About Me

To read the story about my struggles with food and my journey towards peaceful eating, click here.

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I was always active growing up.  I enrolled in gymnastics at a young age, and that was my passion until I was a senior in high school.  My senior year became incredibly busy, and I decided that it was time to give it up, as I didn’t plan on competing in college. 

In order to stay in shape, I joined a gym with my mom and fell in love with group exercise classes.  I became really good at all the formats, and I loved going to the classes with my mom and being surrounded by people who were health-conscious and striving to reach their goals.  I decided that I wanted to teach group ex classes someday myself. 

At my college, there was a class you could take to learn to be an aerobics instructor.  Taking the class was really hard for me; I am always pretty shy when I’m putting myself out there, but I knew that teaching was something I wanted to do and that I could be great at.  Things didn’t start off, though, as planned…I got really nervous at auditions and I didn’t get chosen to teach at my college.  I was heartbroken.  But later that night, I got a call from one of the instructors who said he saw something in me, and that he convinced them to take me on.  Now I had something to prove!  I grew to love teaching more and more and became a really great instructor (if I do say so myself!).  I got certified and taught many formats: cycling, step, hi/lo, kickboxing, sculpt.  I even worked my way up and eventually became the assistant fitness program manager at my school.  It was a dream job.

As my love of teaching and helping people grew, I switched my major from dietetics to math education (a complete 180, I know!).  Diet and nutrition will always be a passion of mine, but I found that I liked it more as a hobby.  I volunteered for a few times as a tutor, and knew I had found my calling in education.  I currently teach math to high school students and couldn’t be happier with my job!

My love for running started in college, again, just as a way to stay in shape.  I began training for my first half-marathon my junior year, and I loved the focus and drive that racing gave me.  I have since completed four half-marathons and did my first full marathon on April 19th, 2009.  It took a while, but after 7 years of running, it no longer feels like something I “have” to do, but rather I feel like something’s missing if I take too much time off.  I love running for the way it makes me feel and how I am able to clear my head during a good long run.

(I'm the one in the pink! My first half)

One more important milestone that happened my junior year of college…I married my high school sweetheart!  We met in the marching band my senior year of high school (I was captain of the color guard, he was in the drum line) and we have been together ever since.  This June will be our 4th year anniversary.  He is absolutely the love of my life, and I can’t imagine being without him. 

We currently live in Missouri with our three 4-legged babies:

Me with Itsy (shaking) and Coal. Kitty Spike not pictured :)

I have read blogs for what feels like forever, and have always wanted to create my own.  A few months ago I discovered all the wonderful food and health blogs out there, and I can’t wait to take part and meet some amazing people.  This blog will be a place for me to share my thought about food, fitness and health, and my steps towards peace with food and my body.  I hope to use this as a creative outlet and meet others who are going through similar journeys.  Thanks for reading!