My Health Journey

Hello friends! I’m excited to share my health journey with you all and really want to encourage any who is struggling with their health, to not give up. I’ve stopped and started so many times, but because I kept starting over, I’m where I am today. Definitely not perfect, but extremely proud of what I’ve accomplished. So, let’s start from the beginning..

I was very active growing up, ate well, and I maintained those habits through college. During my last year, I had an amazing routine and was the most fit I’ve been up until that point. I trained for my first half marathon, loving the challenge it provided for me physically and mentally. However, after I graduated, I moved to upstate NY, where my environment completely changed. Overtime, my habits started changing based on my new routine. I wasn’t working out as much and wasn’t putting the effort in to make healthy meals. I realized that I had taken several steps back and that’s when I created “the_aloelife” to get myself back on track through accountability. I had made some progress and when I left the upstate, things started going downhill again.

When I moved to NYC, I worked ridiculous hours that seemed to consume all my energy and motivation to live a healthier lifestyle (looking back, my job at the time definitely took a toll on my mental and physical health). There was zero consistency or balance, which made each attempt at starting over harder and harder. I wasn’t extremely unhealthy, but I had definitely put everything health related on the back burner, including my IG account. After a few months, I had taken several steps back again and knew I would need a little extra help with getting back to where I wanted to be. Before I moved out of the city, I found a health coach and personal trainer - a complete game changer! I worked with him for 8 months and really focused on weight training and nutrition. Soon after, I brought back "the_aloelife" to continue documenting my journey.

And then found myself living in Greenville, SC and took my first CycleBar class. I was invited to a charity ride and the rest is history. I will say, that my CycleStar training (4-5 months of riding several times a week) was a huge part of my transformation you see below, in addition to my weight training and coaching. It was crucial to have a workout that I loved and wanted to keep going back to. I now have cardio built into my schedule 4-5 times a week and I am working on getting the weight training piece back in there, so crucial! However, during quarantine, I started studying for my CPT to not only educate myself further, but others. I want to show people that their goals can be reached with hard work through accountability.

Flash forward to today, I’m still busy with work, teaching, and a social (distancing) life, but have made it a priority to be more conscious of what I eat and how/when I choose to move. It's all about BALANCE.

Here are my top tips to getting back on track!

1. Track your macronutrients (not sure what macros are? I have a separate blog post about them and am happy to help you calculate your own!)

2. Meal prep

3. Find a workout that you love

4. Create a schedule to follow workouts, meals, and self care

5. Have an accountability partner

If you have any questions, you can email me on the "contact" page, DM on IG @the_aloelife or comment below :)

thanks for reading!

xx Maria