'I Wanted To Be Stronger Inside And Out'

Demetra Eftimiades wanted to be skinny, until she realized what she really was searching for was strength.

- Kristin Mahoney

DEMETRA EFTIMIADES has been passionate about sports since middle school. She played volleyball, soccer, softball, lacrosse, and basketball year round, and went on to play basketball in college. But being athletic didn’t mean she was healthy. Eftimiades fought a weight problem, and at her heaviest she weighed 155 pounds at a petite 5'1".

When she was 19, Eftimiades decided she wanted to lose weight—and she dropped 40 pounds in just three months. But she didn’t do it in a healthy way. “I wasn’t eating enough—I was going through a breakup, I was depressed and had no appetite,” she recalls. She found herself getting light-headed when she stood up and had to take frequent naps to combat her constant fatigue. While she was thin, she says, she wasn’t happy, especially with how weak she felt. So she turned to the gym for help.

STARTING OUT

Her fitness journey started with her athletic interest— instead of a set workout schedule, she would play pickup soccer or basketball, or go running with a friend. “Exercising in a group setting was both motivating and fun for me,” she says.