I never really took the time to think about when I became an "athlete" However, when I think back, it seems I've been an athlete my entire life. I've always been active, started playing soccer when I was three years old, and I seem to have that competitive bug. I think when I really became a true athlete is when I decided I wanted to be great and realized that in order to be as good as I could be, I had to take my health and fitness seriously.
I really started my health and fitness journey by eating right. My dad always says “food is fuel for the body, just like a car needs gas”. We have fresh fruits and vegetables in our house and our dinners always have a salad or a fresh vegetable side to go with lean meat or fish. These healthy choices at home help me to make the right choices when I am away at camps or school and on my own. When other people may have a cheeseburger and fries for lunch before they go out and play soccer, I will have salad with grilled chicken or a pasta dish with meatballs or meat sauce. Having those meals will fill me with protein, good fat, and healthy carbs so I have the energy I need to make it through the next session in the hot sun.
Eating right is only half the battle to living a healthy life. In addition to playing soccer to stay healthy and fit, I work out. My whole family makes working out a priority. About a year ago, my mom, dad, and sister all joined the local CrossFit gym in our town. It has been one of the best things we have decided to do. After starting CrossFit, I realized what I want to do for the rest of my life is to focus on health and fitness. I want to open my own Physical Therapy practice and incorporate a gym where I can rehabilitate injured athletes as well as strengthen and train other athletes for performance and injury prevention. Having been involved in sports since I was three years old, I couldn’t imagine leaving that life once I graduated college. I credit CrossFit with helping me see that.
My motivation to stay healthy and fit throughout my entire life is that when I am a grandma I want to be able to play with my grandchildren. I want to stay mobile and have healthy joints and muscles. I like to work out because I meet people who have the same interests as I do and I have made a lot of friends through soccer and CrossFit. This has made a huge impact on my social life and has taught me to balance my time to keep my grades up at school and still compete both in soccer and CrossFit. I have also learned to make sacrifices along the way. There have been many times that I have missed a friends party or a school event or a movie night with my friends because I had a soccer game or practice or a CrossFit event. Through my efforts to stay fit and healthy, I have encouraged many of my friends to join me and even have my high school soccer team in at our CrossFit gym for pre-season training and conditioning. One of the “side effects”, or rewards, is when a friend will look at me and comment on my fitness or how strong I look and then say they wish they worked out like I do.
I really enjoy what I do and all the people around me who support me. My family supports me no matter what, whether it's driving to practice an hour away, or to games and tournaments all over the country. Staying fit and remaining healthy is a goal that everyone should have and doing it with friends and family makes it even better.
