Can-Fit-Pro Fitness Instructor Specialist; Sport Movement Level 1 & 2 Trained; YMCA Strength & Conditioning Instructor

Fitness has been my best passion for half of my life. At age 15, I was doing aerobics tapes in my basement. At age 25, I trained in kickboxing and sports training and was teaching over 50 participants three times a week. By age 28, I was making plans to present at a national fitness conference and move into personal training.

Then, everything changed. I developed a chronic knee condition that abruptly ended my fitness career. Dealing with this has been both an emotional and physical challenge.

This blog is about how to stay healthy, both in mind and body, in spite of the obstacles — whether it be an injury, a medical condition or just the voice in your head telling you that you won't make it. The best source of inspiration is within yourself — I hope this blog will inspire you and me.

Finding and Keeping your Motivation for Lifelong Health

By Jennifer Kelly

Guess What?! You’re Already the Best!

For the past month I’ve been experiencing tightness in my hip and back. After a consultation with my physiotherapist, he connected it to some sports movements I had been doing. As we discussed my training program, he said, “you still train like you’re an athlete preparing for a game. You are already fit and conditioned [...]

Question: Is What you are Doing Today Benefiting your Tomorrow?

This past weekend I attended a BBQ party. As much as I enjoy people, I usually avoid parties because a lot of people like to drink to excess at parties. I’ll have a social drink, but I will never drink excessively; it’s just not a choice I would make for myself. One of the reasons [...]

Exercise and Kindness

“Be kind to your body during this pose.” These were the words of my yoga instructor as she coaxed her participants through one of the most challenging poses, the warrior lunge series, during my Sunday yoga class. A quadriceps and core driven move, this pose requires stamina, strength and perseverance. I was surprised by these words. [...]

Letting Go

As part of my ‘letting go’ process (letting go of my old fitness ‘self’ and routine/teaching), I decided to finally try yoga. I have always believed in the benefits of yoga, but never thought of it as being very ‘me’. I was busy with sports training and teaching kickbox – that was who I was. [...]

Your Self-Talk Reveals Who You Are…

One of my biggest emotional struggles comes from not knowing exactly where I’m going in my life. I realized this most recently when I was faced with a major career decision. There are many days when I still wonder if I have chosen the right career path. There are days when I feel like other [...]

The Definition of Self

Every now and then, I have a bizarre need to read about CMP (Chondromalacia patella; my knee condition). I’ve read everything out there on CMP and yet sometimes, I must re-read those same articles and study those same medical journals. But after the first few interesting paragraphs, it just gets depressing reading about the eventual [...]

Achieving Balance

I’m on a pretty strict exercise routine because of my knee condition (CMP). Since CMP varies in pain and intensity of pain, every week is a tiring process of trying to determine which workouts will hurt and which won’t. This can be very de-motivating for me and exhausting. I sometimes feel every day is consumed, on some level or [...]

What’s Motivating You?

Have you ever thought about what truly motivates you on your quest for improved health and fitness? Do you exercise because you want to lose weight? Is it because you had a health scare? Or do you simply enjoy exercising? When I first began exercising, it was purely out of enjoyment. I was 15 and [...]