My story isn’t like the typical ones you hear. I didn’t play sports in high school. I wasn’t an active athlete in college. I was an “A” student in high school and college, but I spent the large majority of my time partying. Fitness wasn’t really on my radar, except for the occasional yoga class – I had more important things to do! About 10 years after high school I decided to quit smoking. I had put on quite a bit of weight and was looking to lose a few pounds and keep my mind off of wanting to smoke. This was my first experience in a gym and I fell in love. I worked with an amazing trainer and lost 20 lbs over 8 weeks. Over the next few years, I continued to work out here and there and I even obtained certifications in group fitness and personal training. I began coaching others and digging into nutrition science. I found it all really fascinating and wanted to learn as much as I could. Although I remained at my ‘day job,’ I had a persistent desire to learn more and get more involved in the health sciences.

Change does not have to be hard, or scary, or overwhelming. Although it can be a struggle sometimes, it’s inevitable in life. As we age our bodies change. Many of us work in an atmosphere that doesn’t involve lots of movement and over time, we gain weight. Starting with working on a few basic habits can help get the ball rolling. Things, like getting up from your desk and stretching every hour, is super important!

Fun little fact about me, I wasn’t always in decent shape, (see photo below) I only quit smoking cigarettes about ten years ago, a habit I picked up when I was fourteen. Back then it was perfectly fine for school kids to go out for a smoke in between classes. By no coincidence, I also began drinking heavily and enjoyed other recreational drugs. It was the 80s and I was a teenage metalhead thinking that I would never die.

What is workplace wellness anyway? It’s simple – It is an offering to people within the same work environment to achieve the same thing – better health. This can occur in various forms- seminars, nutrition and lifestyle challenges, fitness, or any variety of the 3! While there are countless reasons to bring wellness to your place of employment, there are 5 reasons that stick out the most!

My CrossFit journey started out like several of my other journeys: in Mexico. When I first began CrossFit I was living abroad in Cancun. I was 11 months sober and looking for something to fill all my newfound time with. Athletics have always been a part of my life starting with soccer, and I have always been willing to try anything new: yoga, running races, spin class, and Tae-Bo, just to name a few. I had my eye on CrossFit for a while. It looked like an intense, fun workout, and the high-level athletes who were shown doing it had amazing bodies. I wanted something that would challenge me, but I also wasn’t sure if I could do CrossFit. I had already endured 5 knee surgeries and I was convinced that fact would limit me. What I knew about CrossFit was that it had a lot of crazy weightlifting and heart-stopping workouts.