Once upon a time, I dreamed about looking like the women on fitness magazine covers and then later like the fitness girls on Instagram. I tried this, that, and the other. Fad diets and workouts. I never made any real, lasting progress and I sure didn’t look like those girls I saw in my head. Then, I fell in love and moved in with a bodybuilder and the health and fitness education of a lifetime began. And let me tell you, most of the stuff I learned was NOT what the magazines and Instagram had made me believe. Six years later, I’m officially “fit as f*@k” and a “hardbody” (according to Jake.) This is what I’ve learned: there is no substitute for living a healthy lifestyle and doing the work. I look this way because I live this way. Or, put another way: live like a bodybuilder, look like a bodybuilder. The old me wanted to look like I do now while still living the way I used to. It could never happen. But thankfully, life gave me Jake and I learned the truth. Drink water, eat real food, don’t eat s#!t, move, and above all else: don’t stress. It’s amazing what small changes will do for you over the long haul! It’s not a 12-week journey. It’s not a 6-month journey. It’s a lifestyle. Live it, be it, and you ARE it.