Let’s talk fitness first:

From March to May of 2013 I shifted into full speed with a workout routine four times a week. My stamina when it came to cardio was so trash! (for lack of a better word). I would run a mile in 12 minutes, walking about half the time and be completely out of breath once I was done. It never really bothered me in the beginning, I didn’t push my cardio that hard the first two weeks to gain more endurance and speed. However, that month my mother was diagnosed with lupus and hypothyroid disease, none of which are curable illnesses. Since most health problems are hereditary, I took a step back and realized my horrible eating habits and activity levels could quickly get me to the state of health my mother was dealing with. Instead of it making me emotional and depressed, I used it as continued motivation for me to get to my goal weight. I shifted my focus from negative to positive with this frame of mind. Don’t get me wrong, I still wanted to prove to my ex-boyfriend that he was the worst person ever and I was thankful for him propelling me to start, but now it was for my mom and my general health.

The best thing I did for myself in the first month was create a schedule and use the myfitnesspal application everyday. I worked out Monday – Thursday faithfully, I told myself there were #nodaysoff.

My typical workout consisted of a one mile run, followed by a 45 minute circuit workout called “the Spartacus workout” (you can google it) and then I finished up with another one mile run.

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Everyone thinks you need an amazing gym when you start, or a guru personal trainer and a motivated fitness partner. I always told myself I wanted to do it on my own so hiring a personal trainer was out of sight, out of mind, and out of my budget as well. I was paying for school out of my own pocket (without student loans), while working a full-time job and part-time job to support the costs of NYC living. I was paying my own rent and for all of my living expenses as well. That being said, an expensive gym membership was out of the question. I knew I needed a gym to fit my particular needs so I joined planet fitness (PF) for ten dollars a month.

I was not thrilled about the community environment at PF gym but it had the basics I needed to form a fitness habit: It was open 24 hours and allowed me to go whenever I had the time to (usually 10pm or later), it was about a mile from my apartment so I could run there and back as slight cardio and it fit my budget so I was sold. My fitness partners were two of my girl friends that were also trying to get fit and lose weight. They both helped me stay motivated with long distance runs, along the water or through central park. We would run 3-7 miles slowly while having girl talk and then going to whole foods or juice generation afterward to reward ourselves and refuel.

By the end of three months, I lost about twenty pounds. I went from a 180lb range to a 160lb range. My body was tighter, stronger, and leaner but most of all my mile time went from 12-13minutes down to 8.5 minutes per mile. Three months in and I realized I made fitness apart of my new lifestyle, the results were phenomenal and I was officially committed to building my body! ….

But, fitness is only 30% …. the other 70% was clean eating and dieting, which is always easier said than done.