My Inspiration

Besides motivation, I think everyone needs inspiration! And what do I mean by that, you ask? Someone or something that makes you realize that you can do it. You can workout, eat right, and lose weight. It might be a family member, your best friend, or even a story you read in a fitness magazine. For me, inspiration came in the form of my mother, Mary.

My mom had three kids by the age of 26. Afterwards, she was starting to become overweight and unhealthy. So she took the initiative, went out, and bought her first set of work out tapes. I even remember those tapes 19 years ago. "Buns of Steel", "Abs of Steel" and that whole series. I don't really remember the workouts themselves, but those are the tapes that my mom got her fitness journey started with.

After the "Buns of Steel" series, Mom started working out with Bodies in Motion. That's the workout program that had Gilad on the beaches of Hawaii doing aerobics. While doing that program, she decided to add in Step Aerobics. I still remember that step that came with the workouts. My brothers and I thought it was kind of fun to step on. It was purple and felt funny on your bare feet. Even my dad would do the Step Aerobics with her on the days he was off of work.

After 5 years of exercising, my mom decided that the weather outside was too pleasant to keep missing by being stuck inside doing her exercises. She decided to start running! To start, she just ran twenty minutes. When twenty felt easier, she increased to thirty. In not too long, Mom was running 40 minutes. She stayed at that time for about a year. She says "I was determined I was not going to run for more than 40 minutes." But eventually she realized she had a desire to see if she could run a full hour. It wasn't easy at first, but it wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be.

Mom really is my inspiration. She challenged herself to run an hour, and she did it. For most of my life, she has been exercising and pushing herself. She always sets new goals for herself. For a while, she started running two hours at a time once a week. Although she has cut down, she still makes other running goals. My mom decided that she wanted to run a 5k last fall. So of course I trained with her, even though I am not really a runner. She ran a good time of approximately 30 minutes (I came in about 44 minutes--I alternated running and walking). Now she is training to run a 10k! At the age of 45 my mom has decided to run a 10k, and from my experience, when my mom sets a fitness goal, she is going to achieve it!

I hope I can be more like her. She is dedicated to her routine. She does what other people think they can't. And there is nothing about her that causes her to be more athletic or for exercising to be easier for her. She just set a goal, motivated herself, and she did it! Mom is proof that the only limit to achieving your goals is YOU!