Right now we’re ramping up Meredith’s muscular and cardiovascular endurance with a mix of bodyweight strength training and cardio work as well as taking small steps to introduce more optimal eating habits and weeding out the bad. More on that later :)

We kicked off our Wondermom Journey on August 29 and it will officially end March 1! I’ll be blogging about Meredith’s progress, the challenges we might face and the tactics we use to get through them that might interest you. If you’ve got specific subjects that you’d like me to address, drop me a line at izzy@izzyfit.me!

It still feels like “back to school season” (especially in Chicago where we’re wondering when the kids will actually go back to school) and I am reminded of my good ol' "what I did this summer" assignments of years' past.

Well, here's a 2012 adult version:

It all started on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day. My six-year-long romantic relationship ended abruptly. I thought we were going out of town for the weekend but learned that I would soon be moving out instead.

The following weeks were spent on autopilot so that I could continue training my clients while packing up my life in Redmond, WA. I can’t say I was taking particularly good care of myself.  I lost at least 10 pounds (probably all muscle) and my hip, which I’d spent the first half of the year rehabbing, started hurting again.

I moved away from Redmond and spent some long-overdue family time on the East Coast as I carved out my next steps. I also started going to the gym regularly again and in particular, lifting. In the 45 days I spent in PA, I hit and then surpassed every fitness & health goal that I had set for myself at the beginning of 2012. I had intended on accomplishing these goals by my birthday in October. I gained back almost all of the weight that I had lost, but my clothes were still loose (which means I gained some muscle back!!). My hip hasn't hurt since. BOO-YAH.

By the time I moved back to Chicago in late August, I had no trouble hoisting my heavy suitcases around, moving those super heavy IKEA boxes up to my second floor unit, and putting my place together without any trouble or injury.

Training made me strong. And not just in the "look at my guns” way. What training did is make me feel like a whole person again. More than anything, it reminded me why I am a personal trainer. 

I’m not just writing this post to let you know I’ve moved IzzyFit Personal Training to Chicago. I'm writing this post as a re-dedication to all of my clients - past, present and future. I know now more than ever what training can do for your whole self. The IzzyFit philosophy has always been that fitness should be an integrated part of your everyday life. Part of my job as your trainer is to figure out, with you, what that means. 

Still, regardless of what it means, my number one priority is, and always has been, to make you STRONG. We all have one body and it is our vehicle with which we can achieve the kind of life we want. 

You might want to be able to keep up with your 2-year-old without huffing and puffing; or to run a marathon without hurting yourself; or to make guests at your wedding gasp at how amazing you look; or to be able to walk around the streets of Paris without your knees hurting. You can have that.

I'm getting there - and now it is my mission to help you get there too.