Growing up competitive sports were a huge part of my life. It was who I was, it defined me.
I began as a competitive gymnast.
When I went to high school I became a competitive cheerleader.
When I went to college I was a competitive cheerleader too.
After college my cheerleading days were over. So was competing.
When I got my first teaching job I began coaching gymnastics. I was no longer competing but my girls were. It wasn't what I was used to, I missed competing.
A few years later I got into competing in half marathons and sprint triathlons. I felt as though I needed to set goals in my life. When I was younger they were all about fitness, so that felt most natural to me and that's where I focused. Somewhere along the way I lost my focus of what healthy competition was. That is when I struggled with an eating-disorder. My goal became a number on the scale. I weighed myself every day, usually 2-3 times each day. The goal was to be the lowest number I could be by means of exercising more and eating less. The competition was between me, the scale and ED (the name I gave to my eating disorder which is very common among those who have struggled with any type of eating disorder).

When I first began my road to recovery I questioned why I was going through this.
Why me?
Why did I have to suffer?
It wasn't until I began to search for the answers to these questions that I found God. He had them all. i began to realize what having faith in the Lord could do for me. The competition needed to end. My focus needed to shift from a number on the scale to focus on God's love for me. Some people might think that I would be "mad at God", not me, I am so blessed and so thankful to Him. All those years of struggling, He has brought me to where I am today!
Encouraging and motivating others to live the healthiest life they can, including myself of course <3

I found this shirt on pinterest today and loved it! It has made me realize how I can have the competition I love back in my life. I want to compete for my life. Compete for the best of me in all aspects listed on the shirt:

FAITH

WORK

HEALTH

DREAMS

RELATIONSHIPS

Now do not get me wrong, competition is good as long is it is healthy and it doesn't become destructive to who you are. That is where I got lost. God has helped me see that I can encourage, motivate and support others to compete for the best life they can live! That is awesome. God is amazing! I can only thank him for all that he has done for me.

<3 Veronica