A few years ago, when Emily Skye was just getting started on her fitness journey, she was in a surprisingly dark place. "I was really negative, insecure, depressed, and didn't even want to live anymore," she says. "I was really skinny and obsessed with being thin." But after making a whole slew of changes in her life — eating healthier, lifting weights, surrounding herself with more positive people — she gained a new perspective and began to feel better mentally and physically. "That wasn't an overnight thing, and I still work on it now," she says. "But I always go back to why I started and how good I feel when I exercise, and eat healthy, and be positive." Now she's a fitness star across social media and the creator of the FIT program , which offers guidance on exercising, nutrition, and building up a positive mindset (FIT stands for Fitness Inspiration Transformation). And she's currently helping Reebok promote its new "Hands" campaign, which gives you the chance to book a free training session with a ReebokONE trainer this week via the Handstand app . Below, we talked to Skye, 32, about why body positivity is so important to her — and how she uses fitness and Instagram to spread her message of self-acceptance."Before going to the gym, I might be having a bad day or feeling down or my confidence isn't too good. Then I go in there and I start lifting and I start feeling better. It's hard, it's tough, but I know it's good because it reminds me I'm alive. You actually feel everything. "You feel a sense of empowerment and that translates to other areas of your life — even doing things like [this interview]. I never used to be able to talk to people, I couldn't go on TV, I used to be extremely shy. Fitness has been a huge part of helping me because you step out of the gym and you feel like you can really tackle anything. That's helped me overcome depression. Sometimes I slip back to feeling unhappy and a bit down, but it's usually when I've had time off from training or haven't been eating too healthy for a period of time. I start to feel those negative feelings I used to have and don't let myself go back there. I keep going [with fitness and eating healthy] instead."