Transform
Stephanie Bennett Decided To Tackle Trauma With Fitness
Stephanie Bennett suffered mental and physical illness after a boot camp nightmare. Now, she’s fitter than ever.
TRAIN FOR HER
Everything was going great. I rocked boot camp, and I was even promoted before graduation. I loved my time in the Corps, and I’m proud that I served. But my time in service was cut short when I was sexually assaulted by a fellow Marine.
While the perpetrator was given a court-martial and seven years in military prison, no help was given to me. I’d just turned 18. I started drinking and I got in trouble. I say this because: one, sexual assault is a huge problem in the military, and two, because this trauma started my long and painful downward spiral.
How did this affect your health overall?
The start of the tailspin was an abusive relationship that I jumped into after leaving the military. Taking my little boy with me, I fled to a domestic violence shelter. I tried to get through licensed nursing assistant school, but this was hard to do on the many different meds: Seroquel, Lithium, Zoloft, Welbutrin, Ativan, Trazadone, Abilify, Metformin… the list goes on.
Aside from making me a zombie, they made me hungry. I’d feel bad for gaining weight, so I’d eat some more. I became diabetic, which led to eyesight issues, and I had significant memory-loss problems. I was diagnosed with PTSD. Then I became a so-called “unemployable, disabled veteran.”
What were your first steps to recovery?
Before I started exercising and eating right, I tried a lot of ridiculous bullsh*t. Eventually, I started the old fashioned method of eating less and exercising. The weight came off really slowly. For a long time, I couldn’t do full squats or complete crunches because my rolls got in the way.
How did you keep at it?
I watched videos of fit people saying encouraging things and, every time I look in a mirror, I say something positive. The second reason I was able to pull through was community. After losing about 50lb I moved to Utah. I started going to body pump and spin classes. I met a group of gung-ho people who changed my life.
Reason three was a triathlon. I came in last and I doggy paddled the entire swim, but I was smiling the whole time. Why? I felt like all the people were cheering for me. I knew how far I’d come to get to that point. How could I not enjoy it?
Find transformation stories and more in every issue of TRAIN for HER.
Issue 38 Page 31
