Crystal Lake Woman Behind 'Nikki Gets Fit' Gets Real On Social Media

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — Nikki Madoch has never really been one to put herself out there and has always considered herself to be exceptionally shy and more of an introvert than anything else.

That may seem strange for someone who has more than 78,000 followers on Instagram and another 63,000 followers on YouTube. But for the 28-year-old Crystal Lake resident and business owner, who never imagined herself becoming a social media influencer while losing more than 70 pounds over the past 2-and-a-half years, sharing her journey with the world has done more good than she could have ever imagined.

Madoch will be the first to admit she has always struggled with her weight. But for a former Jacobs High School and college volleyball player, knowing just how much her weight affected her health didn’t really sink in until 2020. That’s when she said she struggled to walk upstairs without getting winded, and when she would wake up in the middle of the night with acid reflux.

Everyone who struggles with weight issues has their own rock-bottom moment and while this was hers, Madoch never considered making herself vulnerable enough to start sharing photos and videos of herself and her weight loss — until she did. It started small when her Instagram subscriber base was all of 20 strangers. But in the more than two years since, the Nikki Gets Fit audience has grown while Nikki and her husband, Adam Yontz, have shrunk.

The couple that has been together for 11 years have combined to lose more than 140 pounds, each contributing 70 pounds. And while following a WW (former Weight Watchers) program has played a major role in their weight-loss success, sharing the ups and downs of the journey with an online audience has provided more motivation than either of them could have dreamed.

In the past, when Madoch wanted to lose weight, it had more to do with how she looked than how carrying extra pounds affected her health. But things got real in 2020, when Madoch feared that she would incur medical bills she and her husband couldn’t afford, which led the couple to take charge of their own weight-loss destiny and venture out on their own.

For Madoch, WW had always been something that the parents of people her age did. She always considered the program more of a diet plan than a lifestyle. But when she and Adam were contemplating how they would change their lives, they discovered that WW offered the perfect roadmap. Taking others along for the ride, though, opened up a whole new window of opportunity.

“It was just a lot of people who were on the same journey just connecting with me,” Nikki told Patch in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “It really shocked me honestly about how many people found my tips helpful, and it was just about how (the WW plan) worked for me and so when I started sharing what had worked for me, people said, ‘I never thought of this', it was really surprising to me.”

Nikki Gets Fit has always been about simplicity. While Madoch shares recipes that she and Adam use regularly on her YouTube channel, none of the meal prep is ever complicated. Each video offers meals that are often constructed with only a few ingredients, with Madoch offering video-friendly, step-by-step instructions for meals that come together quickly and easily. She also does snack reviews and also walks viewers through what a typical day or week of eating looks like while following a healthy plan.

Her Instagram feed, meanwhile, has offered a window into her drastic weight loss journey. When she started April 28, 2020, Madoch said she weighed in at 252 pounds — more than 80 pounds heavier than the weight listed on her driver's license when she graduated from Jacobs in 2012. Since then, the progression of photos has shown a dramatic change that has not only grown the Nikki Gets Fit brand and audience, but has inspired people Madoch will likely never meet to keep going on their own journeys.

For both Nikki and Adam Madoch, the audience explosion has been overwhelming.

“It is the weirdest thing, but it’s amazing,” Nikki said of the growth. “It kind of freaks me out sometimes.”

Adam Yontz always planned to be a silent partner on the YouTube project. While he has always considered starting up a YouTube channel for video game enthusiasts, he never planned to be part of the Nikki Gets Fit on-camera scene. But after watching how the interaction with subscribers brought out the best in his wife, he found himself joining in and participating in videos that brings strangers into the couple’s Crystal Lake home.

Doing the videos together has made both Nikki and Adam more comfortable as they discuss topics that neither of them every originally planned to make public. Nikki said it took a bit of convincing to get Adam to join in with the project. But together, the couple has found more ease talking about their journey, which Adam says is made easier by the fact that everything is happening virtually.

“There’s no faking around this and faking the stuff we’ve done,” Adam Yontz told Patch on Wednesday. “We have a real story, and I think it’s easier (to resonate with) when you’ve got a real story behind it, and you can express it that way.”

The brand has also brought on some unexpected notoriety for the couple. The day after Illinois’ mask mandate was lifted, Nikki and Adam were shopping at the Algonquin Trader Joe's when a store employee walked up and said, “I know you.” Not recognizing the woman as someone they knew, Nikki and Adam found themselves in conversation with the Nikki Gets Fit fan and took a picture with their new friend.

WW recently flew Nikki and Adam to New York City for a photo shoot for a new promotional campaign that expands the local couple’s audience, and that provides further evidence that putting themselves out there has all been worth it.

“There are so many things that I’ve struggled with on my journey or before my journey that I’ve shared and the response from people, saying they’ve got through the same thing, has helped me so much,” Nikki said Wednesday. “I tell people all the time when they message me that they have no idea how much it helps because you realize that I’m not the only one who thought this or felt this way helps me so much.”

Nikki, who runs her own cookie and cake business — Nikki’s Creative Confections — out of her house, says that many people still struggle with the stigma of being overweight. According to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, 75 percent of Americans are either considered overweight or obese, according to health standards. And while her journey has helped her come to grips with her own health and a binge-eating disorder she has battled since childhood, Madoch said that putting her story out there is helping others cope with their own issues.

Weight and body shape and size remain a touchy subject for many, but through their social media efforts, Nikki and Adam hope that their audience can find comfort that there are plenty of others who struggle with the same issues and that there is support out there if people are willing to open themselves up.

Nikki knows that battle as well. For years, she kept her weight issues to herself. Because she remained active due to her volleyball career, Madoch said she always found a way to keep her issues from getting out of control. But once she stopped playing competitively and started gaining weight, things started to shift and the struggles she had lived with for much of her life became more evident.

But taking control of her life and then sharing her story has helped alleviate much of the shame Nikki says she felt. It’s part of the reason she has embraced the community of followers that have joined the Nikki Gets Fit world. In the past week alone, two college volleyball players have reached out to Madoch on Instagram, admitting that they too struggle with food issues and need advice on how to cope.

And once again, someone who has always considered herself shy and introverted has stepped to the front of the stage to help.

“It makes me so emotional, and it makes me glad that I’m here and that (people) can reach out and realize (food issues) are a real thing,” Nikki told Patch.

“I didn’t think I could (make a difference) at all, but it has made it so worth it. It’s hard at times to share things that I don’t want to share or that I feel embarrassed about, but I’ve opened up and it has inspired me at the same time.”

Adam says while he and Nikki have been together for 11 years and have seen each other through a series of life challenges — including maintaining a long-distance relationship for two years when they were in college, Nikki in Missouri and Adam at Southern Illinois — the past 2-and-a-half years have only strengthened their resolve and love for one another.

“The biggest thing for me is just seeing her blossom into the woman I always knew she was going to be,” Adam Yontz said Wednesday. “She’s always been very intelligent, very inspiring and this was a good way for her to just let herself go and put herself out there and see the real Nikki, and I think she saw her real left in all of this, too.”