#fmls

My name is Amanda and I had no interest in fitness when I was younger. I used to do anything to get out of running or pushups or any kind of physical activity. But, when highschool rolled around all of my friends were so skinny and they could share clothes and I got jealous. I wanted to be like that too, I started restricting and binging.

I was at my highest weight when i was in college and decided to move to New York. I ended up falling into the hands of my eating disorder and dropped from 180 to 130 over the course of 6 months. It took a toll on me mentally and physically and when I moved back to PA I became bored with life and even more depressed and gained almost all my weight back.

But then two semesters into my new college I saw a sign that changed my life. They needed more people for the XC team. Now mind you I had never ran before and I explained that to the coach, but he still wanted me to join.

Over the course of two years he changed my life for the better, I made friends, I found a sport I loved, I learned to love and respect my body waaaaay more than I had before, and I learned to feed it not because I was bored but because it deserves it!  My body is amazing!!

Since then I’ve done spartan races, tough mudders, a half marathon, a full marathon, and next weekend I am doing my first trail relay for charity.

But, since then I have also graduated college and moved to a place where the closest gym is 45 mins away and not that great, and crazy expensive. I don’t have many friends here (except my boyfriend) and sometimes my depression gets the better of me.

I know that working out helps with my depression but it also makes it hard to keep working out once I’ve fallen out of the groove, so I’m hoping this 90 day challenge will help me stay in the groove!

Besides working out I love cats, coffee, cooking, and thrifting. My apartment doesn’t currently allow me to have a cat, but at my parent’s house I have 5 named Momo, Mia, Sparta (he has Cerebral Palsy), Otto, and Pepper and 1 dog named Rue who is a great running buddy (I tend to slow her down).

3.10/2 What are some of your high level fitness goals for the rest of the year?

    I want sooooo badly to place at the turkey trot in my town again (top 3) I don’t even care if it’s 3rd I just want to place.

   I also really want to beat my time from last year.

 Run 8 min/mile average pace for a 5k

 Run 7 min mile for 1 mile

 Go on a long run for 13.1 miles (for fun not a race)

 Sign up for another marathon and start training (this is mostly dependent on if I can get a job/cash though.)

Workout at least 4 days a week!

 I will add more if I ever actually get access to a gym!

4. 10/3 - Talk about your support structure. Who are your champions?

My boyfriend is my rock. I live in an area where I don’t know anyone and so I get really down sometimes, and he pushes me to go do things where I might meet people. He also notices if I am getting sad or moody because that is a sign that I haven’t gone for a run.

He shows up to all my races and cheers me on and takes all my photos for my instagram and tumblr, no matter how many crazy poses I make him take pictures of. I am so thankful for him.

My coach is another champion of mine. Well…I guess he isn’t my coach anymore since I graduated but he always will be to me. I want to get fit so that we can do a tough mudder together and I won’t slow him down haha!

Oh and my best friend Holly! I love that girl, she just makes me want to be a better person all around and she always tells me how fit I look and stuff, she is like my pit crew that takes care of me, and I want to be that for her too!

5. 10/4 - What are some of your unique challenges? How do you plan to overcome them?

Obviously not having a gym is a bit of a challenge as well as not having a job/income.

I will be working out at home and using the equipment I have here (dumbbells and resistance bands) as well as amazon workout videos and going for runs/bike rides.

I am going to continue to look for jobs (and hope that my boyfriend finds a new one back towards pittsburgh so that I can go back to work) so that I can get a gym membership when the winter months come so my running doesn’t suffer.

My depression is also a challenge, but I am going to try to use my sunlamp and get as much real sun as possible until I can’t, and workout when I can. When it feels overwhelming I will try to talk to others to figure it out.

6. 10/5 - How public or private are you as a person? How much of your fitness Journey do you plan to share here and with your friends and family?

I mean I have an instagram account for my running so I am pretty public about it. I feel like a lot of people can relate to my experiences and if I can help any one with what I’ve gone through then I definitely want to!!

As for this challenge in particular I will def be talking about it with my boyfriend and best friend but I am not quite sure if my parents would understand haha!