Outfit & Fitness Tool Details:
Top: Black Cropped Yoga Top; Black Tank
Bottom: Flare Yoga Capri Pants
Shoes: Nike Free Run Shoe (Old), Very Similar here
Stability Ball: Exercise/Stability Ball
When I decided to expand my blog beyond just fashion to become more of a lifestyle blog, and to include topics about other things I’m really passionate about, like health, fitness, and wellness, I knew it would be important for me to one day share my personal health and fitness journey. I knew that in order for people to truly connect with and join me on this journey, they would need to understand my “Why”…So, here we go.
First, let me start by saying, for those of you who may not really know me, I think it’s important to stress that my health and fitness journey has never been about physical appearance, because that is not, and will not ever be what my journey is about. My personal health and fitness journey has and always will be about my mindset in my life, and the lifestyle I want to live and encourage and inspire others to live. We all go through times in our lives, when we’re just not feeling the best about ourselves, or we’re just not in our happy place, and for me, this time occurred right after I graduated from college, and I had started my first job with M&M Mars, as a Sales Representative, in Detroit, Michigan. I was living alone in a new city, with a new job, and everything was unfamiliar. The days were long, and the winter months seemed even longer. I began to consume more M&M Mars candy samples than I distributed to my accounts, and just started to feel tired, sluggish, and uninspired. I had always been pretty active throughout my life, but even that had changed. I wasn’t exercising regularly, I definitely wasn’t eating healthy, and although my weight was not my primary focus at all, I was definitely gaining weight. So, I decided I had to figure out how to get myself out of this funk, and I started walking 3 miles a day around my apartment complex, going to ride the stationery bike in the apartment complex fitness center, and consuming a lot less snickers and M&M’s, and I immediately noticed a difference in how I felt. My mindset was more positive, I had more energy, and I truly started to feel so much better overall. This shift in mindset, the way I felt about my surroundings, and life in general, for me, could all be attributed to the lifestyle changes I had made. I simply felt healthier and happier both physically and mentally, and I was determined to stay in this place, so I adopted this way of living as a lifestyle, and with the exception of a few slip ups here and there, I never turned back.
We all know, when we don’t feel good mentally, or when we don’t have a great mindset, it’s really hard to get motivated to do anything physically. Everything seems challenging, and we can almost feel like we’re in a state of depression. It’s been proven that daily exercise is important for your emotional, physical, and mental health, and I personally found this to be true. In today’s world full of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty, your emotional, physical, and mental fitness has never been more important, so adopting a healthy lifestyle through regular moderate exercise is key to your overall health.
So, although I love fashion, and I will continue to share fashion posts here and there, I truly believe I can be of more benefit to my blog readers and social media followers by sharing my passion and personal experiences with fitness, nutrition and wellness. As I’ve shared previously, I am in the process of completing my fitness and nutrition certifications, as well as a wellness certification, and I’m excited to share all that I’m learning with you. My fitness, nutrition, and wellness posts will be primarily focused on workouts, information, tools and resources for women 40 and over. Although the workouts and information I’m sharing will be suitable for women of all ages, I decided to specifically target this age group, not only because I’m over 40, but also because this is an age where health, fitness and nutrition goals, methods, and health indicators begin to change. “Less than 1% of American women between the ages of 20 and 39 suffer from coronary heart disease, according to a recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. However, among 40- to 59-year-olds, that number increases nearly 10-fold, to 5.6%.” So staying healthy and active, becomes even more important for women after 40.
My goal will be to share quick, easy, and effective workouts, as well as easy to follow and understand nutritional and wellness resources and information. The LWG (Lulu With Grace) Fit Factor workouts will included exercises specifically designed to meet the needs and concerns of women over 40. When you see a number listed in the title of the workouts, for example, “LWG Fit Factor 10 Standing Abs” workout, the number in the title represents how long the workout lasts. Using this title, this is a 10 minute standing abs workout. New fitness videos will be added every Friday, for our “Friday Fitness” post series, so look for new workouts to be shared weekly. If you have any fitness, nutrition, or wellness topics you would like to see shared, please share them in the comments section below. You can also e-mail me at Kristi@LuluWithGrace.com. You can check out all of my recent fitness videos here, and you can also shop the items in this post, by clicking the links above in outfit & fitness tool details, or by clicking the photos below.
I hope this post has given you some insight into my personal fitness and wellness journey, and I hope it has inspired you to join me on this journey. Many thanks to all of you for your continued support of Lulu With Grace, and I’m looking forward to getting and staying healthy, fit and well with you all.
As always, thanks so much for reading!!
~Kristi
