Milana | A Celebration of Phenomenal Women

“The thing I appreciate most about my life is my gratitude. Gratitude turns what you have into enough and then some.”

-Milana Istakhorova

Owner & Founder of More Than Fitness

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“At age 20, my older sister was getting married and we decided to go on a diet together to lose weight for the wedding. We both started on an extremely restrictive diet; by the end we had each lost 30 pounds. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Except it wasn't.

It was miserable, I was starving, cranky, and couldn't focus. But I was so happy that I was thin. Unfortunately, because I hadn't learned how to eat appropriately, I gained all the weight back. Over the course of the next several years, I went up and down 30 pounds 2 MORE times with the help of restrictive dieting. With the weight loss came confidence and what I deemed "self-love" and I was "taking care of myself", however, with the weight gain all of that was lost. I was angry with myself, I told myself I had no self-control or will-power, and that I wasn't strong enough to keep the weight off.

Finally, one day I was sick and tired of feeling like garbage in my heart and in my body. I hired a personal trainer and started learning what MY body needed in order to function well and look the way I wanted it to look. It was just as much a journey of mindset work as it was weight loss. From that total transformation from the inside out, I decided to try my hand working part time as a kickboxing instructor. I fell in love with working in fitness. So in love, that I left graduate school, and decided to pursue personal training as a full time career. I've since obtained many certifications and worked with hundreds of clients.

While working in corporate fitness for the last couple of years, I noticed that the pattern I experienced on my weight loss journey was strangely similar to the majority of the women I was working with. The work I was doing with my clients quickly became more about the mindset shift. Women have been raised with a very specific understanding of what kind of body is considered beautiful or attractive. The majority of women in this world do not fall into that category. Furthermore, even the women who DO fall into that category have tremendous body image issues. Due to the trauma women experience around the way their body looks paired with the reputation of the fitness industry, so many women avoid the gym like the plague. They're afraid of: what might happen, who might think or say what, not knowing what to do or what Instagram post to believe, etc.

My company, More Than Fitness, is creating a revolution in the fitness industry and is teaching women how to approach fitness differently. Fitness is more than dieting and exercising. Fitness is about community, play, movement, and nutrition - and it looks different for everyone. I take my clients on a journey of deep, long-lasting, holistic transformation of the mind, body, and soul. My mission is to take the fear out of fitness, end the cycle of body trauma and shaming and help women start on a new venture of self-love.

My biggest goal for my clients isn't to help them lose weight so that they can THEN love themselves; it's to guide them in falling in love and deepen the connection they have with themselves so that their body reflects who they are on the inside, regardless of dress size.

I want women to know that they are already incredible, gorgeous goddesses exactly as they are. Women have enough fighting against them in this world, from corporate America, to politics, to the media, etc. we don't need to be fighting against ourselves as well.

Give yourself the compassion and grace you would your best friend or daughter, name the things you love about yourself and celebrate every wonderful part of yourself daily. And most importantly, fall in love with everything you are - yes, even if you're unhappy with your appearance.

Change that comes from love is deeper, more real, and more sustainable than any change that comes from hate.”

Best advice you ever received?

“Was actually from a meme on the internet!!! "Master how to remain calm."

Not only does this do wonders for your mental health, but it also does wonders for every individual organ system in your body.”

Image | Heartbox Photography

Hair & makeup | Becky Lau, Beautiful One Makeup Artistry

A Health Journey - No, I'm Not Showing You My Belly

Lately I've been noticing a lot of friends, family, and business acquaintances posting up various things on Facebook, their blogs, etc. about their health journey and the things they are doing to lead a healthier lifestyle.

A close friend of mine shares various photos of the meals he's eating as part of his journey to better his health after experiencing a mild-heart attack - in his 30's! A stylist I know started documenting her healthy meal preparations throughout the week as she could stick to eating right even in the midst of her busy schedule. Another friend is working hard with a trainer to help push her to accomplish new goals with her health. A client of mine is enjoying newfound physical energy and strength after committing to get healthy, work with a trainer, and get her blood pressure down.

And of course, my own dear hubby who never liked to run at all, started running in January, makes time for it in the early morning hours, and is now slated to run his first half-marathon in Disneyland next month.

After noticing just a few of these inspiring stories, I started looking at my own routines. It dawned on me that my eating habits didn't always reflect balance and health, and although I was a regular at the gym, my workout routines had long plateaued into simply "maintenance mode" exercise. I had stopped pushing myself, barely broke a sweat, and made excuses too easily when my snacking throughout the day consisted of mini-chocolate bars and potato chips. Not that potato chips or chocolate are wrong (ooooh, you will NEVER hear me say something that silly!) but when it was a Monday-Friday deal, well, something has to change.

I come from a family where high-cholesterol and blood pressure can be genetic and make life not so fun. I see many people around me who, unfortunately, really wish they could be healthy but because of illness they can't control, this is a tough goal for them to achieve. Needless to say, I don't have a good excuse for slacking.


I had recently signed up with a personal trainer and started taking hot yoga classes and, ooh, have mercy, I didn't think it was possible to sweat in buckets after only 15 minutes after either of this exercise routines. I'm finally feeling the burn, literally and figuratively, and have also started journaling my eating habits per the advise of my trainer.

Don't worry - I have no desire to go posting what my stomach looks like because, quite frankly, I'm embarrassed and don't want you to see how much chocolate and take out I've indulged in. However, in hopes that this inspires more out there to get up and get healthy, I will start journaling the next 6 months of this commitment - ALL of it. The easy days, the not so easy days, the potato chip days, the I-love/hate-my trainer, the oh-my-gosh-is-this-even-working? - days

Here's to making changes for a healthy and beautiful you.

Happy Friday!