Gaining Weight & Gaining Confidence: How This Athlete Feels Better Than Ever After Gaining 30 Pounds

Adrianna Hicks only attempted one sport in high school, and that was volleyball, which she played until her junior year at Hightower Highschool. Although she had a short sports career because of her focus on school, she dedicated her time and body to the gym as a grown woman after college. She wanted to accomplish having a daily schedule so she could workout. It’s not about being the strongest, but becoming her best self, she said.

“I did volleyball in high school, and I was pretty terrible at it. I never made varsity and I stopped before my senior year. My senior year was more so just focusing on cardio. I did a lot of outdoor exercises. We have this huge facility that has floors worth of stairs. And I also did outdoor abs.”

Hicks is a successful engineer and received her degree from Texas Tech University. She has a simple life but loves the challenges and commitment she made in the weight room, as she reached her body goal from a year ago. But her passion for the gym started in college because she wanted to have a certain curve to her body. She wanted to feel better about herself throughout college and after. 

“It first started off when I was in college, and it was a very aesthetic base and I wanted to build curves or a body. I was very skinny, and I wanted to build a little bit of weight, but I didn’t know what I was really doing in the gym. But in this past year, it’s turned into focusing on my strength and my intake in diet. So that together has gotten me to where I always wanted to go. And it was to build a bigger and better body and now it’s just getting stronger in the process.”

Hicks has built her “better body” by gaining 30 pounds of healthy weight. She started at 125 pounds and now weighs 156 pounds. The smile on her face was clear when she shared the happy weight she gained. In a society where so many companies, magazines, models and products are designed to promote weight loss and shame weight gain, a role model like Hicks is a refreshing find.

Hicks loves her journey, and wants to continue to explore and open more doors. Looking back on her journey, she notes that her diet was the biggest key, as that allowed her to gain the correct weight while staying healthy. Eating the correct foods gave her just the right amount of energy for workouts and after. She knows the importance of her diet because it played a key part to her success. 

“So, a lot of it has to do with my caloric intake, and I count macros and like, calories, and I just focus on being high in protein and most of that is coming from actual protein like chicken and fish and different things like eggs. I supplement that with my protein powders and healthy carbs and all that.”

Not only does Hicks focus on hitting her macros, but she knows the importance of taking in micronutrients. “You definitely want to make sure you're getting micros in, like vitamin A and D. To make sure your body is in steady state. And when you're eating a high protein diet, you want to make sure you're getting that fiber in because if not, you're going to be bloated, constipated, and not process the food your body needs to. And you might find yourself sluggish and off balance and you might see hair loss. But when I’m gaining, I’ll take creatine, or I’ll do a lean bulk or a thermal fat burner. And my normal is protein powder, and it’s just to make sure my muscles are recovering and make sure I retain that muscle mass.”

Hick’s love for health and fitness only got stronger in college. As her passion grew for the gym, commitment to becoming healthier and stronger did, as well. This was a hobby she wanted to stick with so she could become more active in her life. Hicks never had a consistent hobby until she found the gym, but once she started, she knew she was hooked. Coming from a competitive and sports-oriented family, it’s no surprise that Hicks had a natural love for the gym. 

“My family is very fitness oriented. I got two brothers who played collegiate football, so I was very much into staying in shape with a really good body composition. As of lately, I've gotten more into strength training because I wanted to lose my corona weight. And from being in the house all the time and eating whatever I wanted to. Then through that, I found my love of lifting weights. And how therapeutic it was for me just to throw heavy stuff around. Then from that, I learned how to eat right and build muscle mass. And all together, it’s gotten me where I am now.”

Hick’s biggest goal is to get into personal training. She wants to help people accomplish their goals in the weight room when it comes to strength, eating the right foods, and health. Hicks wants the opportunity to inspire others with her hard work and efforts that produced her impressive results. Becoming a personal trainer has become her main desire in health and fitness. Since she works out 24/7, she figures, why not train, too? As she builds success in the weight room, why not do it for others who are struggling to implement a consistent diet and workout routine. She already has a few trainees but is anxious to build her clientele. 

“I just want to help people do what I did,” Hicks said confidently. “Eventually I want to go into personal training. Right now my job doesn’t allow me to do that. But I want to do workshop boot camps and I’m also developing a program right now called ‘Build a Body.’ It will provide other women with the information I used over time. They’ll just learn what I learned, and they’ll have all that available. Online and in person clients… I do want to get pretty deep into personal training,” Hicks said. 

You can follow Adrianna and her fitness journey here.