Despite facing significant challenges, Kayla Nicole appears to be leveraging them to her advantage.
Renowned fitness expert and content creator, Kayla Nicole, found herself in the midst of a difficult period following a breakup last summer. For her, the decision to embark on talk therapy marked a pivotal realization.
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Nicole has always turned to physical fitness as an outlet for emotional stress. She confides in PEOPLE that, even when she was “in the best shape of” her life, she still felt “miserable on the inside.” She explains, “I genuinely say this and mean this — I don’t like who I am when I don’t work out.” Nicole, who naturally grapples with anxiety and has faced bouts of depression, highlights how her fitness journey has been a lifeline on multiple occasions.
However, when confronted with “a major breakup and major life change” last summer, the former Los Angeles Lakers in-game reporter discovered the significance of mental well-being. She realized, “It’s one thing to be physically fit, but it’s another thing to be mentally fit.”
Nicole, who spent five years in an on-again, off-again relationship with NFL player Travis Kelce, acknowledges the challenge of maintaining her authenticity as a fitness influencer, a title she hesitates to label herself with but acknowledges, “I know I am one.” She then candidly discusses the challenges she encountered during this significant life transition.
“Just full transparency, I went through this major breakup, major life change, and I had lost a substantial amount of weight within a very short amount of time. I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating. I was really abusing melatonin to sleep at night,” she says.
Although she “was still working out” during that time, updates to social media led to confusing feedback from her followers. “I’m posting content and people are like, ‘You look so good. Tell us your tricks. You look amazing.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m miserable. I’m miserable. I’m depressed,’ ” Nicole admits. “My abs were amazing, I had a six-pack. And it was like, ‘I had never felt so bad in my life.’ “
She continues, “So, I started going to therapy and quickly realized, okay, it’s one thing to be physically fit, but it’s another thing to be mentally fit. You could be in the best shape of your life, but mentally, if you are not a healthy person, it’s not going to feel good.”
Nicole and Kelce initially began their relationship in 2017, but in May 2022, the couple formally ended their association. With the media spotlight intensifying around Kelce’s burgeoning relationship with the renowned singer Taylor Swift, Nicole found herself undeservingly subjected to online harassment and adverse scrutiny.
Dealing with the fact that your former partner is now dating one of the most globally renowned individuals surely poses a considerable challenge.
