My name is Alison (but everyone calls me Allie), and I’m a Canadian chick who recently moved from the East Coast (Ontario) to Calgary, Alberta. This blog is a journal of sorts about my life and in particular my passion for health and wellness.
I wasn’t always into health and wellness – in fact far from it! But my thinking changed shortly after I finished college and realized my metabolism wasn’t what it was in high school. Now, I look back on my high school prom pictures and think how darn lucky I was to have the body I had them. At that time, I was tall and TINY – I think my weight fluctuated in the 115-120 range… which realistically is too thin for someone my height. I remember one time a male friend of mine made a comment about how he would never date someone like me because I was too skinny. This was pretty hurtful to me at the time, but thankfully (or not) I made up for it in college.
I guess because I had always been told that I was skinny (or in some cases too skinny) – I never really figured I’d have to change my eating habits or pay more attention to them once I got to university. But low and behold, the dorm food, the beginnings of a coffee addiction and *ahem* some ‘tasteful’ college drinking – all contributed to a sizeable weight gain for me while I was in college. After I graduated I remember weighing myself at one point and being somewhere around the 160 mark (so that’s about 10 lbs gained a year for 4 years *yikes*). I actually thought the scale was broken, to be honest – I guess I was in a bit in denial – but that was a major reality check.
Following college I joined a gym for the first time in my life and have focused on SLOWLY changing the way I think about exercise and food. It was a bit of a rocky road at the beginning, I found it hard to stay motivated and wasn’t really into running and pushing myself at that point. Over the course of the last two years, however, things have changed. I consciously try and make good eating choices (while allowing myself the odd splurge once in awhile). I try to make it to the gym at least 3-4 times a week, but some weeks are better than others. I have found a passion for running, and found that sitting on an exercise bike and reading a book is a great way of relaxing for me. Finally, I’ve read, studied and learned everything I can about health and wellness. I regularly read a number of blogs, I use calorie tracking online software (though not religiously), and I have bought books and videos and basic exercise equipment to make integrating exercise into my daily life easier.
Through this blog I hope to keep readers informed of what’s happening in my life, and ideally, provide some good ideas and insight for them to use. I will give recaps of my training regimen, ideas and theories on health, and hopefully post some of my food choices and recipes as well.
I hope you join me on this journey 
