Why "You First" Fitness?

You First Fitness is not about being selfish and inconsiderate of
others. It doesn't mean pursuing your fitness to the exclusion of
family, friends or anybody else.

You First Fitness is simply about realizing that you need to take care
of your health first, so you can be the best YOU possible in order to
best enable you to help, take care of, or just "be there" for others.

For some of you, getting in better shape is a medical necessity - you
have or are at risk for diabetes, insulin resistance, heart disease,
high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or some other risky medical
condition, and if you don't make a change you are literally putting your
life at risk. For others, you may be struggling with low self esteem, a
lack of self confidence, anxiety, depression, or other similar issues.
Some of you may be fighting eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, or
binge eating, or have issues with body dysmorphia, where you have a
skewed perspective of your physical appearance, thinking you are too
thin or too fat, or not muscular or lean enough.

All of these things can keep you from being the best YOU possible, and
all of these issues can be greatly helped, if not resolved, through
proper exercise and nutrition, in combination with "getting your mind
right". To get that proper exercise and nutrition takes work, and that
work requires some time (not a lot) that you dedicate to You First.

More on how to balance You First exercise and nutrition with the demands
of your life in my next post...

Where I'm At

OK - let's get this thing rolling! A quick bit of background on me -
I'm 34 and very happily married with two children. I'm employed
full-time as the IT Manager for a law firm, and part-time as a personal
trainer. I have been an occasional martial artist in one form or
another for the last twenty years, though I have only begun taking my
training more seriously in the last four, and I currently train two
friends (soon to be three) on a weekly basis in what I simply call
"effective striking". Technically, it is based on a combination of
principles from western boxing, Chinese boxing (Hei Ban Opera House
style Wing Chun), Thai/western kickboxing and Tae Kwon Do.

I became interested in personal training and nutrition over the last few
years, and have started on a transformation of sorts when it comes to my
own body composition. To date, in the last nine months or so, I have
lost 20 pounds overall, gaining muscle mass and losing body fat, through
exercise and nutrition.

My main motivation behind getting fit was (and is) my family. I want to
be the healthiest, strongest, best ME I can be so that I never have to
tell my kids that I don't have the energy to play with them, and to lead
them by example in living a healthy, active lifestyle that they can
benefit from for the rest of their lives.

What do you want to achieve in the next year with regards to your
fitness? What motivates you?

Welcome to You First Fitness!

Check back often for articles, opinions and links to help you in your quest to become the best YOU possible.


I'm planning to use this blog to aggregate all of the content I find useful on a daily basis in helping me towards my goals, and as an online journal, chronicling my training, nutrition, results and personal trials and tribulations along the way.


For now, I'll just say, welcome, dear reader - it's good to have you on board for the journey!