Hi… Welcome to my page… How do you start these things? I’ve never written a blog/ article before. Oh well, I’m just going to dive in.

I’m Laura Sheridan (that’s my middle name), and that's ^^ me! I'm a college student, lover of food, wannabe yogi, and, most importantly to you all, fitness freak. I started an “accountability Instagram” in January of 2015, but little did I know what a major impact this decision would have on my life. Fitness is more than just a part of my daily routine, and my Instagram is not just a way to distract myself in class.

On January 14, 2015 I decided to start Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide program. If you don't know what that is, Google knows and I'll also talk about it at some point! I took my starting photos, and I was appalled by what I saw in the mirror. How I got to the physical and mental state I was in on January 14, 2015 is a story for another day. But the point was, I decided to make a change. I committed myself to healthy eating, BBG resistance workouts, and LISS (low intensity steady state) for the 12 weeks.

I completed the 12 weeks. I lost 20+ pounds, went from a 10 in dresses to a 4, and a 30 in jeans to a 26. That transformation is the one above. But most importantly, I was hooked on this change! It was almost intoxicating to see my body change in front of my eyes. Since then, I’ve had physical and mental ups and downs, but today I am much stronger than the girl before, and right after, completing BBG. Since March of this year, I've been doing everything myself- my own workouts, my own nutrition advice. A snapshot of part of that transformation is below.

Throughout the past ~21 months, Instagram has connected me with some amazing humans and companies, including Odyssey! So what the heck am I doing here on Odyssey? Having learned from many of the amazing people on Instagram, trainers I have met here in the Boston area, and studying to be an ACE certified PT (taking the test in the next few weeks), I like to think I know at least SOMETHING about fitness. I lift, do yoga, and create HIIT (high intensity interval training) circuits all myself, and I have seen it all transform my body. I know the unhealthy nutrition temptations being a college student. I’ve struggled with mental health issues that are quite common, especially for people in the fitness community. So, I want to share my story, what works for me and what doesn’t. I want to share my workouts, and provide video clips, because reading a “description” of an exercises isn’t that helpful. I want to share what I eat, how often I splurge (a lot), and recipes I love.

I think the more you know, the better equipped you’ll be at making changes for yourself. And while this seems obvious, everyone needs simple reminders now and then. My hope is to post one workout video a week and one article/ story/ recipe/ listicle/ rant/ any-other-way-to-label-these-collection-of-words a week, all to try and expand your knowledge. But, that is aspirational, and college is notorious for throwing sh!t your way when you’re not expecting it. So it may be only one of those a week sometimes…

For now, I hope these 600 words or so have intrigued you enough to want to check back in a few days for my first video or recipe; it’ll be one of the two! Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this, for those of you still here :)

P.S. I don't like to smile in my fitness photos, so don't take it personally.