Well, I have had a whirlwind of a few weeks over here. I missed all of you so much! I can’t express enough gratitude for your patience while I got some important things sorted out. Some scary things. Are you ready for the announcement? Here goes!

I will no longer be blogging at Faith Fitness Fun.

Yes. You read that right. I will no longer be blogging here at FFF.

That’s only because you will now find me blogging somewhere else.

I sincerely hope you will join me at my new site and blog – Best Body Fitness at www.tinareale.com

You might wonder, “why the change?”

After getting my NASM certification, I knew I would have to make a choice. Sit on my certification and keep going with the blogging I have set up here on FFF. Or do something new that can allow me to start doing something with the passion and goals I had for myself when first deciding to get certified.

I couldn’t do both. I couldn’t run two separate sites. Or blog and seek out work somewhere outside the home as a trainer. I just couldn’t.

Which is why I’m here now. Taking a leap of faith and leaving behind the known for the unknown.

I shared this quote last week, because I couldn’t think of anything more fitting. This change is painful. It’s painful to say goodbye to a site I love. It’s painful to think of losing any of you. It’s painful to know my dreams could crash and burn right around me.

But, it is beautiful. It is beautiful to do what I know is right and trust the journey.

Time for the details!!! What is Best Body Fitness even like???

Best Body Fitness will be a site dedicated to helping others achieve a healthier lifestyle. A place to encourage a fit, strong, healthy body as the best body you can have. I will offer online personal training services (and am open to communication in setting up in-person training in my area). While I will provide online training, that is NOT the focus of Best Body Fitness!! It will still be a personal site.

I didn’t want to give up something I love so much with blogging – and I won’t. We will still be able to connect in that same capacity over there. I think the community is vital to having a site that encourages others in a healthy lifestyle. Which is why I will still be blogging there. It will certainly take a different format with a bit more focus on sharing fitness, motivational topics, recipes, and such…but I refuse to turn into an impersonal site!

You will still get personal updates. Still catch up on my running, my family, my thoughts, “Stuffed With Emptiness” posts, etc. You will still see similar topics to what I cover here. Just at a new place. Not more than once a day. A bit more fitness, healthy living focused. And with training offered through the site at a very affordable price. A full MONTH worth of workouts and support for less than a one HOUR session with most in-person trainers. You know I love a deal!

PS – I will NOT be hounding you every day with “Train With Me!!!” comments! 

Go ahead and check out the FIRST POST now! Then, pretty please:

• SUBSCRIBE TO BEST BODY FITNESS
  • IN A READER (BY RSS)
  • OR BY EMAIL
• LIKE THE NEW FACEBOOK PAGE (would love your support! and will be taking down the FFF page within the next couple of weeks)
• CONTINUE FINDING ME AT THE SAME TWITTER ACCOUNT (just as @tinareale now instead of @TinaFFF)

Also, be sure to let me know if you’re interested in any training or if you have any questions. Send them to me at [email protected]

Before I sign off here, I must do something:

Thank you for making FFF such a wonderful part of my life. Thank you for the endless support. Thank you for believing in me. This isn’t goody-bye. It’s just a new beginning. A new beginning that I hope you will take with me. Cheers!

Hello FFF readers! Nice to meet ya! My name is Carissa and my husband and I blog at Fit2Flex.  Well, I blog…he consults! We are both certified personal trainers with a passion for healthy, active living and clean eating.  I am also studying to become a registered dietitian, a race announcer, and a runner.  Stop on by our blog for workouts, meal plans, fit tips, and recipes. 

I have always loved the Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken”. So much so that’s there’s a plaque in my bathroom.

I love the part about the “road less traveled”. I try to remember that when I’m looking for the courage to make big decisions. However, about a year ago, I did something that’s clearly not written in Frost’s words.  I turned around. I abandoned my road less traveled, turned around, and have found myself on a more peaceful, happier road.

Today I want to share a story and inspire you to maybe someday have the courage to turn around, start a new journey, or take a detour just for you.

Since I was in high school I wanted to be a sideline reporter.  I wanted to be Erin Andrews WAY before Erin Andrews was cool.  I studied in school; I interned; I was a radio/TV major in college; and I scored a gig with ESPN’s Wide World of Sports at 19.

I was traveling, I was working, and I was climbing the ladder.  I even achieved my goal and did sideline reporting for several nationally televised college games.  I was there, but I wasn’t happy.

I loved my job, but I wanted more.  I wanted to be more involved. I wanted to help people.  Not that asking a sweaty running back how he felt about that drive wasn’t helpful…but well..it was a short term “help”.

Around this time I became passionate about health and fitness and I found myself reading every fitness magazine and health book during my many travels. I met my husband, a personal trainer, and fitness took over. 

I became a personal trainer too.  But I was still traveling, still working.  One foot on the field and one foot in the gym.

For two years I looked online at schools to become a registered dietitian.  I would see the long list of pre-requisites that my arts degree didn’t have and I’d balk.  Scared at all that work for “another “ degree. I’d email programs for dietetics and plan out how long it would take me to graduate, but then a big job would come along and I’d be right back to where I was.  Busy, but not satisfied.

Finally, I made the decision. I started taking my science prerequisites while still working and in May 2011 I was a college junior all over again.  At 26.

It felt weird to start over. It felt embarrassing. It felt like I had failed.  I put years of work into a dream and I abandoned it.  I couldn’t help feeling like I had done something wrong.

Going back to school was scary.  Scary financially to take on student loans when previously I had none.  Scary to tell my agents when they called that I couldn’t do gigs because I had an exam.  Scary to not know if I had made the right choice. 

In my first months of school I had a daily debate with myself, “Is this the right thing?”  There were times I wanted to stop and just continue what I was doing because it was easier.  But I had some huge cheerleaders.  My husband and my friends.  They told me that the best things in life you have to work for. And while school was hard and scary, they knew me, and it was where I belonged.

Today I’m thrilled with my decision. I still have about 19 more months until I can sit for my registered dietitian board exam, but I’m getting there.  I’m driven; I’m focused; and I’m fulfilled. The path just feels easier when it’s the right one. For me the turning around, the starting over, the humility of saying that what I was doing wasn’t right…that was the road less traveled.  And as Mr. Frost said, “that has made all the difference.”

Have you ever changed course for a more fulfilling path?