Hello there! My name is Keri and I currently live in Charlotte,NC with my husband and two four legged children. :) I have had quite a journey from being someone who disliked exercise to loving it these days.
Back in 2004 I was living in Augusta, GA working part time (evenings) and going to school full time. It felt like I barely had enough time to study, eat and spend time with my then boyfriend that fitness was far from my mind. That slowly began to change as in 2005 we got our first dog, Harley a Lhasa Apso. He is a rescue dog and from day one he has LOVED going for walks and being outside. I would walk him every morning before heading off to class and then when I would get home in the afternoon right before heading to work. On the nights (rare) that I did not work I would also go with him and my boyfriend for a walk in the evening.
I started seeing small changes in how my clothes fit....you think that would really make me jump on the fitness wagon...not quite yet. I tried running a mile or two here and there but I was carrying more weight on me that it just plain hurt and was not fun at all. That spring we started playing some tennis here and there and that was good, I enjoyed that. However we didn't get to play as much as we liked due to our schedules. In the spring of 2006 my then boyfriend became my fiance as he proposed to me in Charleston, SC on a little weekend getaway. That was really when I turned the corner on fitness and made time for it. I decided at that moment, it was almost like switch that I didn't want to go shopping for wedding dresses being a size 12. Now there is nothing wrong with that size I just decided that it was not for me and I could be a better, fitter me. We both started working out for an hour everyday after class/work and it was amazing the changes I started seeing! I loved going to the gym and getting on the elliptical machine and tuning out for 45 minutes then doing some weights and sit ups. My clothes became looser and looser soon to the point where I had to buy new pants just to go to work. I was so proud when I go to go wedding dress shopping and was in a single size, a size I had not been since early high school! I kept at it and started eating better and making time for exercise. I even signed up for a tennis class in college, I would have NEVER done that before. I just felt so much better exercising, no more headaches except an occasional one here and there. By the time the wedding came along in May of 2007 I was buying my very first bikini as an adult to go on our honeymoon with, talk about EXCITED. I had worked so hard and it really paid off, it was a great feeling!
The summer of 2007 we moved to Jacksonville, FL as my husband's job training took us there. It was there that I got the running bug. I started with a few 5K's and loved them! I then pushed myself to do a 10K then a half marathon! It was great I could run and just about eat what I wanted (within reason of course) and stay at my same weight. Plus the weather and landscape was great in FL, great temps nearly year round except in the summer if I didn't run in the morning that was out of the question later.
My husband's training then took us to Nashville, TN!! I was really looking forward to the move as I was ready to experience the changing of the seasons and see the leaves change. I didn't think how it would change my fitness routine however. Initially we were so busy moving everything in that it was a lot of physical work so I didn't notice that much of a change however as I began to slack off, we moved in the summer and it was HOT and HUMID that I didn't run very much at all. It also didn't help that the area we moved to was more industrial so not many neighborhoods or sidewalks for that matter to run. There were some green ways there but I hated the idea of driving somewhere to exercise, I just really enjoying heading out the front door for a run and running back to it. So...this is where I fell off the wagon a little bit. I did not totally let myself go as they say but I did not have the same passion as I did in Florida. It was when we had been in Tennessee a little over a year that we decided we wanted to get serious again about staying fit. We ordered P90X and I have to admit I was asking myself what I had committed to after we ordered it. We started it and I was sore the first week and then we got used to it. The issue with it for us was that it was 90 minutes a day and that was tough for us to commit to with our jobs and other commitments. We did the best we could and I must say that my husband saw better results than I did. I then started doing my Jillian Michaels DVD's that helped me so much in Jacksonville, FL. About the time we really got into a bit of a routine it was time to move yet again. And before you ask....yes I was totally over moving every few years.
This time our move took us to where we are today, Charlotte, NC. This will be home for some years to come and where we will start a family. It is closer to some of my family and yet not too far from my husbands. We moved in July of 2012 and I must say so far we really love it here in Charlotte. We are renting a house where there are tons of sidewalks, neighborhoods and other people frequently out exercising. We have recently found many green ways around our area and have taken to riding bikes around there. My husband does not run with me as he has foot issues after running so I typically run during the week and then we mountain bike on the weekend together. It has really helped me get back on track and I LOVE IT! I have promised myself to always make time for fitness and not get back in a slump as easy as it sometimes can be to do.
