Welcome to my page!

Hi Friends!

Welcome to my blog! I am so happy you are here! This is a place where I will post recipes, workouts, share struggles and successes, and share any tips I learn. I want to provide a place for you to find resources that make life easier for you. We all need help, and I hope to provide that for you. Please let me know if there is any way that I can help you. I want to be your cheerleader, friend, and a resource for healthy living.

Healthy living means many things to me. It is not just a physically fit body on the outside but on the inside too. To be honest, being fit on the inside has been my biggest struggle. I am an introverted person, who loves people, but struggles to feel worthy of having friends. I have battled self loathing for a majority of my life, and it has been a struggle to overcome it. Of course, I have good days and bad days, but my good days are becoming more frequent then my bad ones. Yay! Deep down I know that my worth is in Christ and Him alone, but my desire to be accepted by others is a real struggle for me. However, I refuse to let it have a hold on me any longer. My value will not be estimated by the opinions of others, so I will do what I love and whoever doesn’t like me doesn’t have to. It’s perfectly okay to not be everyone’s “cup of tea”.

My passion has been fitness and nutrition for over 20 years. In fact, I went to school to be a personal trainer exactly 20 years ago. I loved learning about exercise and implementing what I learned. I worked for a large fitness chain while I was in school as an aerobics and water aerobics teacher. I also interned as a personal trainer to gain experience. It was during my internship that I became discouraged about my future in the fitness industry. I was constantly being told to “sell, sell, sell”, which is not my personality at all. I decided to cast my dream aside. I just figured that I wasn’t meant to be a personal trainer. My passion for fitness never wavered, but my desire to work in a gym did.

Instead I worked out for my own benefit and raised children. Fitness helped me lose 55 pounds of pregnancy weight 3 times and kept me sane while raising little ones. While my kids were little, I would be lucky to fit in 3 workouts per week. I did my best but sometimes it just didn’t happen. As they got older, I found it easier to stick to a consistent schedule. I missed the gym at times, but working out at home was much easier then lugging 3 kids to a gym. Sometimes I did my workout in my pjs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the last 4 years, I have definitely stepped up my intensity in workouts. I found that the harder I worked, the more results I achieved. There were times when I literally thought, “I can’t do one more tuck jump or lunge”. But, each week I got better and better. Seeing progress pushed me harder. I started making little goals for myself. My first goal was to run 6 miles. The funny thing is that I hated running; I still do, but I wanted to achieve something I never thought was possible for me. After 4 months, I did it. I ran 8 miles! I started to have more injuries, so I switched gears and headed back into my basement to workout. I set a new goal to do at least one push-up on my toes. Slowly, I got better and better at it. I can currently do about 26, but I am pushing for 30. I also jumped back into weight training. I always loved lifting weights, but I had set it aside to focus on running; I don’t recommend that. Cross training is important. After a period of time, I found myself lifting heavier and doing more push-ups. Progress can really motivate you! I also fell in love with HIIT training. I made huge progress through HIIT training and Tabata style workouts. I made more progress then I thought I could in a relatively short period of time. I started constructing my own workouts again, like I did when I was in school.

So there is a little back story for you. Well actually, that was a pretty long back story! Sorry! From here on out, I aim to share at least 2 recipes per week, workout tips, workout reviews, products I love and much more. I am not an expert at anything! But, I love teaching and helping people, so I will share what has worked for me and recipes I love. Nothing I say replaces the opinion of your doctor, so before you try anything I recommend, get their okay first. Let’s do this together!