Healthy Living Holly Podcast!

Honestly, just thinking about my schedule some days exhausts me. So I really try to use my short but substantial 30 minute commute to my advantage. (WORK WORK WORK!) One of the ways I do that is by listening to podcasts on my way to work. Today I am sharing with you my interview with Holly from the Healthy Living Holly podcast. One of my favorite morning commute podcasts!

Her podcasts really resonate with me as she is SO authentic and offers practical tips whether she’s chatting about her marathon training or getting herself out of a workout funk, she covers all the basics in the running world. Check out her interview below and of course check out the Health Living Holly podcast on Itunes and her blog on www.healthhollyliving.com. Grab a kombucha and ENJOY!

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Q: For the readers that don’t know you yet, WHO IS HOLLY OF HEALTHY LIVING HOLLY?

HOLLY: My name is Holly Douglas, and I am the creator of the blog Healthy Living Holly. It originally started as a way for me to document my training during my first half marathon in 2011, but ever since then it has evolved into a place where I share my life and all things health & wellness with people around the world.

Q: We all have that AHA moment where we decide to venture on a wellness journey. When did your wellness journey begin?

HOLLY: I would say my whole wellness journey started in grade 11. That’s when I kind of “dabbled” in running, anyway. Prior to that I was NOT athletic whatsoever. I would be that girl in gym class at the back of the pack, trying to hide and do whatever I could to get out of class. Faking injuries was my speciality, haha. (HAHA!)

However, once I got a bit older, I began to feel uncomfortable in my body due to my lack of activity and poor diet choices. So, I started to work out. My parents had an old treadmill that I would use every night and run one minute, then walk one minute. Eventually I built it up so I could run for half an hour. I think that’s when my love of running truly started. Since then (I am 25 now), I have competed in one bikini competition (my first and last!) which was a CRAZY experience and a whole other story, and I have ran close to 20 half marathons and am currently training for my first FULL marathon in October.

Yikes! I like to think I am a lot more mindful of my fitness now, and it is now from a place of well-being and overall health instead of focusing on weight loss. It’s taken me almost 6 years to come to this realization, but it truly is so freeing!

Q: HOLD UP. You must elaborate. A bikini competition? Tells us the DEETS!

HOLLY: Haha! In 2015 I did my first and last bikini competition with the Canadian organization IDFA. The gym I was going to at the time had an info session about fitness shows in December of 2014. At this time I was watching a lot of YouTubers doing fitness competitions, and then when I saw the info session posted I thought I would go there and “just check it out.” Well, I didn’t just check it out! I jumped right into training in January 2015, and spent the next almost seven months dieting and exercising for that one moment on stage.

Don’t get me wrong. I think you can do fitness shows in a healthy way, but given my history of food issues (which I talk about on my blog but basically a short period of struggling with orthopedist) it probably wasn’t the best choice to make as that seemed to bring my mindset back to obsessing over my food and my meal plan and working out. Additionally, it is a huge investment. You are paying for a coach, the workout plan, meal plan, posing practice, not to mention the cost of registering for the event, travel/accommodation, your bikinis and all the make up and hair. I mean, it was a cool experience overall, and I did win third place (woohoo!), but when I got off stage I felt lost. What do I do now? Running has always been a constant in my life, so I went back to basics post fitness show and also took some well deserved time off from working out so intensely! For those who are considering doing a fitness show, I would do as much research as possible and really think if it is worth the financial and emotional investment.