WEIGHTY MATTERS

WOMAN’S BRAVE FACEBOOK POST GOES VIRAL: A former bodybuilder is celebrated after putting a side-by-side comparison photo on social media showing off her new figure

Meet former bodybuilder Jolene Jones, who says gaining 25 pounds made her happier

Jolene Jones’ dramatic body transformation photos weren’t what anyone was expecting. “Body builder to body lover,” she wrote in a July Facebook post alongside two bikini pics: one showing her bronzed, ripped 134-pound frame in 2015 next to her current 25-pounds-heavier look. “Some people might say this is ‘letting yourself go,’” added the 5-foot8 Montana woman, explaining, “A sixpack didn’t make me happy.”

Her post touched a nerve and quickly went viral. “I woke up to over 2,000 Facebook notifications, and it kept getting shared and shared and shared,” she tells In Touch. Now Jolene, 27, is thrilled her message (“to thank your body instead of hating it”), which has since racked up more than 200,000 likes, shares and overwhelmingly positive comments, has so deeply resonated with people. “Women are sold on having the perfect body, so for someone to put themselves out there and just be like, ‘Hey, this is me,’ I think that gives them hope that they can do that, too — and maybe change the way that they think a little bit.”

For five years, Jolene obsessively counted grams of protein, carbs and fat. The tech company facilities coordinator says she found joy in bodybuilding and “would spend two hours a day at the gym, six days a week.” Her strict protein shake– filled diet shunned beef, wheat, dairy, sugar and alcohol. “Breakfast would be eight egg whites with pepper and salsa; lunch was steamed broccoli with eight ounces of chicken breast; dinners were eight ounces of ground turkey with taco seasoning.”

She reached a turning point around winter 2015–’16. Suddenly, the thought of losing weight and getting super “cut” for her next competition filled her with dread. “The fun was gone,” explains Jolene, who’s single. “Gym, protein shakes, lifting weights — there is more to life than that.” She hasn’t gone to the gym in three months. Instead, she’s spent her summer hiking, walking her dog, boating and playing volleyball. With the guidance of her bodybuilding coach, she “reverse dieted,” slowly adding calories back. It hasn’t all been easy, she admits: “It took me a while to be happy with my new body, because for the longest time I felt like a fat-ass without a six-pack.” But while she still eats healthily, Jolene doesn’t feel guilty about indulging in her favorite foods, like pizza and pasta. “Today I had a sandwich for lunch,” she says. “I would never have done that before.”

Another perk of her new life: “wine Wednesdays” with her friends. But the benefits of changing up her diet and exercise routine go far beyond more food and drink options. “Now I’m comfortable in my skin. I’m curvier and my boobs are bigger, and I feel more feminine,” she says. “I have an air of confidence, and I love that feeling.” — Reporting by Jaclyn Roth