Cue the rev of the central air; a mockingbird with his spiral song; the hum of a small plane overhead. These are the sounds of summer.

Breathe in the warmth of the early sun spilling over your face, filling your mind with the slosh of waves rolling around sandy feet. Where did you stash your bathing suit from last year — but wait — how will it fit?

These are the feelings of summer. Sometimes the excitement is interrupted by the voice of insecurity.

It doesn’t have to be the case again this year.

Almost 30 summers later I am so ready for this one! Who knew that a baby would be the reason?

It’s taken me years to figure out what nutrition is all about. Even today I am still trying to perfect my plate. Just yesterday I repeated to myself, Abs are made in the kitchen. That is progress if I am believing it in my head!

The first step was eliminating creamer from my coffee. I was that girl that took “a little coffee with her cream.” It took a while, but today black coffee has all the flavor I could possibly want.

Next, running became a morning routine. I thoroughly enjoyed that challenge. As I increased my mileage, my appetite grew to match it as well.

At this point I was pretty discouraged that my weight hadn’t budged an ounce. Then I took up a pair of things called dumbbells. After about a month or two someone asked me, Did you lose weight? While the scale remained the same (hello, muscles that have replaced my fat!) I realized that my clothes were fitting so much better!

Shortly after, I joined a gym and enjoyed my membership for two years until my husband and I moved cities.

Our move involved changing careers and a lot of new surprises, one of which was a positive pregnancy test. Since I had already been active I wanted to maintain a level of fitness even while pregnant.

I connected with a fabulous lady on social media with an inspiring transformation. She used a program that included workout videos and super nutritious shakes. I signed up and was in it for the shakes. I was willing to bum it in our podunk apartment gym.

But first trimesters are tricky. Baby didn’t want the shakes at this point and a torrential downpour made mommy decide to either risk getting her hair wet while dashing in the rain to the gym OR!! just stay in the dry comforts of her own living room and try out the dreaded video workout.

It wasn’t hair-washing day so the ‘do won.

And let me tell you, I got HOOKED!!

I have never done a workout before that moved my emotions so that I’ve cried mid-rep. Granted, there were hormones, but I have been inwardly and outwardly transformed by the levels Shaun T and Autumn Calabrese have taken me.

They stuck with me up until the day my water broke. (I almost quit at week 37). And two weeks after I came home with my little man I was back at it again. They’ve helped me stay strong during my pregnancy and helped me bounce right back after. I’m only 10 weeks postpartum but I have never felt stronger or better than I do right now.

Fitness is where it’s at!!

I’m on a new journey and hope to inspire as many people as I can.

And, summer, I am ready for you! You’ll be the best one yet.

You can do it, too!!