Find Your Reason

JanelleG

Janelle G.

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It has taken me A LONG time to love my body. And I don't mean flaunt my body. I mean really LOVE what it has done for me these past 46 years. I was fairly active in my teens and 20’s, but lived much of this life wishing for different legs, bigger boobs, etc. I...

KimC

Kim C.

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Lying in bed with no motivation, feeling sluggish and tired, even though I had a full night sleep was how I started most of my mornings. I took my daily ibuprofen to try and calm the oncoming migraine I could feel blurring my vision. None of my clothes fit from the year before so I...

ChrissyW

Chrissy W.

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Today my reason is I am a fighter, a survivor, and I am able. I was born with a rare disease Recurrent Respiratory Papillomas (RRP growths grow on around vocal cords causing suffocation if left untreated). At the time I started working out I had eighteen surgeries on my throat. In my life I have...

JenniferC

Jennifer C.

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My journey began in 2007 after the birth of my second child. While I was pregnant I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted. I didn’t stop to consider how much work it would take to lose the weight I was gaining so I found myself the heaviest I had ever been and very unhappy...

EmilieB

Emilie B.

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I knew I had to get “back on Track” as a mom of three small kids I needed to focus on what I wanted to gain Vs. what I wanted to give up. This is my journey, where I want to be: my goals and no one else’s: my opinion and not that of others....

AmyM

Amy M.

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It’s hard to describe everything that training has done for me – it’s become a lifeline and therapy and I’ve found my second family there. It’s given me confidence in a way that nothing else did or can. What many people don’t realize is how training is every bit as much mental strengthening as it is...

ElizabthS

Elizabeth S.

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I took the lessons I learned in the gym and tried to teach and instill them as characteristics in myself and my children. In the gym you only get what you work for. And hard work always pays off. In the gym you have to overcome your mind over the current circumstances. In the gym if...

ErinO

Erin O.

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My alarm goes off at 4:00am and there could be a million reasons why I do not get up, but there is one reason why I do and it’s for me.....and this is my reason. Going to crossfit and conquering the WOD or a lacing up my shoes and hitting the trail is my time to...

AshleyA

Ashley A.

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I have always had a passion for running and being active. Not only do I enjoy my time in the gym but I also have ridden horses very competitively my whole life and now am a full time horse trainer for Arabian Show horses. When I was young growing up on an acreage I would...

RachelB

Rachel B.

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There is no better feeling than putting on my headphones, blocking out the world, and focusing on myself and my workout. “When you feel like stopping, think about why you started”. The reminder of the person I was and the hard times I got through because of my new desire to be healthy, is my reason.

AngelaG

Angela G.

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Athletes ready...set'..(sound of a gun) to start the race and I was off. All of my life I have been an athlete. At the age of 5, I started competitively swimming. Born and raised in Florida, The Sunshine State...swimming was my life. When I arrived at high school, I hit a 'wall' from both improving...

RachelP

Rachel P.

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I have three scars running parallel to each other on my right upper hip. I look at these every day and think of three words that have defined the past few years of my life: Runner. Depressed. Wanderer. Three seemingly separate words, but intrinsically tied together in my life. They go in a constant cycle. I was first diagnosed with...

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Jordan

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I'd never known self love before. I'd never known what it was like to truly, incandescently be proud of every fine detail of what makes me...me. When you don't love yourself...it's a challenge for others to love you. Coming to that conclusion and actually grasping what that truly means is when I set out to...

NinaT

Nina T.

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I was in the best shape of my life when Ben was diagnosed with cancer - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia - at age 3. Life forced me to step back and focus on his treatment. I missed the gym but felt selfish for even thinking about it when my son was fighting such a huge battle. It...

KasiH

Kasi H.

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I run because it clears my mind. It’s my DE stressor, it’s my daily dose of medicine, and it’s my therapy. Running makes me feel strong and it makes me feel confident. All women should feel strong and confident. Running is probably the only thing I have ever been good at, the only thing I’ve...

HeatherW

Heather W.

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Regardless of all my excuses and obstacles (depression, loss, money, time, pregnancy, thyroid disease, migraines, epilepsy, etc) I am now 148lbs (from 217 lbs) and 17% (from 42%) body fat. I never thought I could achieve this but I have, and I have learned SO much on the way. I learned that being healthy and...

EmilyS

Emily S.

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The day it hit me was the day I turned down a hike on a beautiful day because I didn't have the energy for it, is when I realized I wanted to change my life. My life long goal is that 'I want to physically be able to do, whatever it is that I want...

AllieHofman

Allie H.

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This is what I want my daughters to see. That being active can mean many things, but that more than anything, it means having a balance and finding fun in whatever you're doing. It doesn't mean you have to be the fastest, or the fittest, but that you show up and do your best. Above...

KateshaB

Katesha B.

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My WHY (reason) goes way back. I grew up with both parents being addicts. I was in and out of the juvenile system. Long story short I became an addict also. By the time I was 17 I had given birth to two sons but still a full blown addict. When I was 20 I was pregnant...

VictoriaL

Victoria L.

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I was always fit and active, through school and growing up here in Iowa then as an adult in Alaska. Enter 2 kiddos and still I tried, and then a 3rd pregnancy resulting in a long drawn out miscarriage where my body wouldn't cooperate and do it's job to let go despite all the patience...

katie

Katie

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I am a wife, a mom, a childhood cancer survivor, and an amputee. I am a thin person by genetics, but have not always been healthy. I have been an amputee for twenty years. I never realized until about three years ago that I was letting this hold me back on my journey to fitness...

jessicahull

Jessica Hull, Des Moines

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Running and being active is a big part of who my family is. Both my parents were runners and during my moms battle with ovarian cancer she continued to go on hour long runs even after treatment and I thought if she can do it, I should do it. She passed away in 2010 and...

‘This is My Reason’ Project, taking place in Des Moines along with more locations around the Midwest, is a chance for women to be able to celebrate their healthy lifestyle they have chosen by coming together and sharing with YOU what it took to get there and WHY they do it. What is it that gets these women out of bed every single morning? We all have excuses, but what we really want to know is their REASON for doing what they do.

This platform is an opportunity for women of ALL fitness levels to inspire and motivate others, to also dig deep and find that reason. Health transcends in many different ways and this is a chance for all of those journeys to come together. We are here to show what it looks like to be an everyday person, who may or may not have had their struggles, made their health a priority in their life and how it has truly been life changing.

Because it is important.

Janelle G.

It has taken me A LONG time to love my body. And I don't mean flaunt my body. I mean really LOVE what it has done for me these past 46 years. I was fairly active in my teens and 20’s, but lived much of this life wishing for different legs, bigger ... continue reading...

Kim C.

Lying in bed with no motivation, feeling sluggish and tired, even though I had a full night sleep was how I started most of my mornings. I took my daily ibuprofen to try and calm the oncoming migraine I could feel blurring my vision. None of my ... continue reading...

Chrissy W.

Today my reason is I am a fighter, a survivor, and I am able. I was born with a rare disease Recurrent Respiratory Papillomas (RRP growths grow on around vocal cords causing suffocation if left untreated). At the time I started working out I had ... continue reading...

Jennifer C.

My journey began in 2007 after the birth of my second child. While I was pregnant I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted. I didn’t stop to consider how much work it would take to lose the weight I was gaining so I found myself the heaviest I had ... continue reading...