Hey y’all, I’m Brittany from Sweet Home Alabama!
I grew up as an active child & athlete but in my teens, experienced the loss of a family member while my parents were divorcing & fell in to deep sadness — I gained 80 pounds by my early twenties. At 23 years old, I was caring for my Daddy who was 53 with stage 4 colon cancer — I was eating the most unhealthy foods, never slept, never drank water or moved my body & lived off of pure anxiety hype. I would literally become winded climbing the 4 stairs in to our home & could hardly cope with life.
The year following his death, I had our first daughter & the following year, our twins. Yes — three under two. It was wild & I had so much clarity & conviction about wanting to be healthier for them — to be able to keep up with them & be around for them as long as possible. I also needed a healthy “outlet” to refuel me in the midst of my new season of life.
I had tried “getting healthy” time & time before & always failed. So, I started simple — I downloaded a free “Couch to 5k” app & told myself that if I stuck with that for the recommended 6 weeks, that I would allow myself a gym membership. I also started drinking water for the first time in my life & being more mindful of how I fueled my body.
I will NEVER forget that first “run” & I use that term VERY loosely. 1 minute of running followed by 1 & a half minutes of walking.
I couldn’t do it.
I was wheezing. I was so discouraged...
But something snapped this time — I literally reminded myself of all the hard things that I’d done before, women do hard things ALL THE TIME — college, a competitive internship, the close & untimely deaths, the broken family, a twin pregnancy, raising 3 under 2...
I finally didn’t get defeated. I got determined.
And never looked back.
That was 7 years ago. I’ve since lost 90 pounds & kept it off by radically changing my nutrition & by adding exercise in to my lifestyle.
It’s WILD to say but I am now a group fitness instructor at my local recreation center, personal trainer, lead an online fitness community (started during COVID & now ladies all over the world use it for workouts, healthIER family friendly, realistic meal plans, & daily accountability), & host obstacle course race(OCR)/mud run training at our family’s farm! I’m PASSIONATE about women feeling their best & helping them reach THEIR goals while maintaining a healthy balance within their LIFE. I believe every woman can move their body in a wise way for them AND that no woman should starve themselves — we can fight to find that personalized balance! It’s worth it!
Never in a million years did I think that this would be my career, that this would be my life or that I would feel as good as I do now — BETTER than that active kid, that exceptionally sad teen, that grieving twenty-something. What started as getting healthier for my daughters has led me to SUCH fulfillment in what I get to do every day, the women I get to work with, the life I get to live in how my body (& mind) feels & performs, the healthy example that I get to live out for my girls — it’s such a gift! These days, my girls have to work to keep up with me — not the other way around. And that honestly feels so good.
Since becoming healthier, I fell in love with OCR’s — in 2019, I completed a Spartan Trifecta. My daughters, who are now 9 & 7, completed the kids Spartan as well but my oldest will be joining me on the MudGirl course in May & we are both STOKED to run it alongside each other. I think back to the moments when I was “learning” to run, she would ride her power wheels alongside me or I’d push them in the triple stroller, barely making it & she’d cheer “you can do it Mama” — I’m so grateful that we’re both healthy enough to be able to share this experience & memory together. Watching my Daddy take his last breath has made me exceptionally aware of the gift of my own.
I’ve managed ladies-only Mud Run teams for years now but am SO EXCITED to bring the biggest team yet to this year’s Nashville MudGirl — currently at 60+ ladies & growing! I love when first timers cross the finish line — they’re NEVER the same! It’s so emotional for me because as women, we pour in to so many other peoples’ lives — & to see these women experience something so empowering & have their cups refilled — it’s really special to witness!
Thank you, MudGirl, for letting me share my story, for giving us ladies a safe place to have fun while also challenging us — if it doesn’t challenge us, it doesn’t change us — here’s to a great & powerful year of MudGirl!
Strong women — may we know them, may we raise them, may we be them!
Feel free to friend/follow on all of my socials:
FB: Brittany Prater Olson
FB: Balanced Bootcamp + Super Circuit
IG: BrittanyPraterOlson
IG: BalancedBootcampSuperCircuit
- Brittany