My Story

Hi! I’m Jillian and I have a passion for fitness, food, healthy living, and fashion.

I grew up in NEPA (better known as northeast PA). If you’ve ever watched The Office, it’s right near Scranton. I played every sport in the book up until I graduated high school. Soccer, field hockey, cross country, track and field, basketball, softball, you get the point….

When I was in college, I didn’t worry too much about working out or what I ate, as most people don’t during those years. Although, I did have a different sort of college experience being that my campus was in NYC. I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and pursued a career in buying and planning.

Probably sometime around my last year of college, I started to go to the gym regularly. I didn’t really need to until then. I can remember eating oreo’s, cheese and crackers, and bowls and bowls of cereal every night with my roommates.  I guess I got to a point where I realized that exercise was the only way I could maintain my wight. I began reading all about nutrition and strength training and before I knew it I was running a few times a week and lifting two to three.

I fell out of this habit when I found out what the harsh pain I’d been having in my hip was. It bothered me as long as I could remember but only when I’d run excessively or be on my feet for an extended period of time. My surgeon told me I had hip dysplasia and that I’d have to have arthroscopic surgery.

After surgery, 3 months of physical therapy, and lots of complaining, I finally got myself back into some sort of routine only to find out that the same thing was wrong with my left hip.

Surgery number two and three more months of physical therapy passed. I re-cooperated the same way and eventually got myself back to doing cardio and strength training. I was afraid to run like I did prior to both surgeries so it took me a long time to build up my stamina again.

In January 2010, my new years resolution was to get back in shape and stay there.

I started dating Joe in September 2009. He and I both have the same mind set when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. I am so lucky to have him as a motivator. We both follow a similar schedule which is hitting the gym 6 days a week with one rest/cheat day (Sunday). It makes it so much easier when you have someone by your side.

I noticed the biggest difference in the first year with my body toning up and just feeling better overall from staying on track with a healthy diet. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a sweet almost daily, but I don’t feel guilty about it because I balance it out with healthy meals and exercise.

I still have mild hip pain here and there, but the elliptical and strength training three times a week have given me other options and built up my stamina. I do have intentions of running a half-marathon one day after one failed attempt. My longest run has been 8 miles, so hopefully I can extend far beyond that!

About the Blog

About a year after starting to focus on a balances healthy lifestyle, I discovered a world of food and fitness bloggers who shared many of my interests.

It is actually a funny story of how I came across these blogs. One day, being the weird peanut butter and beauty product obsessed person that I am, I googled “peanut butter nail polish” because I thought that would actually be a pretty neat color! Oddly enough, I came across Julie’s blog. After reading it non-stop for days, I began exploring other blogs as well. I couldn’t believe there was a whole world of people out there that I have so much in common with. Smoothie bowls, early morning runs, weird food products, random recipe concoctions. It wasn’t just me, after all!

In April 2011, I decided to start my own blog. My intentions were to write about my meals, my workouts, fun adventures, and to incorporate fashion. I have since shifted more into my daily musings and every day tips on how to balance a healthy lifestyle. It is still a work in progress but I have so much fun doing it and I hope to not only improve my blog content but to be inspired to come up with unique meals and workouts because of it!

In January 2012, I left my full time job in the fashion industry to pursue a career in fitness and holistic nutrition. I became  an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Holistic Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. After training at Equinox for a few months, I decided to move into corporate fitness/wellness education and training, where I work with a large training academy and help produce content.

They say that everything happens for a reason, and I believe that starting this blog got me to where I am today.