My name is Jaren, I'm
a 25 year old business and accounting student from the great state of Texas!
I'm 7 months out from my wedding to the greatest guy I've ever known, except my
father, and you'll be hearing about him a lot. I was born in Louisiana and
spend my summers in Florida, so I love seafood and sunshine! When I have spare
time, that mystical spare time, I enjoy going to car shows, reading, and just
being outside! I live on a forty plus acre ranch in the middle of nowhere where
my parents raise horses and cows. I also have two wonderful sisters who help
keep me motivated to stay fit, and keep me crazy, I mean sane. 
As for my fitness
journey it started 7 years ago, right after high school. I was always the
"chunky" girl in high school. I had lots of great friends and I dated
frequently so I can't say I had a bad experience cause I didn't. I really liked
high school, I just didn't like my weight. My sisters are both the tall, in
shape and blonde types and yet somehow I ended up being the short, dark haired,
have to fight for every pound type! For a few years my workout was comprised of
mostly treadmill/elliptical and a minimal amount of weight training at the
local gym. Then I found this wonderful channel on my television called FIT TV
and fell in love with Total Body Sculpt with Gilad, a 40-minute exercise with
weight training, compound moves, and plyometrics. For being an older gentleman
he is definitely in shape and nice to look at. But being me, and between work
and school and trying to have a life I slacked off a little. When I started
gaining weight again I spazzed out and decided to try Insanity. Shaun T., SO
YUM. Insanity was no joke, but fun, short and quick to show results! I looked
great that summer on the beach. Then I slacked again and when I started to see
weight gain I freaked out again and bought P90X. See a pattern here? I love
P90X, mostly because I'm a firm believer that women should NOT be afraid of
weights. You're not going to get bulky and cardio doesn't necessarily lose
weight faster. Lifting weights gives you that lean muscle look we all drool
over and want, and building muscle helps you burn more calories over the scope
of your day! Needless to say I love P90X, I do however, HATE the chaturanga.
Still can't do that stinking move. One day chaturanga, one day. Anyways after
P90X I started a 2nd bachelors in Accounting and I slacked off a little not
because I wanted to, but because it was hard to fit work and studying and still
have time to breath let alone workout. I did continue eating well. Three months
ago I was able to find time to work out by cutting out the evil television.
Just stopped watching it so I would have time. (Ok, honesty moment - I still
tape Vampire Diaries to watch when I can and I can't wait for Downton Abby to
come back on!)
As for my family, my
mom used to be a hard core runner when my parents lived in Florida, when we
moved to Texas she became a fitness instructor at the local gym until work got
too crazy. She will be 59 this year and still has a rocking size two bod! Why
didn't I get those genes?!?! My little sister played sports all the way through
college, and she is now at University of Texas for a Nutrition degree! Its
sooooo helpful having a nutritionist in the family. Just don’t work out with
her, she makes Jillian look tame. My fiancé did not know what healthy meant
until we started dating almost 6 years ago but now he likes running, doing the
Insanity workouts, and he loves to eat healthy. As for a support structure I
have to say I am a very lucky girl and it definitely helps keep me motivated to
have such strong people in my life.
Now onto the Kiwi in
Kiwi Fit. Kiwi is... my cat. Seriously. She is my fifteen year old calico who
has throughout my whole workout journey been my workout out buddy. She gets
under my feet when I'm doing lunges and squats. She gets on my stomach when I
do sit ups; and on my back when I do pushups. She doesn't know what a personal
bubble is. (She often tries to sleep on my face at night too.) So you'll be
hearing lots about her as she is my permanent shadow at all times. She is tiny,
weighing only 6lbs - she got Hartz syndrome years ago and had a feeding tube
for months. Her weight has never returned since even though she eats like a
pig. So please don’t freak out thinking she is starving. She is just my tiny
little trooper! (Please ignore the lack of makeup in the photo above.)
Lastly, thank goodness
my hands are starting to cramp, what you guys have to look forward to! Last
year I helped maintain a thread on my favorite camaro site encouraging others
to lose weight and share my fitness journey to help keep me motivated. This
year I started a new thread with new faces and it has been very rewarding for
me, as well as the others who help out on the thread, to see these people
change their lives! I've been thinking why just on this site? What if I could
reach more people and help plant the seeds to help others as well? So here I
am. This blog, and all the cool cats that decide to read it, will keep me
accountable! I'll post up my workouts, meals, general life occurrences that
have an impact on me. I also want to help motivate others by posting workouts I
find, tips, recipes, motivational pieces and other cool tid bits that I think
will make your journey easier!
So please check back!
Life, Love, and Lift,
-Kiwi and Me
For questions, tips, or blog suggestions please email me at kiwiandmefit@gmail.com.
For questions, tips, or blog suggestions please email me at kiwiandmefit@gmail.com.
