How one woman lost over 70lbs and became a fitness physique competitor

'If I could inspire even one person, I'd be so happy'

In four years, Lindsay Butler transformed her body (Lindsay Butler)

It was the moment that Lindsay Butler stepped on the scale and it read 199 pounds, that she became motivated to lose weight - eventually transforming herself into a fitness competitor through hard work and dedication.

“I was NOT going to let myself reach 200 pounds,” she told The Independent.

So, Butler, 27, from Nashville, Tennessee, began to change her lifestyle.

In high school, Butler had been athletic and played various sports but once out of school she gained “the typical weight you might expect for someone no longer doing any sort of physical activity."

“I was easily gaining 10lbs a year,” she said. “Eventually, I started getting sad and tired and just not the same bubbly person I used to be. You don’t really notice these changes when they happen over a long period of time.”

To regain control of her health and happiness, she started following fitness inspiration - or fitspo - accounts on Instagram, joined a gym, hired a personal trainer, bought some pre-workout and “never looked back.”

For the first two years of her weight loss journey, Butler’s diet remained relatively unchanged - “I still ate fast food and drank sodas and generally didn’t watch what I ate” - but she was losing weight.

Buter realised after high school that she'd gained weight (Lindsay Butler)

However, it wasn’t until she discovered physique competitions that she became motivated to transform her body.

“Eventually, I discovered the world of NPC fitness competitions and was immediately impressed by the hard-body physiques and the sparkly bikinis,” she told us. “I told my new trainer and he helped put me on a very strict and lean diet.”

Butler’s new diet mainly consisted of lean meats, veggies, and a healthy carbohydrate for each meal.

“Oh, and so many eggs. It took a long time to get used to eating plain egg white for breakfast. Yuck,” she said.

She became interested in NPC fitness competitions (Lindsay Butler)

Despite the physical changes and goals she was reaching, Butler admitted that dieting isn’t fun - and it forces you to rethink your relationship with food.

Butler wanted to have a hard physique and wear a sparkly bikini (Lindsay Butler)

“A good and healthy diet generally isn’t fun. You get used to prepping and eating the same things because it’s important to mentally connect food to fuel rather than pleasure,” the 27-year-old said.

To ensure that her diet doesn’t sabotage her hard work, Butler also doesn’t “drink her calories,” meaning no “alcohol, no sodas, no milkshakes/smoothies, or full-flavoured energy drinks” - and credits her diet coach and trainer Dwayne Hampton for helping her stay on track.

The 27-year-old lost more than 80 pounds (Lindsay Butler)

For exercise, the fitness competitor engages in strength training with weights and high-intensity cardio exercises - with and without her trainers and motivators Justin Crutchfield and IFBB pro Dion Harris.

She also trains five to six days a week for about an hour each morning.

Of her incredible transformation, she told us: “I love my legs, and I love this body I’ve built!”

Butler is proud of her transformation (Morgan Carr Photography)

As for her advice for other people looking to undergo a physical and mental transformation, Butler said: “Step outside of your mental comfort zone and put energy into something you think you could be passionate about.

“Surround yourself with things and people that help facilitate your goals. If you do decide to get wrapped up in the passion of a weight loss journey, make sure you still make time for friends and family,” she advised. “Overall, my takeaway has been that I am so much stronger of a person than I ever thought i could be.

The 27-year-old has won fitness competitions (Lindsay Butler/Mark Mason)

“I’ve found my purpose in life and in the process of building myself up, I want to help build others up as well.

“If I could inspire even one person, I’d be so happy.”