This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing.

My guest this week is Jen, also known as fitpinup37 on Instagram.  Jen has an amazing transformation and a personality that to match.  If you know Jen you will know how real and raw she is in her posts and this is exactly what led me to reach out to her to be a guest on the podcast.  

I can remember her transformation post, but it wasn't the post that caught my attention, it was the caption she wrote along with it.  She was telling people how it really is, what it really takes to lose weight and be successful.

Jen wasn't always this passionate about her fitness and health though.  Jen spent her teenage and young adult years following The Grateful Dead around the country.  This lifestyle led her to eat at gas stations, fast food joints, and drinking.  She didn't know the toll this was taking on her until she went to put her jeans on one morning and they were tight.  Jen knew at this point she needed to make a change but like many of us, she didn't know where to start.  

Jen took the scariest step of her life in the right direction and she joined a local gym.  She didn't know what to do, where to start or how to workout but she knew she needed to join a gym to start.  She went in and walked a mile for the first time and in her words, she felt like she was going to die.  Jen kept going back though, she kept working out and she began reading every magazine she could get her hands on that focused on health.  

Jen really began to she changes when she started doing CrossFit.  She found that her coaches not only taught her about the exercises, but also the nutrition.  She fell in love with CrossFit from her first class and she has been going ever since.  Jen knew that before CrossFit she didn't have a healthy relationship with food, but since the beginning, she now has a healthy relationship with food and understands its importance when it comes to performance.  

I really enjoyed this wide-ranging conversation with Jen and I hope you do to!

 

Jen's Instagram

Do It For Yourself Instagram

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