Muffin Top-Less

You know that saying, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”? Well it couldn’t be more true! When you find something you’re passionate about, it doesn’t feel like work.

When I first started blogging about health and fitness, I did it for fun. I had gotten my B.S. degree in Psychology, so part of me always thought I would eventually become a counselor. But life is a funny thing… you never know what’s around the bend! For years after I graduated, I studied and shared my knowledge about health and fitness with all of you. I created free fitness challenges, workouts, recipes and tips to help you all reach your goals (and I continue to do so whenever I can)! I know many of you have been with me since day 1 of my Tumblr blog! That’s “where the magic happened” lol.

Over the years, I was asked frequently to create programs to help you all get in shape. I listened, and that’s how my home-workout Bikini Body Program was born (the Fit Body Program and 21 Day Fit Body Jump Start Program followed)! What started out as a hobby, quickly became my job! And I’ve loved every second of it! Health and fitness became my passion… and helping other girls find their passion for it made it even better!

I’ve enjoyed “training” you guys via my programs… but the part I liked the most was hearing from you. Getting progress pictures and update messages is so incredibly motivating and rewarding. I’m seriously not kidding when I say you guys MAKE MY DAY when you share your journey with me. However, I don’t always hear from every girl that has done my programs. It has made me realize that while these programs are a wonderful thing, they’re not as personal as I’d like!

That’s why a couple weeks ago, I decided to start custom training. I want to work with you guys one on one! I want to help you reach your goals and follow you on this health and fitness journey. Within the next couple of weeks, I’ll be offering custom online training. I hope to also train you guys one on one IN PERSON! You want to build a booty? I gotchu! You want to “tone” your abs? I gotchu! =P

In addition, I applied for a personal training job at a gym in the South Bay (Manhattan Beach)… and I got it!!! I will be starting there at the end of the month!

I’ll have more details for you guys in the coming weeks. But you have NO IDEA how excited I am to work with you one on one!

I hope that you are able to find a job you love.. something rewarding and fulfilling that makes you eager to wake up every morning (even on Mondays).

As always, you guys are welcome to email me if you ever want to check-in! [email protected]

DO YOU HAVE THE INSTAGRAM BLUES?

Just by looking at my social media, it’s easy to assume all I do is workout, eat healthy and take selfies. But the truth is, eating healthy and working out is part of my lifestyle, not WHO I am. I think all too often, we judge people based off of the little information we glean from their Instagram or Facebook.

We glorify people who may not be very kind. A fit girl we look up to posts a picture of her body and we beat ourselves up because we aren’t that lean or defined. Someone posts about their new Fendi handbag and we get depressed because we don’t feel like we’re successful enough.

We need to cut it the heck out!

People often assume things about me based on the things I post, like I’m obsessed with physical fitness, or that I’m positive all the time, but that’s not always true.

I’m a normal girl… I binge-watch Netflix.. I love hiking and riding my horse.. sometimes I’m shy and socially awkward (ok, most of the time).. I love cute animal videos (especially ones of pugs or elephants).. I used to collect snails from my Mom’s garden and keep them as pets.. I’m the girl that says “I don’t care” when asked where we should go to eat, but deep down I know where I want to go, I just don’t want to say it and have everyone not like my choice.. I love Dragon Ball Z.. I hate the color orange.. I’m super accident prone (I threw my neck out by tightening a ponytail band once).. I always have candles burning in the evening because I find them soothing. I swear like a sailor and I’m a super lazy procrastinator. My sense of humor is usually “inappropriate.” I’m weird and quirky. And like anyone, I make mistakes and I have flaws. I’m human!

The point is, you can’t sum up a person’s entire identity by stalking their Instagram account. There are real people behind the pages that you follow. Those people make mistakes, they have secrets, they have likes and dislikes… they’re REAL.

That’s why it’s so important that you NOT beat yourself up for how you look or how your life is going by comparing yourself to others. A person’s highlight reel (ie. IG) isn’t going to look like your behind-the-scenes. What it boils down to is this…the only comparison you should be making is to who you were yesterday. Worry about bettering yourself for your own sake…because you’re freaking cool, dude! Which doesn’t mean you can’t still appreciate the posts and pictures of other people, but stop with the comparisons! You don’t need to be like anyone else, because you’re rad all on your own.

Left: College, Middle: Senior Year, Right: Now

Have you ever struggled with finding balance? I don’t know about you… but I’ve always been an “all or nothing” kind of person. If I set my sights on a goal, I become obsessed. A lot of people do this when it comes to getting in shape. They completely turn their life upside down in order to lose weight or “tone up.” They cut out all “bad” foods, exercise an hour or more every day, avoid socializing or happy hours to avoid eating and drinking… Then after a week or two of this, they burn out and go back to their old lifestyle. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this story. And honestly… I’ve been in the same exact boat!

It took me years to find balance and I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way. Patterns developed. Some may sound familiar to you... I’d eat the so-called “wrong” thing, or a whole lot of so-called “wrong” things and I’d think, “Well, I just blew it, so why stop now?” Slipping up often meant giving up. I’d gain a little weight, not like the way I looked (or more importantly, felt), and I’d beat myself up over it. Then I’d get back to my strict way of eating and working out, until I lost the weight. But I’d invariably mess up again. That’s how I saw it, too. As messing up — a cycle of indulging and then punishing myself.

I just wrote a new post on my website, to share with you guys how I finally found a way to stay motivated and stay on track with my goals, without going to extremes. You can read about it here: Finding Balance