Jess Do It Blog: What Is Jess Do It?

Jess.Do.It is exactly what it sounds like, if you want to accomplish something, just do it!

Being fit, healthy, and happy - It's a way of life.

As for me, I am just your average Jess! I graduated from The University of Tennessee (Go Vols!) with a bachelors degree in Exercise Science. I chose that as my course of study because I was hoping to go to Physical Therapy school. After a few internships I realized PT was not my calling. So what do you do with an ES degree? Good question... I started personal training during and after college for a total of about 5 years. After a while fitness, to me, was no longer fun- it was work. That's when I decided to step away from my career in fitness for a while. I now work full time (basically working at my desk all day). I enjoy what I do. It enables me to focus on fitness in my personal time as a hobby/passion. I love to write about it and share what I have learned in school and through my personal experiences. I also teach cycling on the side for fun, I'm in love all over again!

Growing up I was always average. In high school I never had any issues with weight. It wasn't until I left for college when things got out of hand. I made unhealthy nutritional choices daily, nightly, pretty much everyday all day. After a year I had gained almost 50 lb! I was the heaviest I have ever been. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. Turns out, there are a lot of people who can relate to that.

In college, I learned about the human body and its response to exercise. You would think that having a bachelors degree in Exercise Science would make me a master at weight loss. Not so much. Personally, my weight was above average for my frame but I was not dangerously obese. I was very active and working out like crazy to try and get rid of the weight I had gained through college. I figured, "happy hour is okay.. Ill just run it off tomorrow." I remember running in the park and seeing girls who had an amazing physique and were putting in much less effort than me. I was so frustrated that I didn't have the physique to match my efforts. How were they doing that? What am I doing wrong?

That is about the time when a friend of mine asked me to train for a bikini competition with her. With nothing left to lose I accepted the challenge. After attempting to do it on our own and failing we decided to hire a fitness coach. Brenda and Dave Merritt. That is where my transformation truly began. My coaches taught me how to eat right. In college, I took one nutrition class which was mainly science based. I had no idea how important nutrition really was when it comes to your health. I can honestly say that I have learned more useful information in the past year than from my degree. Once I added eating clean it was like I found the missing part of the puzzle. I went from flab to fit and stage ready in 4 months!

So, that leads us to Jess.Do.It. I was totally committed to my new lifestyle change. I did away with the happy hours. bars on the weekends, and late night food with friends and in started eating 5-6 meals a day, cooking at home. My daily check ins at the gym and all of my fitness related posts on my personal Facebook page were driving most of my non fitness enthused friends close to "unfriending" me. I decided to start a new page strictly related to fitness and transforming your lifestyle. Many people who are trying to make healthy changes in their lives, small and big, are often pulled in so many directions with all of the fad diets, crazy workout trends, diet pills, and get skinny quick shakes. I'm not saying that people haven't had success while doing any of those things, but I can guarantee that they were also eating clean in the process. When I changed my lifestyle I feel like I found out the secret- just DO IT. No excuses, no short cuts, just eating right and exercising. You have to find what works for you! That is the real "secret". My journey is nothing special, I made some changes in my life for the better and it has put me in a position to help others and motivate them to live a healthier HAPPIER lifestyle. God couldn't have blessed me more to put me in that type of position.