How Fitness Changed my Life

Now I'm not one of those people who tried every thing to lose weight, or dropped 100+ pounds or anything like that (those of you who did are absolutely amazing), but I have changed my life for fitness and health.

Being an active child and playing sports through high school (soccer, basketball, and track), I never had to think about what I ate or provide myself with any sort of limit. My mother is from the south so she used about 3 sticks of butter and 2 cups of bacon grease with every entree also. I went on to get a scholarship to play soccer at a small school in North Carolina in college for my freshman and sophomore year. Not the all-star I was in high school on my state championship team, I didn't see much of the field and still didn't think anything of my eating habits. None the less the college fast food and drinking didn't help my figure and I had put on the infamous freshman 15 come Christmas break.

I began to research about health and weight management more and more with my free time, following Twitter profiles devoted to a healthy lifestyle, "eat this not that", and finding easy and healthy recipes on Pinterest.

By the fall of my sophomore year, I was looking into what I wanted to do next with my life, now that I had lost my passion for playing soccer (very sad I know). I had taken group fitness classes at the gym with my good friend and loved every minute of the boot camp, Body Pump, and Spinning classes and thought, "Why couldn't I teach and get paid for working out, something I'd already be doing?" By spring of 2012 I was teaching group exercise classes of boot camp intervals and ab classes, loving every minute of it.

In Fall of 2012, I had transferred schools and became a step aerobics instructor (haha). Dancing is never my thing, but I took the opening and made the class my own interval based strength class with an added step. I love being open to new things. Next semester, spring of 2013 I will be teaching Spinning, Ab Attack, and Boot Camp.

I love to cook new things and come up with new ideas and creations. A simple way to start your day and overall lifestyle healthier is to ALWAYS EAT BREAKFAST! Shown below is one of my favorite breakfast meals that keeps me full until lunch.

Breakfast: Veggie Omelet

• One egg, two egg whites
• Chopped Onions, Spinach, Avocado, Tomatoes 
• (basically any veggies you want to throw in there)
• One Orange - sliced

 Approximately 254 Calories

** If you like it spicy, top with your favorite salsa**
(not pictured here, but I smothered this baby with Salsa Verde for that extra kick)