Welcome b.a.s.e.Fitters!

I have been talking forever about starting this blog - sharing workouts, recipes, best practices and my journey to continually improving my own fitness levels as well as creating challenging workouts for all of you.


I wasn't always fit and I have been fitter at times in my life.  I grew up a chubby kid with a not so great diet.  I could polish off 1/2 medium pizza, big macs, chunky candy bars, soda...my diet consisted of more junk food than it did healthy food.  I ate vegetables because I had to, not because I enjoyed eating them.  My lunch bag consisted of BLTs, Ding Dongs, Chips and Juice - it is a wonder how I did so well in school fueling my body this way.


When I was 20, I was out shopping and looked in the mirror as I tried on a dress and was in disbelief.  I was 163 lbs and wore a size 12.  On the upside, my weight was all evenly distributed so I actually looked a little smaller than I was, but I was not healthy, was overweight and knew it was time for a change.  I joined a weight loss clinic, joined a gym and made the commitment to change.  I lost 37 lbs in 9 weeks and dropped from a size 12 to a comfortable size 6 and I felt great.  I was at the gym 4-5 times a week for an hour.  Not long after, I started working at 24 Hour Fitness.  I tapped into the knowledge of trainers and instructors on both workouts and diets.  I followed the fads, lowfat diet, low carb diet, vegetarian, vegan, etc.  I tried every workout I had time for...not always with the best results. 


In my mid-30s I was teaching cardio kickboxing, strength training classes and spinning, while also doing yoga, running and outdoor cycling.  I was in amazing shape, but my diet still left much to be desired and I still had a predominantly vegan diet.  I made it through two pregnancies and fought my way back to getting into shape while both teaching and working a full-time job.  It was already challenging to commit to my own workouts when we decided to move from San Francisco to Marin, adding up to a 3 hour commute each day.  While I had hoped that being in Marin and having the outdoors as my workout playground, instead my weight started to yo-yo again and my workouts were becoming compromised.


Fast forward to today and even as a fitness professional, I have learned so much about fitness, diet and myself.  I am learning how to workout smarter in less time, to have a cleaner diet, to carve out the time for my own workouts.  I am not perfect, I have my own slip ups and some commitments take more effort than others and my commitment can change on any given day.  I don't have the perfect body, but I am strong.  I have injuries, so I will never be an elite athlete, but I am constantly finding modifications to work around those injuries and continue to push myself to get stronger and to be the best me I can be.  I am not the fastest runner, but running is what I love to clear my head.  I don't get out on my bike nearly enough, but I know that I have all the conditioning to get out and ride a metric century (I can admit not a century) with relative ease.  I can't do 100 pushups in a row, but I can do 200 pushups over the course of a workout. 

This isn't about being perfect or having the perfect body, this is about being strong and healthy.  The workouts will kick your butt (and give you a tighter butt in the process).  The nutrition tips will help you when you hit a menu roadblock.  This blog is here to help keep you motivated and committed to your health.

Balance ~ Agility ~ Strength ~ Endurance...ready to be a b.a.s.e.Fitter?  Subscribe today!