Fit Friday with Nichole and Ruthie

Friday’s are getting a facelift around here… it’s a good thing! Promise.

Let me introduce you to one of my cutest friends and trainer Nichole from Pure Clean Fitness. Nichole and I go way back- like all the way back to the winter 2008 when I decided I needed a trainer to help me learn how to cross train for my second marathon. I met Nichole at my local gym, little did I know that a friendship would bloom out of it. Nichole and I ran training runs through the summer 2009 and then ran the 2009 Top of Utah Marathon that fall. Nichole is one of the speediest chic’s I know but she held herself back and ran the whole thing right with me.

Nichole has written my workouts all these years and I love to hate her sometimes! Oh my gosh. This woman is good at what she does… but after the first week of a new workout routine- I’m back to loving her again. Totally teasing 🙂 She’s great and a wealth of healthy knowledge that I am grateful to have in a friend.

People always ask me how I stay in such good shape- especially when I was in Culinary School, but for me vitality in life comes from keeping a healthy balance. Some of you may remember that 17 years I was 95 pounds over weight- I wrote about my weight loss story several years ago. Here are the links if you want to read more Weight Loss A and Weight Loss B.

I can bake up sweets like there’s no tomorrow but I just enjoy a few and share the rest. Y’all know what I eat- I share all the recipes with you so, what we eat and the recipes I create reflect my way of balancing whole grains, lean protein, fruits, veggies, and I have to throw in some sweet-tooth happiness too! As you all know exercise is so important and I make sure to add in daily exercise in some form- I’ve hung up my running shoes but I love to hike with the dogs, ride my road bike, 2-3 days of weight lifting each week, and mix in some yoga here and there. I am not stuck in one routine or another but I do make sure to stay active in one of those ways, everyday.

Nichole and I put our head together and thought why not bring the best of both of our talents together by combining Healthy Recipes with Fitness Tips and call it Fit Friday!