I've always kept families on my blog anonymous, but not this time!
Meet Hollie (if you haven't already) and her family. She has really made a difference in my life over the past year and now we've become friends. I can't really begin to express how special she is, but if you start following her, musclesandmunchkins.com (Facebook, Instagram, emails etc.), you will begin to understand why. About a year ago, all I knew about myself was that training for half marathons kept me in shape. I couldn't work out with body goals in mind nagging at me and driving me crazy, but when I was training, I had my mind set on doing my job to prepare for a race, and the end result paid off. All I really did for exercise was run. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it thoroughly and still do, but I now know there's more out there for me both physically and mentally!
Hollie completely changed my "Fitness" way of thinking. Not that what I was doing was bad, it was just that she opened my eyes to more.
She has made me accept my body for what it is and to love it for what it can do. She is a firm believer in that everything is YOU vs. YOU... and that's totally how I've always worked best. I love that phrase. Hollie has shown me that becoming STRONG for the sake of being strong, is in itself a great reward. She has taken the focus off what I look like, and rather even more towards what I can DO. She has shown me the importance and benefits of strength training AND a healthy attitude about myself.
I met her when I started her workouts at Cornerstone Lutheran Church about a year ago. Although I almost threw up twice during this first workout, I ALSO almost cried (WHILE PLANKING) as she read scripture and prayed with us. It might sound crazy, but I think I needed that. This spiritual aspect is typically reserved for her church workouts, but it's always there in her attitude when she's teaching.
If something isn't adding up with your day to day fitness plan, follow her... you won't be disappointed. She doesn't sell anything and she does not work for anybody. She is Hollie, a personal trainer who motivates, helps, doesn't judge, is very real, and will NEVER ONCE comment on how a women should look. She will never say during her workout, "let's get those arms tank top ready".. but she will say,
"You can do this, think about what your body has done in this life!" or "These are the arms that lift your children!" After she sold me with this unique attitude, I got to know her and realized she was a really cool down to earth chick and I thought,
We need to be friends... stat.
Her kids are adorable and awesome and yes all under the age of 4! She was pregnant when I met her, worked out until she was about to go into labor, and started back up a few weeks postpartum. She's smart and sensible though, I promise, but yes, she's also BADASS (although she'll NEVER let on about that). She's not competing with anyone but herself, just as she teaches us to do. Her husband seems pretty darn awesome too. They were perfect to photograph. My face hurt from smiling and even laughing out loud when I went through their pictures.
Thank you for reading! There was no way I could post her pictures without giving her a shout out!
Here are my faves!
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| are you laughing?? |
