Exercise and Activity! Tell Us About Your Journey!

My journey to where I am now is a winding one.

I started out fairly active, but I never considered myself sporty or physically fit as a kid. My parents enrolled me in swimming lessons, soccer, climbing wall classes, and lots of other clubs and activities. Although I liked it I never really saw these activities as being "exercise" it was just fun!

After starting high school and taking my first real P.E. classes I started differentiating exercise from fun and learning that I actually didn't think exercise was fun! I think it's because my teachers were not inspiring or creative.

Coming to college, I finally had the freedom to make my own health and wellness choices. I could eat what I wanted to eat and do what I wanted to do. But I didn't really start making the right choices (albeit I wasn't making horrible ones either) until I met my current boyfriend. He used to be a physical trainer and although I was skinny when we met I had ZERO muscle. He showed me how to lift weights and how to exercise for my body goals and taught me about the different types of exercise and how to eat right. (I didn't even know what calories were before I met him - embarassing!)

So now although I still have not much more muscle than when I started I know how to do a bunch of impressive lifts which is awesome, and I know how to eat healthy, not just guess at what's good for me. And that's a good feeling to have. :)

I really enjoy inline skating. I am actually able to do it in my basement right now. I never have a problem with motivation to go skating (either inline or ice), whereas when I was a member of a gym, it was a little more difficult. I also enjoy bike riding when the weather is warm where I live.

what about geocaching?

I exercise every day in the morning, so i've done it and the rest of the day i'm "free" haha :D

I do Yoga every day and workouts, that depends on what i did the day before, so my muscles can relax while i work on other parts of my muscular system. :) Every second day i exercise with dumb-bells and every friday i go in the gym for rehab, because i've got problems with my spinal column and hip. That's all :)

Finding new ways to Get and Stay Motivated!

So hey everyone.... I bought this new Tracker, Its called the FITBIT (Blaze).... and I thought it was pretty amazing. I actually had bought it to track my sleep initially even thought I knew it included so much more!.... Its rather a "pricey" buy, however, it literally tracks everything I do. (Steps, sleep, activity, HeartRate, even the 'Floors" I climb!).....It tracks water intake, food intake....and so much more. The only thing It doesn't do is track "swimming".....

So I recently have begun swimming again since summer is back in FULL swing!.... I wanted a way to track that as well So...... several weeks after buying my 'Fitbit" I found the "Garmin VIVO"....And this tracks everything the FitBit tracks only its "Water Resistant" so I can now track my swimmng as well!..... I LOVE being able to look down at either watch and know what my goals are, and what I want them to be. Or where I "Need" to be! Its totally keeping me on track to getting those STEPS and that Activity in daily!....

One other NEW Passion I have found is dusting off my "Wii Fit' that i bought at least 2-3 years ago! lol..... I bought it with intentions of using it, but...well (you know how that goes) Well, I recently dusted it off, and got on again, I am now 'Stepping" more, Jogging more, Walking more....and really during all the time I would just be sitting around and not really doing much, I now use that as the opportunity to jump on my Wii Board!.... What really makes it even more fun, Is My Husband has now BOUGHT the SAME Fitbit and has now created an account on our Wii Fit as well! So....... this has definitely "Upped" our Fitness and Health Goals.... It has gotten us out of a "slump" due to the newly awakening of our goals and 'Friendly Competition" with one another! (Grab a fitness tracker, grab a partner, grab a Wii Fit!!).... and "Up your game, fitness goals, or friendly competition as well

I lost over 200lbs the natural way and I am able to maintain the weight loss

Hey guys! So my journey has only just begun. I have always been rather active and I have definitely been very critical of my body for many years. It wasn't until this past year where my active lifestyle became a healthy one. Not only were my close friends very supportive but there was one thing that changed my ways: Knowledge.

Being in college for a while with all the control of my eating habits and excerise, I realized that I didn't know much about health. I was rather unaware of what was really in my food and what nutrients I was gaining. I honestly had no idea what amazing things could happen when I introduced more protein into my diet and cut out starches and breads. Understanding more of what my body needed and wanted, helped me to treat it better. My good friend also taught me to think of food intake as the gas in a car: Fuel. Give your body what it needs to be productive and it will be.

Ultimately this changed how I viewed my work outs as well. My one friend is huge into lifting and another is into CrossFit. Never have I ever done either of those but hey I was willing to give it a try. Relying only on cardio beforehand had put a lot of stress on me as to what my diet consisted of and how many calories I could burn. After learning new strength techniques, I realized lifting and building muscle not only burns more calories but it continues after your work out has ended.

Presently, I have more of a desire to be strong and fit than I do to just lose weight. With only a handful of nutrition and excercise tips, I was able to change my path. I still have a ways to go but I am excited to see where it will take me. :)

I workout everyday first thing in the morning. I think I started doing after an illness about four years ago. I've actually been running and working out since junior high school. It hasn't always been easy, I've had ups and downs.

I don't like go to the gym and all my workout try do at home. I running on treadmill,do yoga, riding ouside when weather allow me. I even consider to buy home gym http://jonsguide.org/best-top-home-gym-equipment-reviews/ because I understand cardio is not enough and need to add weight training

So I started dancing ballet at the age of 6. From the time I was 12, I was dancing at least 6 days per week for a minimum of 3 hours (Saturday and Sundays were 8-hour days). At 14, I went to a school who had a flexible attendance policy which allowed me to take dance classes all day as long as I would submit the coursework online on time. Over those years, I developed a combination of eating disorders in order to remain in my dance company. And finally, at 16, I came to a realization I couldn't dance because the degree of intensity wasn't healthy. For the next year, I ate anything and everything that had been "prohibited" while I was dancing and gained weight quickly. I had to go to a public school. The first day of school, I decided I needed to be healthy which meant eating right (no crazy no-carb, no-protein diets) and getting physical exercise a few times per week. And that's what I did! I did cheerleading in school. And after graduation, I got involved in running and yoga. Now, I run (or walk depending on my injury) a few times and take two workout classes per week.

I signed up for a recreational ballet class. The first class is 8 hours from now.. :) Wish me luck!