I bring to you a post about my fitness journey – I debated posting this but I felt compelled lately to share in hopes it’s relatable to others. I want to preface this by saying I am a person who has always disliked contact sports, been rather non-competitive, and in my youth mostly preferred dance. I am not the kind of person who wants to force myself to do push-ups, or lift super heavy. However becoming fit, boosting my physical endurance and strength, my mental well being and relationship with my body was a huge goal of mine. So here’s how I got started and what I do now.

For starters- I started actively working out in 2018 at first with 30 minutes of Eliptical a day – this did help me build up my cardiovascular health but was overall boring and felt like a chore, I started also walking daily outdoors at a moderate pace mostly for pleasure – which did a great deal to add to my physical endurance – and became a forever habit! But what really got me to the next level was… cardio walking – yes aerobic walking videos (I will link some at the end of blog post) Walking aerobics are fun, challenge different body parts, and get the heart rate up and frankly they put a smile on my face.

As I started getting more comfortable with movement- I started adding in mat Pilates – in fact I did this without a mat – I bought no gear for the first maybe 9 months or my fitness journey being afraid to invest in a program I wouldn’t maintain. – I kept up with mat Pilates in short form 5-10 minute weightless arm videos, sideline leg Pilates, and abdominal work and immediately and I mean immediately made massive changes in my body’s shape and tone.

After a year or so of nearly daily indoor walking, as well as outdoor – and 10-15 minutes of Pilates a day I began to advance my practice with barre videos, longer form Pilates videos 20-25 minute, and WEIGHTS (weights usually 3-5lbs) I started to see the strength gains in every arena of my life!

As of right now I’m doing weekly Pilates classes with the reformer, as well as 5 days of at home walking, and Pilates. All of the videos and resources besides my classes are found for free on YouTube with no hassle they can be played anywhere!! No matter what your physical background, your body will benefit from adding in some exercise – you do not have to do intense workouts like CrossFit, PureBarre or Peloton rides to see huge results! There is another way – moderate exercise that makes you happy and can fit into small pockets of time!

I’m linking the videos that got me started on my journey:

Leslie Sansone Walk at Home 20 minutes https://youtu.be/-SSYX8sIOmM

5 minute Pilates Abs Jessica Valante https://youtu.be/q0gGxaMEVec

5 minute Weightless Arms https://youtu.be/QTGBFlB1fEI

5 minute Outer Thigh workout https://youtu.be/83l9PgNwHX4