Certified Group Fitness Instructor

I have always enjoyed physical activity and exercise.  When I was a young child I loved to test my muscle strength.  One of my favorites was to wrap my arms around my mother's legs and try to pick her up off the ground (she did not share in the joy of this experience).  I also enjoyed moving furniture and other heavy objects and performing manual labor activities.  The motivation was as much my competitive nature as the feeling of using my muscles.   I even enjoy the soreness of muscles after breakdown and as they are in the process of repair.  When I was in high school I joined the soccer team and I remember taking pride in flexing the muscles of my quadriceps and seeing significant muscle definition.  Admittedly, I still enjoy flexing my muscles.

I have not always been involved in sporting activities or had a gym membership.  I have been significantly out of shape a few times throughout my life, but I always get to a point where I make a commitment to get in shape.  At the age of 30 I returned to playing soccer, first in a woman's outdoor league and then in a co-ed indoor league.   After a few years I took a couple of years off playing soccer, got married and had my first child.  Six months later I was back on the soccer field until I was pregnant with my second child.  Again, six months later I was back playing and I am currently playing in a woman's soccer league.  I also love my gym membership!

Having children, especially in my thirties, resulted in some pretty significant physical changes.  I was pretty sure I would not be able to recover the shape or form of my body I enjoyed prior to childbirth (x2).  However, after making a commitment to myself to lose weight in a healthy way and rebuild my physical fitness level, I recently reached my weight and fitness goals and I am feeling great!

My field of education and employment experience is in social work.  I have temporarily left my professional career to take the opportunity to care for, nurture, and teach my two small children. In my professional career and in my church service callings I have always most enjoyed the opportunities I had to teach groups.  Five months ago I decided I would combine my love of fitness, teaching, and helping others and pursue certification as a group fitness instructor.  After much hard work and preparation and an entire day of training and testing, I received this in the mail yesterday:

I am now officially certified as a group fitness instructor.