I totally love when various parts of my world collide and the Strong is the New Skinny Blog Tour is a great mash of two of my most favorite interests: creativity and fitness. I am thrilled to be writing alongside many talented sewists, bloggers, photographers, pattern designers and creative masterminds all coming together in the name of health and wellness.

All week long, others have posted about their love for Yoga and Pilates, Strength Training, Group Fitness, and Outdoor Recreation. When the opportunity arose, I knew I could sign up for every single day but I guess I wanted to share about a fitness passion that I don’t actually get paid to do…hiking! (PS. Now that I think about it, I probably ought to figure out how I can hike and get paid haha!)

Some background on my fitness journey:

Growing up I was always interested in fitness. I would do workout tapes with my step mom (Hello- Jane Fonda, Denise Austin, Buns of Steel- I’m lookin’ at you!), go to kickboxing classes with friends, I played tennis and ran track, etc. I just enjoyed being fit and feeling good about myself.

In college, I started working at a gym in their kids’ club and loved the perk of a free gym membership that came along with the job. I started taking group exercise classes and got to know the Group Exercise Manager really well. She must have saw some potential in me or something because eventually she asked me to take a Group Exercise Certification course and start teaching classes at the gym. I jumped in with both feet (pun intended) and was quickly hooked! Getting paid to workout, motivate others and have a blast being healthy and fit- sign me up!!!

Well, that was now over 10 years ago and I can’t imagine not being in the gym community, instructing and coaching others and continuing to grow myself as a fitness professional. Curious what classes I teach? Here is a list of my favorites: Body Pump, Body Attack, Grit, CXWorx, Boot Camp, Core, Yoga/Cycle/Cardio combo.

I also love running!! When I was younger I told myself I would run a marathon every 5 years of my adult life, and I guess that makes me due for one this year! I hope to convince a friend to two to join me…running with a buddy is so much more fun!

Wasn’t this post about Outdoor Recreation? Oh yea. Now, let’s discuss an area of fitness that I just do for complete and utter fun- Hiking!! My love for hiking really grew when we landed on the glorious island of Oahu. The hiking opportunities were more than I could fathom, and the rewards of getting out and exploring the great island views surpassed any expectation.

The greatest part of hiking, was that my whole family could adventure into fitness together. Even more, our family and our friends could share those memories in the great outdoors together.

Enjoy a nice photo spread of some of my favorite hikes on Oahu. If you ever find yourself on island, look these hikes up and be sure to jump on the trail!

Hiking isn’t where my outdoor adventures end! While on island, we were able to enjoy other activities like paddle boarding, ziplining, swimming with turtles, etc! My husband and I don’t always agree on everything, but we do share the passion for sharing health and wellness with our children. They were so fortunate to be able to take part in these fun outdoor activities year round, something that most of the mainland kids don’t get to enjoy.

There’s something soothing to the soul to be out in the sunshine, breathing in nature’s sweet fragrance and getting a little sweat in your eyes (in my case, lots of sweat). I hope you found some inspiration in my post to lace up your go-fasters and get out!

Check out a round up of the tour posts and the blog that began it all! Thank you, Becca and Free Notion, for organizing and promoting this awesome campaign. In 2016- let’s embrace Strong is the New Skinny!