My Life in Fitness....

I have been consistently exercising for pretty much my entire life. 

I joined my first gym with my mother back when I was in 8th grade.  She stopped pretty soon after but I continued going to an aerobic style class.  I loved it - it was dancing Jane Fonda style.  I was a skinny dorky kid but I loved wearing my shiny pink and turquoise leotard.

In high school I got my hands on a "real" Jane Fonda aerobic tape and did it faithfully in my living room for years!  It was actually challenging and I would sweat like crazy!  I started high school around 5'3" and grew to 5'8" in a year remaining at 100 pounds.  I was really skinny - I hated it!  I would pray nightly to be like the other cheerleaders - curvy, muscular....well it never happened (at least not in high school).  I ate fast food, candy, soft drinks...whatever I wanted!  Ohhh the good ole days!!

College began and I was still a "stickly" gawky girl.  I began going to an aerobic class with an awesome teacher named Julie....I loved her!  She was so positive with an awesome body!  I longed to look just like her.  I did her class for many many years.  4-5 days a week.  I remember getting my body fat checked by her once every 6 months or so - it was around 18%.  I was probably around 110 pounds.  Still ate whatever I wanted - never really thinking about it at all.

During my last years in college I grew away from exercise....and I put on about 38 pounds!  That's right almost 40 pounds!   Not the Freshman 15 but the Junior 40!!

 I never really noticed that I had gotten so fat until I was in Chicago one day walking by the Sears Tower with all of the large mirrors and I said to myself "WOW look at that fat girl in the tight purple shirt....she thinks she is sooo cute....she really should not be wearing that..."....well that fat chic was me!  I cried all the way home from Chicago and immediately went and bought a scale.  I bought the one that made me weigh the least....it was 1996.

to be continued......