Hi guys! After much procrastinating, I’ve finally brought myself to write my first blog post. I’m here to share my fitness journey, connect with people who share my passion for fitness where we can learn from one another, and to give you (and myself) that little extra motivation that we all need from time to time.

Growing up, I always struggled with my weight and body image. I was always a bit heavier but stayed fairly active. I never had much of an issue sticking to the working out side of things. Once I get into a routine, it’s not hard for me to stick with it, I’m a very routinely person – to a fault I could even say. My downfall was and still is the eating side of things (of course, the most important). I grew up in a big family that focused heavily on eating. We did Sunday Dinners every week, family parties more often than not, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g involved a lot of food. As I sit here writing this, I am drooling, dreaming of all of my dad’s best recipes.

Things got out of hand in college when I became less active and was living the college lifestyle of eating and drinking whatever and whenever I wanted, thinking I was invincible and it would never catch up to me. Well, did it ever. Graduating college – Summer 2014, I was at my heaviest, 205 lbs. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was at the point where I was beginning to accept the fact that “I’m just a heavier set girl, I’m not meant to be thin”. As soon as this thought started crossing my mind, I knew I had to get it under control before I lost all hope.

I started using the Nike Training Club app and creating plans and really sticking to them. I also started making very minor adjustments to the way I was eating and tracking everything in My Fitness Pal (I still use both of these apps often). Let me tell you, it was a very long process to get to where I am now and I still have so many more improvements to make. Instead of eating the pancakes, bacon, eggs, for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and a very high carb, high fat, unhealthy dinner that my dad would make, I started to eat my own breakfast – scrambled eggs & toast, my own lunch – spinach and grilled chicken wraps, and then I would eat what he made for dinner. Which, yes, wasn’t very healthy but I would watch my portions, not go back for seconds like I typically would. Eventually these small changes to my diet led to even more changes down the line. Now, breakfast is oatmeal with fruit, lunch – a salad with yummy toppings, and dinner – turkey or chicken with veggies and whole grain rice. This did not happen overnight. It took me a long time to get here but it never would have happened if I never started making minor adjustments. A little at a time.

After a few months of sticking to the workout routine and monitoring my food intake, the pounds started coming off and I started feeling more confident. This confidence made me work harder and it was a domino effect. I felt good, I worked harder, it was a constant cycle.

                           September 2014                      September 2015

During all of this, I decided to move from my home state of Connecticut to California. This was probably the best thing I could do for myself and for my health. It is really difficult to live in Santa Monica, CA and not live an active lifestyle. Everyone around you is constantly moving and there are a ton of healthy options so it does make it a little easier. Also, finally being in control of all of my grocery shopping and cooking made a world of difference. I now had to cook for myself and go grocery shopping for myself (I did this in college too but let’s be real, my diet was much different then). After about 8 months in CA I was down 65 lbs and felt better than ever.

 

                                                    January 2017

It’s been almost 3 years since I made this lifestyle change and I’ve been able to maintain the weight loss. Not only have I accomplished my goals, throughout my weight loss journey, I learned a lot about myself and realized that fitness is my passion in life. In the past month, I took the National Academy of Sports Medicine Personal Training exam and got my certification as a NASM Personal Trainer. It’s truly amazing to be able to do what I love and help people gain confidence and accomplish their goals along the way. I want to be able to share my story with people and inspire them. I was always the girl who thought I could never do it and I better just be happy because that was the way I was built. I want you to know that you can do it, don’t settle. Push yourself. If I did, trust me, then you absolutely can. You just have to start. One day at a time. Not every day is going to be great, you will have set-backs and bad days, it’s normal. It’s also part of the journey, how you grow and how you learn. Take something away from each and every day, even the shitty ones. So, welcome to my blog old and new friends! What’s your story? I can’t wait to connect with all of you and see what this crazy ride has in store for us!

HAPPY TRAINING! GET OUT THERE AND GET IT!