Here’s your #fitspo of the day!
Laura Micetich weighed 304 pounds and wore a size 26 just two years ago in March 2014. “I used to skip things as silly as waterslides because of the number of stairs,” the 24-year-old teacher from Jackson, Tennessee, tells Us Weekly. “I was on a dangerous path.”
After graduating from college, Micetich considered gastric bypass. But instead she chose exercise.
“I started in my living room, getting halfway through YouTube videos and taking breathers constantly,” she tells Us. After joining a gym, Micetich quickly fell in love with lifting weights.
Two years later, the 6-foot-tall brunette is down a staggering 110 pounds — and regularly inspires more than 104,000 followers on Instagram.
“As a kid, people always called me giant, in a positive way, so when I started lifting weights, I embraced the moniker,” Micetich explains of her account name, @theirongiantress. “It was a symbol to me of taking what I already was and making it strong.”
And she’s committing to staying strong: Micetich hits the gym six times a week. “Sometimes I’m there for an hour and a half, sometimes I’m there for three,” she says. “I spent the last year lifting heavy and managed to get my squat and deadlift to three plates.”
Though Micetich loves the shape she worked so hard for, she still has her insecurities. “My body isn’t perfect by any means,” she tells Us. “I have stretch marks, fat in spots and loose skin in places. But my body lets me do the things I love with the people I love, and that’s the most important thing to me.”
