Healthy Living Celebration

Welcome to our Healthy Living Celebration! What follows are some amazing stories from real-life people with real-life struggles, real-life goals, and -- for some -- real-life wake-up calls.

Seriously inspirational (or, should we say: FITspirational) stuff here:

• Laura overcame her eating disorder to embrace exercise.
• Josie quit being a quitter to get healthier and fitter.
• Chrissy found her inner athlete and rolled her way to running.
• The Nerdy Runner learned to love whole foods and marathons despite her busy schedule.
• Ashley (yes -- that's ME!). Enough third person. I share part one of my healthy living story: How I understood health as a child and struggled to find my way.
• Maissa became the gazelle of her dreams, falling head-over-heels for running.
• Jen embarked on an awesome journey from being overweight to in-charge of her health.
• Amy went from curling up on the couch to, well, CURLING!
• Brittany used to hate the gym. Then she found she had a thing for yoga.
• Karen went from restricting to living the healthy life through running and vegetarianism.
• In Part II of my Healthy Living story, I tell you all how I fell in love with running.
• Alysa overcame disordered eating habits/self-image and found a strength she never thought she had through running and yoga.
• Jenna went from letting herself go . . . to being ON the go with her cute Collie/Lab pooch.
• Maddie's fitspiration started at Lululemon and continues with half marathon training.
• Jen danced her way healthy with Zumba . . . and keeps it up with running and eating whole foods!
• Kerri ran/walked her way through a couch-to-5K program and is now eying 10Ks and half marathons!
• Nina went from smoking and starving to running and stretching.
• Samantha is learning to find balance with diet and exercise, embracing healthy habits.
• Rowena suffered through a crash and found there's more to health than fitting into THE dress.
• Jessica learned there's no such thing as a "real" runner and rocked a half marathon!
• Marike never thought she'd be a runner. Now she can't see life any other way!
• Loving Myself writes about her struggle with exercise anorexia and how her friends helped her heal.
• Ariel went from gym-obsessed and drained to running with a smile.
• Laura learned to love whole foods and running, as well as the healthy living community!
• Alison took a leap of faith and started running. Her goal? Run the Chicago Marathon!
• Kati went from eating crap and hating gym class to biking 100K and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.
• Jenn went from living rules and restrictions to loving the healthy life.

If you'd like to submit your own healthy living story, here's all you need to do:

1. Write up a thoughtful story about what made you want to be fit. What inspired you to eat more healthfully. What sport you thought you could never do. What situation served as a wake-up call to your need for a healthier lifestyle.
2. Anything goes -- nothing is too silly or insignificant. (But please write something new -- don't just send us a link to an already-published post.)
3. Email this story to us: neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.
4. Also send along 1 or 2 (or 3) photos to help illustrate your story. We'd prefer they be at least 500 pixels in height or width.
5. Include your contact information (name, what you'd like us to call you, blog address -- if you have one, etc.)
6. Be patient. We'll get back to you ASAP -- but publishing on the site may take several weeks.
7. Tell your friends, family, co-workers! EVERYONE has a story to tell -- and we want to share 'em!

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