ABOUT ME!

Hiii Hiii Hiii!

My name is April and I am a Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist. I am in love with running, the color pink, yummy clean food, smiling, and all things fitness, oh, and my pets. Some will tell you I'm borderline obsessed, #dontcare, haha. I am 26 years old, I live in sunny North Carolina and I have my Masters in Clinical Exercise Physiology from UNC-Charlotte. Go 49ers! I am a Health Fitness Specialist in the Corporate Wellness setting, which is awesome because I also get paid to teach bootcamp everyday. It's a great feeling to kick your own butt, isn't it!? :)

I have been inspired by so many inspirational fitness/foodie ladies that have their own blog, and I am learning so much on my new clean eating journey that I would like to be able to sprinkle some of my girly positive attitude on the web as well. Why is a healthy lifestyle so important to me? I have had pretty serious stomach issues since I was 12 years old and have had every test done under the sun with NO answer as to why my stomach hurt EVERY time I ate. MISERABLE right?! UNTIL, I tried eating "clean"! It 100% turned my stomach issues around, it literally isn't even much fun to cheat anymore, because my stomach aches come back everyyyy time I do. "Clean eating" to me means taking care of your body because you are what you eat. This means avoiding processed, high fat, high sodium foods. The more ingredients in the product, the worse it is for you. The more natural, the better. Also, if the food has a commercial telling you to eat it, you probably shouldn't, just a rule of thumb. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION is my motto.

Now, I'm not saying you need to start eating rabbit food from here on out, if you want to go out to dinner with friends, GREAT! Just plan your meals that day accordingly and enjoy yourself! If you don't let yourself have the things that you crave in moderation, you'll crave everything and find yourself having food issues that could lead to binging and/or creating an obsession with dieting.

I have never publicly talked about this, but I struggled with an eating disorder (ED) in college. It developed after years of an unhealthy relationship. I felt like I could finally have "CONTROL" over something through binging/purging after all that time of being under someone else's control. It took years to finally accept and love my body, and not HATE myself when I looked in the mirror. I would have setbacks for years after, I would just have a bad day and feel the need to binge/purge. It was always a few steps forward, a few steps back. I am 100% positive the biggest reason why I am happy in my skin today, is because of my amazing boyfriend, Matty. Not a day goes by that he doesn't tell me how beautiful I am and how lucky he is to have me. I owe my happiness to this guy, and I couldn't be happier to be in love with my best friend. Support groups are so so important for any type of confidence issue, because when it comes down to it, the main cause for EDs is not being happy with yourself. So smile your beautiful smile, because you are *gorgeous, you are *worthy, and you deserve to be *happy. Today is going to be a good day, because you decided to smile and bring your positive attitude with you. ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING! If you can't find something to smile about, you're not looking hard enough. :))

Exercise and sports have always been a part of my life, since I could walk I was carrying around a baseball bat. I grew up playing softball and soccer and I used to HATE RUNNING. The only reason I would run was to stay in shape for sports, and I had to make myself do it. In college, my best friend, Taylor, and I began running a "quick 2 miles" everyday. I also invested in the fitness DVD, TURBO JAM, and was instantly hooked on it. I did it regularly for three years and I STILL break it out every once in a while, I love it. Anyways, my quick 2 miles turned into 3,4,5,6 and I remember how excited I was the first time I ran 8 miles. I joined the Slippery Rock University's Cross Country team my senior year of college, they were always looking for more girls to run, so they could increase the number of guys on the team, due to TITLE IX. So, I ran with my best friend, Laura, who basically is a machine and can run any guy under the table. She has run a sub 5 minute mile!! (I don't know how one's legs don't break off at that speed, lol). So we ran together and kept our team laughing with our weird voices, stupid jokes, and awesome fashion sense, lol WE BROUGHT HIGH SOCKS BACK, JUST SAYINNNNN'! So, from there, I started training for my first marathon. I ran the Cleveland Marathon in 2008 in 3:56, not bad for my 1st marathon. I have run 3 marathons, and 7 half marathons and counting. SPEED WORK REALLY DOES WORK LADIES AND GENTS! My long term goal is to qualify for BOSTON by this time next year, FINGERS CROSSED. It's not impossible, it's not going to be easy, but it is 100% going to be worth it! (I have an exclamation point issue!!!)

PINK and Pets: My last name is PINKNEY, so my nickname from my soccer girls has always been "Pinks" or "Pink" and has carried on through life. So, naturally, I love all things pink. I am such a girl, but don't worry, I'm 100% not afraid to pitch a tent, pump my own water, shower in a tub in the woods, and use a latrine for a week in summer (Yes, I've done it a LOT with my sisters and mom, they ROCK). So don't let the blonde hair and pink obsession fool you, haha. I have a 2 year old German Shepherd named Mac and a little mancoon mix rescue kitty named Noodles. The cat is a cuddle bug and the dog is the biggest 90 pound baby ever. Mac has a TON of energy and destroys things at home if he doesn't get his exercise, so he has gone to the dog park everyday as long as it's not raining for the last 9 months. (SPOILED!) The ex phys nerd/runner in me got so excited when he shaved 2 minutes off his time after being a dog park regular, my baby ran a 7:58 minute mile. PROUD MAMA! He accompanies me on 4-5 mile runs and as long as he has a stick in his mouth he's happy. Pets are a great way to get more physical activity, and lovinnnn, but they are a HUGE responsibility and financial investment, so please be sure you can provide for one first. ALWAYS rescue pets, these little babies need a home more than those expensive purebreds who will NOT be put down. ANDDDD, there are loads of purebred rescue dogs as well, do your RESEARCH!

So that's my story! I will be sharing workouts, recipes, and general health and wellness tips/facts. Research is such a powerful gift, you should always strive to increase your knowledge and KNOW your sources. Don't rely on wikipedia or one person to get your facts. No matter how much you look up to someone's opinion, you need to discover things for yourself and it will make you an independent thinker which will get you far in life.

I hope I am able to either motivate you to be the best YOU you can be or maybe help you to start thinking more positive and let go of what you cannot control. LIVE IN THE NOW. Happy Monday y'all!

XOXO,

April