Healthy Living Celebration
>> Tuesday, July 13, 2010

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:
- 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.
- 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.)
- Email this story to us: neverhomemaker [at] gmail [dot] com.
- 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.
- Include your contact information (name, what you'd like us to call you, blog address -- if you have one, etc.)
- Be patient. We'll get back to you ASAP -- but publishing on the site may take several weeks.
- Tell your friends, family, co-workers! EVERYONE has a story to tell -- and we want to share 'em!