My Fitness Journey
If you’ve read My Story, you know that I was very active growing up, from dancing to hiking to playing outside, I was constantly moving my body. I was a dancer for 15 years and a cheerleader for my school from 7th grade to senior year. If I didn’t have dance or cheer practice, I would go hiking in the metro parks with my dad and my dog, Judy. Moving my body became part of my everyday routine.
A lot of my friends growing up were on the gymnastics team. Brecksville’s gym is well-known throughout Cleveland (our high school gymnastics team won states every year) and would say it was the ‘popular’ sport. I was so inspired by how strong and fit the girls on the gym team were, but my mom told me I was too tall to be a gymnast and she didn’t want me to get hurt. Noticing that my body wasn’t built like theirs made me insecure—my friends had abs, ripped arms, and strong legs so I thought that was the “cool” body to have. Being a string bean, I felt skinnier than my friends and wanted so badly to have strong muscles.
One day in high school, I told my dad I wanted stronger arms so he told me to work my triceps because it worked 3 muscle groups, meaning it was the fastest way to see definition. I will always remember that day because the fitness light in my brain turned on and I began thinking of how you can work each muscle differently. However, when I went to college, my so-called active lifestyle was put on pause and replaced with studying (sitting), partying, and hanging out with friends. Once I met Ed at the beginning of my second semester, we started going to the gym together and he taught me how to safely and effectively lift weights to build muscle. Our gym dates turned into a routine and allowed me to get into shape during college.
Around Christmas time of 2015, I asked Ed if he wanted to try Orangetheory with me and we signed up for our first Saturday morning workout at our local OTF. We both knew at the end of the workout they were going to give us their best car salesman pitch on why we should sign up, so we each had our excuses going in—we honestly just wanted the free workout template to replicate it in the gym on our own and dodge the membership price.
After 60 minutes of sweating to loud music, high-fiving strangers, and getting positive corrections on our form, we were both hooked. Ed and I signed up that day for our (basic #collegebudget) memberships and started going to OTF together. I loved it so much I even worked there for a couple months during college and bumped up my membership to unlimited. Getting to know the staff and coaches opened my eyes to how fitness was literally their job. I loved the positive encouragement and attitude the coaches had towards betting yourself through working out and living an active lifestyle.
If you’re new to working out, I HIGHLY suggest OTF as a place to start. I can write an entire blog post about why I think it is perfect for those looking to get in shape, and can honestly say it has made me stronger, faster, and more confident in my own body. Due to COVID-19, I unfortunately am no longer a member of OTF, but can definitely see myself signing back up in the future.
After working out for years, trying different fitness classes around Phoenix and San Diego, and seeing how strong I’ve become, it has allowed me to appreciate my string-bean body for all it can do. I know I am not build like a gymnast, I’m build like me and that is what makes me unique.
I can’t wait to share more of my fitness journey with you guys—let me know if there is anything specific you want me to write about / post!
