Admit it. The New Year’s resolutions have probably faded by now, haven’t they? As a fitness instructor, January is always so exciting. We see many new faces in our classes and the energy is buzzing. But in the spring, the number starts to dwindle and many of those new people never seem to return. But why?

Anyone who knows me knows I’m obsessed with the Enneagram Test. I think it’s so helpful for learning about people’s individual personalities, desires and challenges. If you’re looking to start or switch up your fitness routine, finding something that aligns with your Enneagram type might be a great place to start.

I’ve been really intentional about not stepping on the scale in 2023, and I plan to continue that in 2024. It’s been so good for my mental health to not be constantly worrying about a number that really doesn’t say anything about my health. I do, however, have some health goals for the near year, but they’re focused more on the long-term rather than just the here and now.

I was chatting with a friend the other day and she started talking about how she wanted to lose weight. She paused and apologized: “I know you don’t like talking about this.” It made me realize I need to clarify with all of you that I’m not against weight loss; I’m for whatever you want to do for your body. However, I will continue to remind you that weight is just one piece of the puzzle.

No one sets a goal with the intention of reaching it and then subsequently losing all that progress. We want to make sustainable change. The best kind of goals, the ones that will actually stick for the long term, follow the SMART formula. That stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.

As a mom of 2, I understand how crazy the summer schedule gets. School’s out, the kids are in various summer camps, you’re in and out of town for vacation. It can be really hard to stay on track with your exercise routine during the summer months.

I DID IT. I trained for 6 months and I’m proud to say I successfully finished my first 10k. I’ve never considered myself a runner — and still wouldn’t. But it felt so good to accomplish my goal for this year.

You’ve probably heard the term a bunch of times, or even seen shoes marketed as good for “cross training.” But what exactly is it, and should you be doing it? Cross training simply means doing different types of exercise vs. sticking to the same thing all the time.

Are you getting fitness advice from an expert? I mean a true expert, someone who has the credentials and the experience to back up what they’re sharing. Sure, anyone can give fitness advice, but there are people like myself who have gone through trainings, earned advanced degrees and put in countless hours of studying to refine their skills.

As 2022 comes to a close, many of us are taking the time to reflect on the last year. Some of you may be looking back with pride at all you were able to accomplish, while others may be feeling disappointed and discouraged.

Many of us have grown up believing that exercise has to fit into a certain mold — it has to be done a certain way, for a certain amount of time, producing a specific result in order for it to "count." But that’s just not true.

A few months ago, I shared a video on my Instagram about how I was in a really bad slump with my body image struggles. As I’m sure you know, this journey isn’t linear. I have ups and downs — days when I feel proud of my body and days when I feel ashamed.

You’ve seen these phrases on memes. You’ve heard them from fitness trainers. You’ve probably even said them to yourself. Have you ever noticed how much of the fitness rhetoric is negative? We often focus on what’ll happen if you don’t workout, instead of the benefits of when you do workout.

I’ve got a friend who loves to run. She does races every month all over the country, and I admire her because I don’t really enjoy running and don’t think I could ever handle the length of races she does. I recently agreed to join her for a 5k even though I didn’t train and I haven’t done one in YEARS.

Gas prices got you thinking about working out at home? I started doing that at the beginning of 2020 and it was a game changer! I saved so much time and could be close to my kids in case they needed me, plus it saves money in the long-run on monthly gym fees. You’re probably wondering how much equipment you need, and how much it’ll cost you.

This is something I haven’t really shared about before. When I was about 10 years old, I was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter Disease (OSD), a condition that causes swelling and irritation of the growth plate at the top of the shin bone. Many people with this disorder develop a bony bump just below their knee, which looks like a mini knee under the main one.

Hear me out. MyFitnessPal and other nutrition tracking apps aren’t inherently bad, if you use them with caution. For me, using this app caused me to fall into unhealthy behaviors that I needed to break away from. It was so freeing to hit that delete button, and I want you to do the same if you’re feeling this way too.

Are you frustrated that you’re not reaching your goals? It could be because you’re more focused on doing things perfectly rather than consistently. If you wait for the stars to align to start your fitness journey, it’ll never happen. There’s never a right time to do anything worthwhile — making your health a priority, buying a house, having children, starting a business, etc. You just have to jump in. When it comes to fitness, think of it as a life-long marathon rather than a sprint.

Finding time to exercise when you have kids is challenging. (If you don’t have kids, replace that word with career, pet, family, etc. These tips can still apply.) It can feel impossible, especially in those early years when your kids aren’t self-sufficient yet. But it can be done, with a little planning and strategy.

New Year, new me, right? We’ve all been there at some point, vowing to lose X-number of pounds in the new year. If weight loss is a goal of yours, go for it. But for most of my life, I’ve had an unhealthy obsession with the number on the scale. It took me a long time to realize that weight isn’t the only, or most important, indicator of health. You really can’t know anything about a person’s health just by the size of their body.