In 2003, a year after my first baby, I got family vacation photos back and could not believe who was in them, who was this unhappy chubby girl looking back at me?!

Besides the whole vanity thing I didn't feel like myself anymore.  I felt irritated, no energy, and did not feel sexy.  Not a good place to be.  Growing up I had been a competitive gymnast and cheerleader, and then into my 20s would hit the gym on the way to work and participate in fun runs, for fun!  Somewhere between building my career, getting married and having my first child I kinda forgot about my body.  I literally had stopped looking below the chin.  I felt disconnected.  The sacrificing of "me" time for the family had completely backfired.  I had nothing to give.

So I made a change, started working out and considered every bite.  These pretty simple changes yielded almost 20lbs off my little 5' frame in three months.  It felt amazing, only better than feeling like my "old" self, I felt like my best self.  I had evolved as a person with the transformation and decided I HAD to help others do the same thing.

In 2005 I opened my first personal training studio and in 2008 was able to open a second location.  It has been an awesome journey.  In these 7 years I have had the honor of working personally with hudreds of clients through my top notch training team.  I have witnessed clients be able to leave wheel chairs behind, run their first marathons, get into their skinny jeans, and many be able to drop anti-depressants and blood pressure medicines.

At the end of 2010 approaching 40 years of age was a catalyst to create a bucket list and running a marathon was on it.  Before this crazy idea came to me I had never run more than a 5k and the last time I had done it was 2005.  In June 2011 at 39 I ran my first marathon in San Diego.  Unlike many first time marathoners, as I crossed that finish line the thought (after OMG) that came to me was "gotta do NYC"!

So here I am, with 2 children, a husband, and a business – still fighting the good fight to make time for me so that I have something to give.  I believe whole heartedly that the reason I was able to become my best almost 10 years ago (and several times since then with one more baby, injuries, surgeries, work, work and more work, and set backs) and then to be able to give to others is because of the exposure to sports in my youth.

I am so honored to run for WSF, to raise money to support their awesome cause.  Empowering women to participate in sports is life changing.  Please see their website for all the details.  www.WomensSportsFoundation.org

Each week I’ll write something about what is happening with me or someone I know, and something that is happening with WSF.  I hope you’ll consider supporting me in supporting them, in supporting the 100s of thousands they support, that pays it forward to millions.

Running Happy, Ananda