About Me

 I am 37 years old and a mom to 3 beautiful children, Ava- Age 8, Garrett- Age 6 and Kaitlyn- Age 3.  I recently opened a fitness studio Tribe Fitness in Amsterdam NY.  I am a ISSA certified Personal Trainer and certified in the Beachbody Live formats Insanity, PiYo, Turbo KICK, P90X and Core De Force.  My husband is my biggest supporter and is a Physical Education teacher at a school district near us.
I graduated from the College of Saint Rose with my Bachelor's in Business Administrations/Sports Management.

My Fitness Journey:

My whole life growing up, I was super athletic. I played every sport and sometimes even 2 sports in one season for school, but I never remember being thin. I was always the chubby girl from at least 5th grade and on.  

When I went away to college, I quickly gained the "Freshman 15" and was at my largest weight ever.  When I came home to finish college locally, I focused on myself and got my weight down to 148 lbs.  Although this was great and I loved being thin, I was doing it very unhealthy. I was starving myself and over exercising.  This continued for years.

I met my husband in March of 2005 and I got married in June of 2008. I was able to stay thin for my wedding, but I remember spending endless hours in the gym on the elliptical and eating around 1000 calories a day.  At this time, I thought this was the only way I could stay thin.  

Soon after our wedding, I got pregnant with our first child.  I decided I was going to "enjoy" this pregnancy and eat whatever my body craved. 50 lbs. later, I gave birth to my daughter Ava.  I came home from the hospital weighing 220 lbs!  I couldn't believe I did this to myself.  

I worked hard and was able to lose 35 lbs. but still weighed in at 185 when I got pregnant with my second child, Garrett.  Again, after he was born, I left the hospital at 215 lbs.  So disappointed with myself.

For the next 2 years, I worked my butt off and got down to 165 lbs!!  I felt good and was proud of myself. I vowed to myself that if I got pregnant again, I was taking care of myself and refused to gain all this weight I lost back.
Well in August of 2013, I got pregnant with Kaitlyn.  I ate great this time, worked out all the way up to 35 weeks pregnant, doing TRX classes and walking on the treadmill and STILL ended up gaining 45 lbs.  The only difference is that I left the hospital this time at 190 lbs.  My lowest post-pregnancy weight yet!

Family Photo taken end of May 2014.

I got the clear to start working out 2 weeks post-partum after Kaitlyn and started up with TRX and personal training at the gym.  I was eating clean and tracking calories, but I just couldn't get past 175lbs.  I was stuck.  

I stayed at 175 lbs. for months after having Kaitlyn and although I thought I looked good for just having a baby, I remember having my husband take this picture of me and Kaitlyn at a park (below) and when I saw it, I almost cried. I didn't look ok and I didn't feel ok.

When Kaitlyn turned 9 months,  I remember just sitting on my closet floor crying, after not being able to find an outfit to wear that I felt comfortable in. I knew it was time for a change.

(Enter Beachbody.)

I was friends with a girl names Kristina on Facebook. She was a sister of a friend of mine.  She always posted these motivational videos of her working out and eating healthy "approved" meals.  I began to follow her more closely, intrigued.  She posted about a free challenge group she was hosting and I began messaging her about it.  She mentioned the 21 Day Fix program with Shakeology and at that point I had nothing to lose.  I needed to lose this weight to be happy for me and my family.  I got the ok from my husband to spend the $140 to get the program and joined her challenge group.  

I participated in her group everyday, followed the meal plan and did my workouts daily. 21 Days later, I was down over 10 lbs.....so I just kept going!!
4 rounds later and I was down  30 lbs!! 

The results were amazing!!  My pre-pregnancy jeans were TOO BIG!!  

The program did so much for me in just 2 months, I decided to sign up to become a Beachbody coach, with Kristina as my mentor. I wanted to share this program with everyone. To let them know that there was a program out there that really worked and you didn't have to starve yourself. You were actually full and still lost weight!!

I actually went to the Ocean in Delaware on our family vacation that year and felt COMFORTABLE on the beach in my bathing suit. Even allowed pictures to be taken!! I was so proud of how far I had come!!

Below is by far my favorite picture because never once did I think I would feel good in a bathing suit.  That's a goal of many of us woman....right?

So now it was time for me to graduate from the 21 Day Fix and move on to the next challenge. I

became interested in the Beachbody program Body Beast. It was a weight lifting program and I was up for the challenge.  So there started another chapter in my health and fitness journey. I started lifting and my weights got heavier and heavier.  Seeing how strong I was getting, was so motivating and the changes to my body were crazy.  Two rounds of Body Beast later and again, the results were AMAZING!

So here I am....145 lbs.  The smallest I have ever been in my life.  The best shape I have ever been in and the happiest I have ever been.  This whole journey has taught me so much.  

It has motivated me to pursue my love for health and fitness and continue to help as many people as I can become healthy and happy.  

I am recently on a break from being a Beachbody Coach to focus on my studio.  My studio is my pride and joy. It gives me the space to help women start their fitness journey in a super supportive setting.  You can check out my studio on Facebook at Tribe Fitness Studio!