A Look Into Why I Do What I Do...My Story!

My love for fitness started when I was 15 years old.  I had always been active playing sports and being a tomboy following my younger brother, Joey, and his buddies around.  My mom was a great cook and taught us how to eat right.  Fast food and meals out were not very common, to this day I thank my mom for this.  My brother, aside from letting me play sports with him, taught me how to weight train and this began my love for strength training.  It was around this time that I took up tennis and started playing for my school team.  It was also around this time when my struggle with food and body image started and my lifetime of yo-yo dieting began.  I can't really pinpoint why or when I stared my battle with anorexia, but I will tell you it was not fun or easy to deal with.  I lost a ton of weight and was a staggering 108, which was thin for my 5' 7" frame.  My mom begged me to eat and to stop working out so much.  Eventually two of my closest friends talked to my mom and my high school guidance counselor and talked with me about their concerns.  At first I was mad and felt betrayed, but eventually I realized what I was doing was not healthy and very dangerous.  With the help of those same people I was able to over come that battle.

Fast forward to college, cafeteria food, pizza delivered to the dorm and a snack store open all night and the dreaded freshmen 15!  When I came home that summer, I hadn't realized how much I gained until I saw myself in a family picture.  I started working out regularly again, something I wasn't doing at school, and eating home cooked meals.  The rest of college I was consistent with my working out and eating.  I had found my balance of the college life and taking care of myself.  It was here that I even met the man I would later marry.

My hubby and I on our wedding day!

In 2006, I did marry the love of my life.  But with this happiness came the next and most tragic stop in my journey.  Two weeks after we were married, the day we returned from our honeymoon, I heard the most heart shattering, life changing news...my best friend, Julia, had taken her own life.  We had been friends since we were 14, she helped in my anorexia struggle and stood up in my wedding, how was this even possible?  I entered into a state of depression and utter grief.  I once again stopped taking care of myself.  Long story short and sad to say there was a lot of fast food consumed during this point and no working out.  What was supposed to be the happiest time in my life turned into a very low point for me.  My new hubby, bless his heart signed us up for the gym, when I told him I was unhappy with how I felt.  I started working out again, this was not new for me, the starting over, but I also knew that I needed to really learn more about working out and eating clean.  Reading Oxygen magazine one day I happened upon Tosca Reno and the eat clean diet. This is when things truly changed for me and I knew that I wanted to pursue a career of fitness.  It was working out and eating right that brought me back to who I was and gave me my life back.  I still missed my friend, but I knew how to better deal with it.  I could grieve, miss her and still take care of myself.

My bridal party, my best friend I lost is on my left in the picture, with the dark hair. 

Me at my heaviest.  After this trip to FL, I changed my life!

 After, a few more "jobs", I finally got my NASM Certification and my job at Lifetime Fitness.  This was finally a career that I knew would be what I would do for the rest of my life.  After having my daughter in 2012, truly the happiest day of my life, I became a stay at home mom.  I still wanted to be a personal trainer which is why I started On Fire Fitness Personal training and my Healthy Living blog.  I have since become an NASM Fitness Nutrition Specialist,  I work with clients in fitness and nutrition and I write for my blog to help inspire others to live a healthy life.  Whatever your story and what has happened in the past it is never too late to find what you love and do it everyday!  I have finally come to peace with my body and I love it for the strength I have, the daughter it gave me and the healthy life that I live. No more yo-yos for me, well until I teach my daughter how to use the toy kind!

Me and my daughter.  I am happy and healthy!

If you have a story about how fitness changed your life please contact me at onfirefitnesspt@hotmail.com if you would like to share it on my blog.
I would love to hear from you!