Exercise literally saved my life.

I went straight into the workforce after high school. I was born into an immigrant family without college degrees that did not know how to help chart the course for me to go to college. I was lucky enough to be placed at a dot com by a temp agency and had a reasonable salary and benefits. Unfortunately, working for a dot com meant sitting at a desk 10+ hours a day, commuting several hours a day, eating fast food daily with little time to cook, and developing emotional eating issues. I gained over 100 pounds in just a few years. I eventually developed chest pain, prediabetes, hip and knee pain, was depressed, low energy, and not treating myself or others very well. 

A coworker who had also gained weight convinced me to start taking exercise classes at the local community college with her after work. After a few semesters of exercise classes, and one nutrition class that emphasized the Mediterranean diet, I lost 60 pounds. But I wasn't satisfied yet - I wanted to learn more and lose more weight. So I left my career to go to college full-time and get an AS, then BS, then MS in Kinesiology. I worked for several gyms (24 Hour Fitness, Curves, Bally's, Leisure Sports, Koko Fit Club) throughout college, completed an internship with an in-home exercise rehabilitation program, and then transitioned to working in therapy clinics.

I spent over a decade creating and implementing wellness programs for seniors and patients discharged from Therapy services. My specialties were fall prevention, neurological disorders, geriatrics, and weight loss. I've had the privilege of working alongside people much more educated and experienced than I am such as neurologists, DPTs, OTs, STs, movement specialists, Psychologists, Social Workers, and Physicians. They passed on invaluable knowledge and skills that have helped me with client assessment and the design and progression of exercise programs for people looking to improve their quality of life. I've designed programs for Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, Fall Prevention, Depression, and Bariatric clients.

In addition to my college education and work experience, I have over 30 certifications. I owe a HUGE thank you to several generous employers who believed in me and put me through continuing education classes and conferences. The most widely recognized ones are: ACE Medical Exercise Specialist, NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist, ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist, ACE Health Coach, AFAA Group Exercise Instructor, and NWI Certified Wellness Program Manager. After many years of training, Wellness Interviews, collaborating with other professionals, health coaching, and asking a whole lot of "why", I was able to zoom out and adopt a much more holistic view of wellness than my foundational exercise background. 

My full-time profession now is running a Wellness Program for local government. I do not need income from private clients. I am simply here to answer your questions, connect with you virtually, and create trainings that fire you up and empower you to work toward reaching your full human potential. Exercise IS a miracle drug. It is indeed the quick fix everyone is looking for. Many of the "obesity-related conditions" people develop are actually from a sedentary lifestyle. If you find a way to sneak exercise into your day, everyday, it will change your life. So will waking up and writing down a few things you are grateful for when it feels like everything is going wrong and getting into a practice of gratitude. So will thanking your food before you eat it, hugging people for more than 20 seconds, finding ways to play like a kid again, setting a budget, and thinking about why you're here on Earth. I hope the varied content I create will help someone pay closer attention to a particular area of their life that is out of balance and start feeling whole, good enough, healthy, and powerful.