I love Les Mills. It was the program that changed my life. But due to circumstances out of my control, I am no longer able to take their classes at a gym facility. Thankfully I have some programs at home that I can do. It's been a L.O.N.G. time since I did Body Pump, but today was raining during the time we'd scheduled our family bike ride, so I pulled out the trusty DVD, and the family sat on the couch and watched me! James actually jumped in for the first part of the bicep track but then made some excuse about having to go and cook dinner. That bicep track is TOUGH!!

What's an exercise that you used to do ALL THE TIME that you haven't done in a while? How do you think your body would respond if you were to do it tomorrow??

I was recently contacted by the editor of the Marlo Thomas website. They were interested in featuring my story. MY story! WHAT?? They run a feature called "It Ain't Over" where they highlight women OVER the age of 40 who have overcome an obstacle, hurdle, challenge, etc., to live out a life long dream. You can read my story HERE. In my case, my lifelong dream was to be a runner!! It took nearly 40 years to be able to reach that dream, BUT I DID IT!! And not only did I want to be a runner, I wanted to run in pink.That's why when I share race pictures, I generally wear a lot of pink! I've included a few here to show you exactly what I mean! I am so proud of all I have been able to do, and I'm so excited to be able to continue to share my journey with the world. I'm living proof that you are NEVER too old, NEVER too far gone to turn your life around and live out your dreams. You just have to find your WHY. Once you find your why, then you can determine your HOW. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions, comments, etc. You can email me at Jennifer@Metamorfit.org or friend me on FACEBOOK. Here is a before picture just to give you somewhat of an idea where I was starting from. And then I discovered my WHY, and determined my HOW.                Do you like to run in a certain color? What color? Why?

Losing 212lbs took more than a change in diet. It also took me moving my body, with a purpose. Daily. In fact, I didn't even start this whole transformation with diet. I started with exercise. I knew that if I took on both diet and exercise at the same time, I would likely be overwhelmed and give up before I even started. I also knew that I needed some time for ME and that I could make that happen in the gym. Why the gym? Because the gym provided me with daycare for my children. And that meant that I could devote time in the day for just me. I spent all my waking hours taking care of OTHER people. It was time to take care of ME. So what did I do? Here are my top 5 tips to help you get in to a exercise routine and learn to love it!   1. Make the time. Start slowly. Gradually build up to at least 30 minutes of activity on most or all days of the week (or whatever your doctor recommends.) Exercise at the same time of day so it becomes a regular part of your lifestyle. For example, you might walk every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from noon to 12:30 p.m. For me, I love to workout at 9am. That was my "go-to" time when I first started, and it's my "go-to" time now. I ALWAYS kept a gym bag in my car. This way I had NO excuse why I couldn't go. Find a convenient time and place to do activities. Try to make it a habit, but be flexible. If you miss an exercise opportunity, work activity into your day another way. I also schedule my fitness like I would any other appointment. It's in my planner and for the most part, that time is blocked out and is non-negotiable. 2. Make it fun. Choose activities that are fun, not exhausting. Add variety. Develop a repertoire of several activities that you can enjoy. That way, exercise will never seem boring or routine. Ask family and friends to join you — you’ll be more likely to stick with it if you have company. Or better yet, go alone and make NEW friends in your group fitness classes. I can tell you group fitness CHANGED MY LIFE! It gave me confidence, and I met so many amazing people along the way! 3. Make fitness work for YOU! There are small things you can do that can add up to an increased calorie burn! Park and walk. How many times have you circled the parking lot to find “the” spot? Spare yourself the stress and gain more energy by parking far away (or even in a remote lot) and walking farther to your destination. Take the stairs. The elevator may go up — but it doesn’t make your heart rate climb. Take the stairs instead. You may huff and puff at first, but over time, your body will thank you. Mall walk. Are you sweating (or shivering) at the idea of walking outside? Take a brisk stroll around your local mall instead. Window shop, people watch and give your heart a workout in a climate-controlled environment. Get out the leash and walk your dog. It’s a great activity for both man and man’s best friend. Your heart — and your puppy — will thank you Take your child for a brisk walk. It’s an excellent way to get some one-on-one time (or one-on-three, depending on the size of your brood.) Spice up your routine by exploring new neighborhoods or turning your walk into a scavenger hunt. These small things can really add up, so take advantage of them when you can!! 4. Track and celebrate your success. Keep a record of your activities. Reward yourself at special milestones. Nothing motivates like success. Write down the distance or length of time of your activity and how you feel after each session. I keep an Instagram journal of my workouts and my CrossFit times. I am somewhat of a pack-rat, so if I kept actual journals of my workouts, I'd be buried under notebooks! 5. USE SOCIAL MEDIA. Social media is a great way to share your exercise information with your friends and get motivated together. "Fitocracy" is a really popular website that lets you log your exercise information to share with friends and find new exercise ideas. Smartphone apps like "mapmyrun" store all of your running or cycling information, including times and routes and automatically uploads the information (if you choose) to sites like Facebook and Twitter. Use Instagram to take pictures of your WOD and post-workout bliss. You will help to motivate and inspire other people. You can also like pages on Facebook of people that are on a similar path as you. This is how I feel when I am exercising and how exercise makes me feel when I'm finished. I go to bed every single night excited for what my morning workout will bring me. Seriously. Do you exercise? What do you like to do to break a sweat?

People often ask me "Jenny, how did you lose all that weight and how have you kept it off?" Looking back on the past 4 1/2 years, I did a series of small things to tweak my diet that alone would not add up to 212 pounds, but together, they made a world of difference. Here are my TOP 5 tips to help you on your weight loss journey! 1. MEAL PLAN!! I learned very early on in my weight loss journey that if you fail to plan, then plan to fail! I plan all my family dinners, and have generally always had the same thing for breakfast and lunch. I also avoid eating out. Fast food meals and even “healthy” restaurant foods are not only higher in calories, but full of additives and flavorings. We also tend to eat more when we eat out. Preparing food and eating at home is cheaper, healthier, and more fulfilling. 2. MAKE FRUITS AS ACCESSIBLE AS CHIPS! Wash, cut up, and store fruits such as grapes, melon, kiwi, pineapple, and apples in reusable containers in the fridge so they're easy to grab. Make sure they're right up front at eye level so they're the first thing you see when you open the fridge door. I often buy my fruit already washed and cut-up and this makes it even easier for me to stay on plan! I also don't bring chips in the house!! Throw out or give away the junk because if it's not in your kitchen, you can't be tempted to eat it. 3. USE SMALLER SIZED PLATES! When we prepare a plate of food, we feel the need to fill it up completely. If you start out with a smaller-sized salad plate, there's only so much you can pile on, so you'll end up consuming fewer calories. 4. DRINK MORE WATER!!  I can't stress this one enough. You should always have your water bottle within arms reach. Try to drink 2 cups of water 20 minutes before each meal. And how much water should you drink? You should strive to drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces every day. 5. TRACK TRACK TRACK! Write down every BLT (bite, lick, taste.) Sneak a handful of your kids' goldfish crackers while you are packing their lunch? Write it down. Sample a spoonful of mac & cheese just to make sure the noodles are cooked enough? Write it down. All those BLT's will ADD UP! There are plenty of free programs available online like My Fitness Pal, Spark People, or you can keep a journal with you and record it the good old fashioned way!!  Tracking really opened my eyes to how much I was really eating!   And there you have it! My top 5 tips to help you lose weight by making some simple tweaks to your diet!! You can "like" me on Facebook for more tips to help you on your path to a healthier lifestyle! I'd love to know if you try any of these and how they help you on your journey!

Getting involved in running was one of the best things I have ever done. I used to dream of being a runner, but I was morbidly obese and physically unable to run, so my dreams was the only place where I could run. When I began my weight loss and fitness journey in 2008 becoming a "real runner" was high on my list of priorities. I ran my first "unofficial" race in 2010 and I became hooked on running. I trained alone, but I found friends and comaraderie at the races that I participated in. The running community in Tampa Bay is incredibly kind and very supportive. When I turned to blogging in late 2012, I found that many of my fellow bloggers were also runners. They reached out to support me through my running, and other ventures and I finally felt that I wasn't training alone. I was training to be apart of something bigger, something kinder. There are a lot of people who want to run, but can't. Not because of physical limitations, but because of financial limitations. Running shoes can be expensive. I often donate my old shoes to the Goodwill, but have recently found a new organization that will be receiving my old running shoes: Kindrunner. Kindrunner PAYS you to be kind! Kindrunner is the only place on the web where runners can trade in their old running shoes for NEW shoes.  Runners receive ‘Kindness Cash Rewards’ for every shoe they send in. In turn, Kindrunner gives those old shoes to their shoe donation partners, including Soles 4 Souls and the More Foundation, to benefit people in need. Their goal is to take shoes that would normally go into landfills or in someone’s closet and re-purpose them, give them to someone who would greatly value them. How awesome is that??? There are other perks to being a Kindrunner as well! 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Shipping of product to customer is still free, as is the return shipping of donated shoes for Kindness Cash Rewards Program.         -Free 3 Way Shipping – Free shipping of your order to you, free shipping of any returns for any reason, free shipping of your donated shoes back to us for re-purposing with Soles 4 Souls or The More Foundation Group.         -Kindness Cash Rewards Program – This is what turns your old shoes into credit towards new ones or any product on our website. KCR are available to the customer after any footwear purchase (the idea behind this is to replace your old shoes with new ones, and keep the old ones out of the garbage, landfills, or ones closet… thus why it is available after footwear purchase). Upon receipt of their footwear order, customers have the option to place their old shoes into the KindRunner shipping box and place the pre-paid return label on the box for shipment back to us.  Upon receipt of the label, we will scan the bar code and place the KCR onto the customers account for future use.  Each return label (whether it contain one pair or 4 pairs of shoes) is worth $10 KCR per new shoes purchased (5 pairs purchased on that order, you can earn up to $50 KCR) or credits towards future purchase. The KCR can be used to purchase ANYTHING that kindrunner sells and will never expire.         --Expert Product Reviews – Some of you may have seen some of these on our youtube page, www.youtube.com/kindrunner. Each and every product we carry will come with an expert product review video on the same page that the product is listed on.  These videos are done by individuals who have worked in the running industry for a number of years either as shoe reps, store owners, or expert shoe fitters at one of the oldest running stores in the nation. We bring the knowledge of your neighborhood specialty run shop to the comforts of your own home!         -Easy 365 returns – A customer has 365 days to return any product, so long as it is in its original packaging and in its original condition.  If you are injured and unable to use the shoe, if your doctor wants you in a different model because of orthotics, no worries… no questions asked! -Next up is a nice reward for our earliest customers, and I think this is just awesome!  “Free Socks for Life” to our first 500 customers! Each time one of our first 500 customers returns and purchases a new shoe their order will ship with a free pair of socks of their choice from our sock inventory.  As long as this customer continues to run, they will continue to get socks from kindrunner.com! I love socks, but FREE socks I love even more!! You can check out Kindrunner here: Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube  I'm proud to be an ambassador for Kindrunner and fully support their mission to get quality running shoes in the hands of everyone who needs them!