I don’t know if there is something in the air or what, but I am feeling fantastic on this Monday morning! I will admit that I wasn’t too fond of my alarm clock going off. I’ve been quite productive though: took Maggie on a walk, got ready, grabbed Starbucks, was at work by 7:25am and I’m ready to start the day!
Today’s motivation post is going to be a little bit different from usual. I really want to talk about having a good support system. I’ve always been active and fit from being active in cheerleading, dance and gymnastics my whole life. I like to believe that I began my true fitness journey when I began taking group exercise classes at the A&M Rec Center the very beginning of my junior year of college. I instantly fell in love with group exercise. I think it was a combination of the positive atmosphere, challenging workouts and connections with the instructor that really caught my attention. I always left class with a sense of accomplishment and on an endorphin high. After a few months, I decided to sign up for fitness instructor training and it truly changed my life.
Becoming an instructor was an eye opening experience for me. It made me want to change my eating and exercising behaviors. The more I learned, the more my interest was piqued and the more passionate I became. During training, I was able to become friends with other incoming fitness instructors which helped each of us grow. After I “graduated” from training, I was assigned “mentors” so to speak to help further my training in different class formats. For step, I was lucky enough to have DeAun, the head of the A&M fitness program, as my mentor. She seriously taught me everything I know about step and I like to think I’m pretty darn good at teaching it!
As I mentioned before, the became friends with the girls that I was training with and once we were official members of the A&M Group RecXercise team we bonded with the other wonderful women that had been teaching for a few years! I believe our bond is so strong because of the passions that we share. No matter how much time passes, once we’re together again, it’s as though time had simply stopped. Now let’s just to this weekend. My girls weekend was spent with my wonderful Group RecXercise loves! It had been wayyy too long since we had all been together, so a reunion weekend was a MUST. It began Friday night with a delicious dinner made by our host Sara followed by a few too many tasty drinks and a night out in Galveston!
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| All the girls who went out Friday night! |
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| Gretchen – Ashley – me- Becky – Sara |
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| Love my Jenny P…and Sara! |
We were a little slow to start Saturday morning, but we still made it to the beach a little after 10am. Sara’s fiance helps out with beach chairs/umbrellas at a nice beach near their house on the weekends so we got umbrellas and chairs for free! The sun was very intense, so they came in handy. We spent several hours on the beach and in the water…love summertime!
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| Sangria! |
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| Exhausted after about 5 hours in the sun, snuggling Sara’s sweet puppy Rezi! I’m in love with her and want her to be Maggie’s friend! |
Saturday night we ventured out to dinner at Salt Lick Grill. I had a delicious salad with apples, feta and grilled shrimp (I had to nix the candied pecans since I can’t eat them anymore!) After dinner, we grabbed drinks at a pub next door and then went dancing again! We love to dance 🙂
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| Back: Gretchen – Jenny – me – Becky – Sara Front: Lauren – Lucy – Alison – Katie – Ashley L.O.V.E. these girl! |
Sunday morning we went to breakfast at Mosquito and then everyone started to trickle away since so many girls had quite a distance to travel. We came from all over the state – Dallas/Fort Worth, San Marcos, College Station and Houston!
It was an amazing weekend with wonderful friends. Now y’all are all probably wondering what this has to do with having a support system? These are the girls that encouraged me to become an instructor. They are the ones that helped me when I was struggling, taught me when I needed to learn, and boosted me when my spirits were down. When you have people supporting your fitness journey, whatever it may be, it helps you to achieve your goals. The more support you have, the more encouragement you have. The more encouragement you have, the more inclined you are to succeed. The more success, the more you mature and grow it your fitness journey. So find your support system! It can be family – mom and dad/husband/siblings/whoever! It can be friends – find a way to work out together. Hold each other accountable. Take group classes and make friends at the gym! Everyone deserves a support system because everyone deserves encouragement and achievement throughout their entire fitness journey which is life!
Until next time…
With love and God bless,
