As I have talked about in the past here on this blog, this year back in January I started over in my exercise journey. I have been in various levels of shape over the years and my exercise and fitness routines have been knocked down more than once from health, surgeries, depression and other set backs. But this year seems different. Before I always exercised pretty much for vanity reasons. I wanted to look a certain way and keep my weight in check. This year I switched to exercising for health. I want to be healthy. I want to be stronger. I want to move better. And yes I still want to lose weight and look a certain way in my clothes. But now by having more and different motivations I have made exercise a way of life. I crave exercise and finally understand other people who crave exercise as well. Exercise helps my stress and my mind. It helps with my writing. It gives me energy at the day job. It's helped me heal from an injury that had me using a cane last year. It is slowly changing my life.

With this new found and truer appreciation of exercise, I have been thinking about even making this a side career for me. I have been looking into becoming a certified personal trainer this summer. I would love to really work with others who are coming back from illness or injury in particular. I have even been playing with the idea of starting YouTube channel once I am certified to help people workout in the comfort of their own homes, mostly where I myself like to workout. All of this is still in the planning stages. I am trying to decide where to get my certification from at the moment, so if I have any trainers reading this and who would like to give me some insight on the certification they received, please drop me a message, I would love to hear from you!
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Back in January I committed to working on some fitness goals once more after some health set backs. I started off slow and have had to take a few extra rest days over the past two months, but I am starting to see some progress at last! The best thing is that I have strengthened and gotten full movement back in my left leg, something that gave me trouble last year. I am moving better and feel better than I have in a long time. I am also finally starting to see some definition in my legs and abs. This month I am adding some more arm work and hope to tone those up as well. I have even lost a few pounds. I am really working on cleaning up my diet now in addition to the consistent exercise plan I am following. I am also adding in some yoga, for mind and body improvement. I have a long ways to go until I will be to my goal weight, but I am seeing progress and that is only encouraging me to keep at it. Sure exercise takes some time away from my writing and art, especially when I throw the day job into the mix, but taking care of myself is important for my creative self as well as my physical health. I feel clearer and am writing more than I have in a long time.

For those interested in what is working for me, I have been doing workouts from the Leslie Sansone Walk at Home App. Its only 4.99 a month and I have really seen the difference by working out consistently. (I am just happy with the app, I am getting nothing from this plug.) I have only worked up to two miles most days and I have added one pound weighted gloves every other workout. I still have a lot of room to grow with this program and I am super happy about that. My goal is to get up to 4-5 miles most days of the week. Very doable, especially since I am slowly working my way up. I do Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube. I am also intermittent fasting and lowering carbs. Not cutting carbs completely, just lowering them especially at dinner time. This is what is working for me. Nothing too crazy or dangerous. My results are coming slowly and that makes me think it will last.