healthy laps

Mykonos, Greece - Honeymoon, Sept. 2008

About Me

I am a fitness-loving health-nut with an enormous passion for nutrition!  I haven’t always been this way, but recently I have grown extremely interested in my own health, as well as the health of others.  I love to run, and therefore, try to eat the foods that fuel my body for those workouts.  But, I also love my dessert!  I love to find, try-out and create my own recipes using all-natural healthy ingredients.  My husband gets to be my guinea-pig!

I hope to write my thoughts, recipes, race training and love of yoga and fashion on this blog in order to help myself, as well as inspire others!  Enjoy!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at healthylaps@gmail.com.

Background

I was never a skinny kid.  I was always involved in sports, whether it was softball, field hockey, tennis or swimming, but I always had a few extra pounds to lose.  I continued on with these sports throughout high school, but it wasn’t something that I loved to do, so I didn’t put in that much effort.

I graduated from Thayer Academy in 1999 and went on to Union College in Schenectady, NY.  While in college I lived it up and took full advantage of the all -you-can-eat meals in the cafeterias.  That, along with the drinking and late-night eating added to the Freshman 15 or 30 or 40 (whatever you want to call it!).

Before: Graduation, June 2003

After graduating from Union in 2003 with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Art History, I began working at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in clinical research.  I moved into an apartment in Boston with some friends, and began walking the 1.5 miles to and from work everyday.  This felt great!  I loved being outside (except during the pouring rain or in a blizzard!) and loved the way this form of exercise made me feel.  I noticed my pants getting a little looser, just by this 3 mile daily walk, however I never did anything to change my diet, so the weight stayed on.

Before: Long Island, November 2003

My mom, grandma, aunts and I used to go on a girl’s weekend every year.  On our girl’s weekend to Chicago in 2004, my Aunt Linda was on the South Beach Diet.  She had us eating on the diet for every meal!  On the plane ride home, my mom, Aunt Carol and I decided to have a competition to see who could stay on the diet the longest.  We all tried very hard to change our eating habits (and I believe that I won!!).  Over this 2-week period on Phase 1, I noticed so much about myself.  I felt better every morning that I woke up because I was putting good healthy food into my body, I began walking/running for at least 30 minutes per day, and my sweet cravings greatly diminished!  The pounds seemed to melt off.  In 2 weeks I had lost 16 pounds!  This was the start of the rest of my life…

After: Napa Valley, August 2005

I have always hated diets.  I don’t believe in them.  I believe in living a healthy, well-balanced life.  Life is all about balance.  If you balance out your life with healthy wholesome foods and exercise, then you deserve that dessert!  This diet did kick-start my 65-pound weight loss, but what really kept the weight coming off was my change to healthy, whole foods.

After: New York, May 2007

I also grew to love running and working out.  Sweating everyday really does make me a better person, even if it is only for a few minutes!  I am happier and healthier than I have ever been.

It has been over 5 years since that trip to Chicago, and I worked very hard for over a year to lose that weight.  I have continued to keep the weight off by following my values, eating healthy, and running.  The past 5 years have probably been the best of my life and if I can lose all that weight, then anyone can!  You just have to put your mind to it and follow that dream…