Today we’d like to introduce you to Krista Large.
Hi Krista, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was in dance class in my senior year of high school moving about the room when I started to feel dizzy. My body felt hollow and the room got smaller. I was about 100 pounds at the time and worked pretty hard to keep it that way. I had an obsession with being very thin. I was almost to the point of fainting and was able to catch myself in the mirror. I didn’t look good as I thought I would. I looked frail, I felt weak, and at that moment I had a choice. I could continue down this dark path that I was on or I could learn how to better take care of myself.
I decided to go to school out of state in Mississippi. Being from The Woodlands, TX, I wanted to do something different than my friends. Because I wanted to learn how to be healthy and fit in the right ways, I chose to pursue a degree in nutrition. Throughout college, my health habits shifted all over the place. I went from being a health freak to a party girl, to a runner, and eventually weightlifting.
In my senior year of college, my organic chemistry TA convinced me to try lifting weights. He told me that I had a great frame to be a bodybuilder. I was freaked out at the idea but I only had one class the final semester of my senior year, two part-time jobs, and no real passions at the time. I decided to say yes, and that movement changed my life forever. That semester I worked harder than I ever had. I weight lifted six days per week, ate only whole foods, and watched my body put on muscle and slim down. I loved the way my body looked. I was lean, sculpted, and most of all learned that I could be disciplined. I went on to compete that May just before graduating college and won the first-place trophy. The fact that I could get on stage in a bikini, and get judged for the way my body looked, assured me that I could do anything I could put my mind to.
Meanwhile, in my senior year, I applied for a dietetic internship to become a Registered Dietitian which is the goal of most nutrition students. The application is a matching process and due to not having a high enough GPA, I did not get matched. Despite all of the confidence I had in my abilities this crushed me.
That summer, I moved back to Houston. I needed a job right away so I took what I could get. My aunt hooked me up with a job at her company in an entry-level role as a document control specialist. It didn’t have anything to do with nutrition and wasn’t the most glamorous job, but it was a job… I lived right down the road from Lakewood Church (the really big one) and from time to time went to a sermon with family. I noticed a flyer in the seats that they were looking for health teachers. I interviewed for the position and got it! Once a week, I co-taught a class called “Healthy U” with a mentor at the church. We grew the class from six people to at one point over fifty people. It was an incredible experience and fulfilled my desire to educate on nutrition.
While living in Houston, I had trouble making friends. I was sick of working in the oil and gas industry and knew I wanted to move somewhere else where there is lots of greenery. Austin was one of my favorite places to run away to on the weekends. I applied for several jobs in Austin and stumbled upon a company called “Onnit Labs.” I was infatuated with all of the cool things this supplements, foods, and fitness company was doing. In looking through the available jobs section, I saw a job opening for a document control specialist. WHAT?!?! I freaked out, applied for the job, and had an interview within the next two weeks. I got the job, turned in my notice, packed my bags, and moved to Austin in 2015. My job title changed on my first day from Document Control Specialist to Quality Assurance.
While working at Onnit, I became obsessed with their gym training systems and decided to take every fitness certification they offered. I spent hours a day at the gym and working at this company became my life. I eventually started teaching fitness classes at the gym, then became a personal trainer in the gym, and after three years of working on the supplement side, I moved over to be a full-time trainer.
Life as a trainer was fun, rough, rewarding, and also the most challenging job I have ever had. Teaching classes at 6 AM, later at 5:30 PM to 9 PM, with clients in between, made the workdays extremely long. I also drove myself crazy thinking I needed to look, act, and be a certain way while working at the gym. Most of the time I never felt that I was good enough, smart enough, sexy enough, strong enough, and successful enough. My self-confidence was at an all-time low. During this time, I started developing anxiety and started binge eating as a way to cope with my stress and low self-esteem. I allowed this to go on for a while until on my 29th birthday, I looked at myself in the mirror again. My face was puffy, and I felt hollow again, despite being much heavier than in high school. I had gained a lot of weight from binge eating and stress. I decided that enough was enough. I decided to put my notice in at the gym and that I would go back to my original plan of being a nutritionist.
I bought a Precision Nutrition course and studied day and night to get certified. My friend helped me build out a website, I made some business cards and finished my course. In February of 2020. I was hired by my first client and was officially the business owner of Living Large Wellness. I have been self-employed ever since. Even though the COVID 19 pandemic hit within a month of my business starting it was one of the best times for me to start. Many people were now interested in health, forced to stay home and cook, and free from the usual things that get in the way in a “normal” world with business dinners, happy hours, travel, etc.
I have been running Living Large Wellness for over two years at this point. Through educating and helping others, I was actually able to cure myself of binge eating. Owning a business has been yet again one of the biggest confidence boosters in the world to me. The best part of being an entrepreneur is I get to be ME, make all the decisions, keep all of the profits, and take ownership for the losses and mistakes. Only I can set my own ceiling. I get to decide who I want to become and that is the best gift I could receive. I am happy to say that I will continue to build my brand here in Austin and help those who are ready to change their lives, develop that self-confidence, start living large on their own terms. I love working with other entrepreneurs (especially females) because of our similarities. I know this is only the beginning of something great!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Fluctuating weight
Disordered eating patterns
Not getting a dietetic internship
Anxiety
Low self-esteem
Binge eating
As you know, we’re big fans of Living Large Wellness. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I am a Nutritionist, fitness coach, and founder of Living Large Wellness. I am a solopreneur living in east Austin!
I specialize in habit change and development. I love working with both men and women but especially female go-getters that I refer to as boss babes.
I generally work with people on a 90-day basis focusing on goal setting, habit change and implementation, success tracking, and accountability.
What sets me apart from other nutritionists is I am very high touch. I don’t believe in just giving people a meal plan and expecting them to follow it. If you google “meal plan” over 350,000,000 hits come up. There is a reason why that doesn’t work! I have found that people need a custom approach to change and if we can focus on our behaviors rather than outcomes, the outcome happens automatically.
My program is more about food and fitness. It’s about discovering what “Living Large” means to you and seeing what a healthy body, food, and fitness will allow you to do in life. Whether that’s going shopping for clothes guilt-free, breaking away from food obsession, or just feeling confident in your ability to succeed, having a foundation of health is step one.
I am also a local DJ by the name of SistaKristaXOXO
Who else deserves credit in your story?
My organic chemistry TA
The Onnit Academy
My friend and web designer Lori
My boyfriend Eric
My mom
My clients
Instagram
Pricing:
- Every package is customized ranging from $800 to $3200 depending on if you are needing/wanting testing.
Contact Info:
- Email: krista@livinglargewellness.com
- Website: livinglargewellness.com
- Instagram: @largekrista
- Other: https://www.mixcloud.com/SistaKristaXOXO/
Image Credits
Lunacy & Co.
