walking a few feet. Being overweight allowed me ample time to dwell in self-pity and compare myself to others. I had to learn that comparison is the enemy of progress. For so long I’ve let self-doubt take control instead of wanting to take that first step and change myself because I loved myself. I had to get out of that “wanting instant results overnight” mentality and had to develop consistency with discipline. That was key to starting my weight loss journey and how to inspire others because the only thing that set me up for potential failure was my mindset which I eventually changed for the better. I turned “I can’t” into “I will”. The real key is self-growth at your pace and being consistent, showing up for you. Comparison to me isn’t the same as inspiration, to be inspired is worth so much more. It’s a better way to view one’s progress which is what I empathize on my content platforms.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

In all honesty the one and only who’s been most helpful in helping me overcome challenges and continue to progress through is God. I was raised in a Christian household and I’m forever a God-fearing woman. I have been blessed to grow up in a household where I have my two parents who love me for me and encourage me to do better for myself each day. I’ve overcome struggles that I thought at first was no way out of. It was countless times that only God and my parents would know my struggles. I grew up as a happy kid but experienced low points as the pandemic approached and afterwards like many others. I changed my perspective on a variety of things which inspired me to start getting back in shape, eating better, and most importantly building a better relationship with God because I became distant from my faith during those low points. I spent a great amount of time isolated from people I would spend time with outside of going to school. I had to value the importance that a bad day does not equal a bad life and now I can confidently look in the mirror and say all the positive things about myself to myself because of hard work. Once I was able to pick myself back up through encouragement and having supportive parents I hit the ground running and never looked back. I accomplished so much from graduating high school early and attending college immediately after to begin my career. With only one year left until I graduate from college, I’m cherishing these moments of building a positive platform to inspire others that have been where I have and that there’s so much more to life and you can change for the better. During my good days I talk to God, during my bad days I talk to God. There’s never a bad time to talk with God, the true father, and best friend I could ask for. This is truly the healthiest and happiest I’ve been in my life and I just turned 20 years old. Everything I experienced was a growth opportunity and I’m so grateful I can inspire others to do the same whether it’s going to the gym, fueling your body with balanced nutrition, or having a healthy relationship with eating habits. I would not be where I am today without the love and support I was blessed with and look forward to working with others to continue to inspire.

Contact Info:

• Other: TikTok- https://www.tiktok.com/@iamcmolly?_t=8nU1XuhMqhb&_r=1Snapchat- https://snapchat.com/t/6Er3zRUh