Why She Didn't Just Lose Weight—She Found Her River

Look, I've read a lot of transformation stories. Hell, I've lived one. But Jenn's story? It's different. And not for the reasons you think.

Sure, losing 50 pounds is impressive. Swimming the English Channel? That's next-level badass. But here's what really gets me: she found her damn river during the worst possible time.

Let's Talk About What Actually Happened Here

First off, can we acknowledge how real this gets? Jenn was 310 pounds, stressed out of her mind, and using food and cigarettes to cope. As a healthcare worker. During a pandemic.

If that doesn't sound familiar to about 90% of us, you're either lying or incredibly lucky.

But here's where most people get the story wrong. They focus on Mount Everest (which, okay, is pretty epic). They focus on the English Channel. They focus on the 50 pounds.

They're missing the point entirely.

The Real Transformation Started with Wedding Photos

Think about this moment for a second. Jenn's looking at these photos, seeing herself happy with Kristen, and has this brutal realization: "I don't want to shorten my own life."

That's not about fitting into jeans or looking good at the beach. That's about mortality staring you in the face through a photograph.

We've all had those moments, right? Where you catch yourself in a mirror, or see a photo, and think "Holy shit, when did this happen?" But most of us shove that feeling down and order takeout.

Not Jenn. She decided to climb a mountain. Literally.

Why Extreme Goals Actually Work (And Why They Don't)

Here's something I learned the hard way: sometimes we need goals so big they scare the crap out of us. Not because the goal itself matters, but because it forces us to become someone completely different.

Jenn couldn't climb Everest as the person who weighed 310 pounds and smoked cigarettes. Impossible. So she had to become someone else first.

But here's the plot twist that everyone misses...

The mountain didn't fix everything. She came back from Everest, COVID hit, and guess what? Her clothes started getting snug again.

Because here's the truth nobody wants to hear: external achievements don't automatically rewire your internal operating system.

Then She Found Her River

This is where the story gets real. Gyms closed. The world went insane. Healthcare workers were watching people die left and right. And Jenn? She went to the river.

Not because she was training for anything. Not because she had a goal. Because she needed to survive.

"I could get in the water for a couple of hours and not talk to anybody and just process everything that had been going on."

Read that again. This wasn't about fitness. This was about mental health.

The river became her therapist, her meditation, her escape from a world that had lost its mind. And somewhere in those hours of silent swimming, she found something that all the mountain climbing in the world couldn't give her:

Peace.

The English Channel Was Just a Bonus

Once you find your river—literally or metaphorically—everything changes. The English Channel wasn't about proving anything to anyone. It was the natural evolution of someone who had found their thing.

But even then, Jenn almost screwed it up.

She was stuck in the old mindset: restrict food, feel guilty about eating, obsess over calories. All the stuff that keeps us trapped in cycles that don't work.

Enter the game-changer: learning to eat slowly and mindfully. Their grocery bill dropped 30%. Not because they were depriving themselves, but because they were actually paying attention.

When was the last time you ate a meal without your phone, TV, or some other distraction?

Seriously, think about it. We wonder why we overeat, but we're not even present for the eating.

What This Really Means for the Rest of Us

Here's what I want you to take from Jenn's story, because it's not about swimming the English Channel:

1. Find Your River

What's the thing you can do for hours without talking to anyone? The thing that lets you process life without judgment? It might not be swimming. Maybe it's hiking, painting, coding, gardening, or hell, organizing your garage.

The point isn't the activity. It's finding something that gives your brain permission to just... be.

2. Crisis Is a Teacher (If You Let It Be)

COVID almost broke Jenn. But instead of just surviving it, she used it to discover what she actually needed. Most of us try to get back to "normal" after a crisis. What if normal was the problem?

3. Stop Trying to Fix Everything at Once

Notice how Jenn's transformation happened in phases? Everest first. Then finding swimming. Then working on nutrition. She didn't try to overhaul her entire life on January 1st like the rest of us idiots.

4. The Goal Isn't the Goal

Mount Everest wasn't about the mountain. The English Channel wasn't about the swim. They were about becoming the kind of person who could do those things.

What kind of person do you need to become to live the life you actually want?

The Uncomfortable Truth About Lasting Change

Here's what nobody wants to admit: sustainable transformation is boring as hell most of the time.

It's eating slowly when you want to stress-eat. It's going to the river when you want to stay in bed. It's choosing the hard conversation instead of the cigarette.

Jenn's story isn't inspiring because she did extraordinary things. It's inspiring because she figured out how to show up for the ordinary moments that actually matter.

Your Turn to Get in the Water

So here's my challenge for you: What's your river?

Not your goal. Not your transformation. Not your before-and-after photo.

What's the thing you can do that helps you process life without judgment? The thing that makes you feel more like yourself instead of less?

Maybe you don't know yet. That's okay. Start looking.

Because here's what Jenn figured out that most of us miss: you don't find yourself by changing everything. You find yourself by paying attention to what's already there.

The river was always there. She just had to get in the water.

What's helping you "process everything that's been going on" in your world? Drop a comment and let me know. Sometimes we all need to hear about someone else's river to find our own.

And if you're a healthcare worker reading this... thank you. Seriously. Find your river. You've earned it.