With the summer around the corner, everyone is trying to hit the gym hard to get that “snatched” look, but Katie Bolden, 30, shows that with serious determination, you can always be summer-ready.

Struggling with weight throughout her life, Katie started her weight-loss journey in 2013 and lost a whopping 150 pounds. Full of excitement, she couldn’t wait to show off her banging body.

Katie recently posted an image on Instagram flexing her new body and her recent accomplishment of topping five contestants in the transformation division for the WBFF Fitness Atlantic USA Championships body-building competition. 

After receiving hundreds of comments about her new look, people wanted to know more about the mother of a 2-year-old and what inspired her to pump that iron.

“My daughter constantly inspires me. She is my miracle baby and my role model. She brings out the best in me and she helps me out of my bubble to be more outgoing. I want nothing more than to prove to her that she will always be beautiful no matter her size, to reach for the stars and that she can do absolutely anything that she puts her mind, heart and soul into,” she passionately expressed. 

“I was overweight for most of my life and some people never let me forget and talked down to me because of it,” she shared.

The journey was not all easy for the fitness enthusiast, who decided to document her newfound lifestyle with her blog, HuffnPuff RoughnTough. The fitness blogger shared that she struggled with a “long battle with depression, two different types of anxiety disorders” and even polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, which has been known to have symptoms like obesity.

“There is no cure for PCOS at this time, but the symptoms are manageable. To gain control of my PCOS, I cleaned up my diet and started eating healthier and exercising, which resulted in weight loss which aided in the relief and control of the disease,” she shared with us.

“Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet helps with a lot of the symptoms that come with PCOS.”

While others would have lost confidence, it only motivated Katie further, and when she began to have “episodes of mobility issues” due to a 95 percent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves, she really used it as "a wake up call and a sign” to do all the things she wanted to do.

“You have the control and ability to change your life. Life is too short to remain in a bubble and to not find out everything you are capable of. You are capable of a lot more than you think! You can do this and don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t. Your kids are watching… make them proud!”

Katie seems to be enjoying life to the fullest. Her confidence, motivation and inspiration make her a BET Babe to Watch!

Do you know someone who is inspirational that you would like to nominate as a BET Babe to Watch? Drop a line in the comments!