I’m Krista Patronick and I’m the owner and sole trainer at Phoenix Personal Training. I’m ACE and NETA certified, and specialize in weight loss, training student athletes, and helping my clients live their healthiest lives.


I’d always been overweight as kid. My mother was very overweight when I was young, but in my early teen years, she lost about 50 or 60lbs.

Suddenly, as a teenager, I felt like I was living with the food police. I was on Weight Watchers on and off throughout all my teen years and I know it is because my parents wanted the best for me, but constantly being on a “diet” contributed to a negative self-image. My parents wanted health for me, but at the time, it just wasn’t something I could focus on. I was just trying to survive my teen years. (You couldn’t pay me to go back to that age!) As a result, I had never really been taught how to eat properly or the importance of movement on a regular basis.

When I went to college, I gained a lot of weight. Most people gain the freshman 15….I gained the freshman 30. And it just kept getting worse after I graduated. Before I knew it, I looked in the mirror in 2011, and I was 232lbs.


When I looked at myself in pictures and hated the way I looked, I knew it was time to make a change. Not because someone else wanted it for me, but because I wanted it. I became more active, started eating right, and learned how to eat for the first time. I lost about 75lbs.

I’ve accomplished things I never thought possible – such as running three full marathons and a number of half marathons.


Most of all, I’ve also learned how important it is to love your body for what it can do. Don’t get me wrong, my body image is still a struggle. I’m human and I’m not perfect by any means. But I try to stay body-positive at all times.


Life has ebbs and flows. Everyone’s struggle, and journey, is different. Sometimes you’re up and sometimes you’re down, but I never regret making that decision to get my life back under own control. I’m happier than I have ever been and I hope to inspire others as well.