A Little About Me
I get you, I’ve been there….I’m still there. Healthy living is a journey. I’m excited to open the door and welcome you into my world of health and wellness
Today I am sharing my adventure of living a healthy lifestyle and some the bumps in the road that threw me off course. In addition to introducing what is LOVA? And How I came up with the name.
For Starters
I am married to my college sweetheart, we are a rekindled relationship. I’m sure I’ll have a future post to tell our story. I have two amazing daughters that challenge me all the time. Especially my number two. For the moms out there….I’m sure you know what I mean. I am a Midwest girl born and raised outside Cleveland. But I am a palm tree, flamingo, warm sand beach lovin' girl at heart. I spent over a decade living in South Florida and that is where my Pilates journey began.
Ever since I can remember back in High School I loved working out. I thought that was going to be my ticket to keeping unwanted weight off. Little did I know (sigh) Physical fitness I think I take after my grandfather in this arena. He was an athlete and a high school sports coach. He passed when I was seven but those years we spent a lot of time together. As I am older, I think in many ways I take after my grandpa Tuff. I grew up exploring dance, gymnastics and I was on the school track team for three years. I spent the better part of my child hood on the competitive baton twirling circuit. I loved it. Practicing and traveling all over Ohio and Michigan to compete. After graduating high school I became serious about working out, weight training and aerobics. Step was my favorite. I remember one day after a step class the instructor came up to me and asked if I wanted to be an instructor. I was really flattered as I never thought about it. My mind was set on climbing the corporate ladder and make a lot of money. I studied business in college…with a concentration on marketing. After college I worked for a corporate bank in the computer network department. My vision was to learn technology as this thing called the internet was going to blossom into something that I could tie my creativity and marketing education together.
Adult and Motherhood
Throughout my twenties I worked full time, was on an exercise schedule and I found time to have fun living the single life. Even though I worked out I found as I was getting older the “single diet” was having a negative impact. I started gaining weight and I found myself using a method to easily purge the bar food of fries, grilled cheese sandwiches, all that bad stuff by abusing laxatives. In my mind it was easier to hide and sure beats making yourself throw up. When I was twenty-eight I moved to Florida and many things changed. I found myself in an environment where more people focused on healthy living and staying active. I believe it was the sun and the fact that people didn’t hide their bodies under clothes because it was too hot. Just my first perspective. I stayed active with my workouts but I learned to make better choices regarding my nutrition. It helped. About a year and a half later I got pregnant and really buckled down on what I ate. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was all baby. I gained twenty-six pounds. The healthy diet and working out paid off. At the age of thirty is when Avani made me a mom. That’s when real life reality set in. The "Me" time I was so used to having was greatly shifted to this little person I brought into the world. Having spent years working out and doing "me" up until the night I went into the hospital to be induced, I found I had no or very little time to keep my workouts going and I ate when and what I could. It was a challenge I felt like I was all over the place. Two weeks post partum I took my little bundle of joy on a walk to the local library. It was close and walking was all I was “allowed” to do per doctors orders. While at the library I came across a video by Denise Austin called Pilates!. Boy my interest was piqued. I spent years working on my abs and attending a 30 minute ab class twice a week at the gym to my midwife telling me to lay off the ab workouts during my pregnancy. I could do the rest but no ab exercises. Back then it was mostly crunches and twisting. Knowing what I know now as an instructor I understand why. Ok so back to the Denise Austin video. I took it home and I tried, it was hard plus I was only two weeks into recovery. Luckily I did not experience diastasis recti but I was desperate to resume workouts and get my pre baby body back. I tabled the Pilates gig for about 6 months. I spent the time walking and light weight training. After three months on Family leave I went back to work.
Finding Pilates
After settling back to work and a new schedule, I FINALLY found time! I was able to get back into a routine of working out during the week while my daughters was at day care. That’s when I found the Pilates Reformer. Oh My it was love at first workout. I spent my lunch hour twice a week in class. When my daughter was about ten months I decided I needed to take life in a different direction I was living the single mom life. My job came with a pager and on call 24/7 unless I took vacation. It was taking a toll I wasn’t eating the best and I started gaining weight again. I began training to become a Pilates instructor. When she was 3 ½ years old I said goodbye to what was security at the time of a corporate position to teach Pilates. Settling into my new career I got a handle on my eating. It was much easier this time. I had inspiration from the fabulous instructors I worked along side. It is true, You are the product of the people you surround yourself with. Looking back on my many years of teaching I realized about ten years in I had found my calling, living my life’s purpose. Helping others and Pilates was my tool to do just that. I spent the beginning of my career working for other studios. Over the years I have added Barre and Interval Training to my resume. Besides seeing and being a part of someone’s achievement of their goals is building a brand with a unique name that comes with an important philosophy of empowering ourselves to take care of our bodies as a whole.
So What is this name LOVA?
When I was brainstorming a name, branding for my Pilates business I just had my second daughter. I wanted a name that reflected both my girls somehow. I took 'LO' from Logan and 'VA' from Avani and voila LOVA. My sister suggested to make it an acronym. I had read the Book Return to Life by Joseph Pilates he used words like vitality and moving with agility. Healthy Living is a lifestyle and Life of Vitality and Agility it was. Over the years I have added to the LOVA name to help others with healthy eating, workouts besides Pilates, more importantly be there to help others however I can. Since 2020 many things came to light with how my clients were feeling, coping with everything that was going on. I started to focus on other aspects of LOVA besides eating and exercise. I developed what I call the 5 keys or philosophies of LOVA.
Mindset – what goes on between the ears has a major affect on the outcomes in life
Healthy Eating – fueling the body the way nature intended
Effective Movement – the body is meant to move and lets move it correctly
Self-Care – this a HUGE and there are many ways to do it.
Consistency – which is accompanied by accountability such as a coach/Mentor
I strongly believe these components working together in synergy can help one strive to live a life of optimal health and well-being. I am excited to explore these keys in this blog. I don't have all the answers, no one does. But I am a strong advocate of always evolving always learning. That’s how I have been teaching for over two decades and how I will continue to live my life. I empower others to do the same.
I would love to hear more about you, and your thoughts, your goals. Share what's on your mind in the comments below. Be sure to sign up to be notified of future posts.