My healthy living journey wasn’t an easy one. Like many, I only ate right and worked out for one specific goal- to lose weight. 

Once my goals were met, often I found myself gaining the weight back and going through the same cycle.  The hardest part for me when I started my journey was getting my mindset away from losing weight and focusing on living and being healthy. If I had a buddy to consistently work out with and bounce ideas off of at the time, my transition would have been much easier.

That’s the reason why I am such an advocate of sharing good workout/diet plans and being that person that is always willing to work out with a friend. I love seeing other moms at the gym and trying to take back a little part of their life from the everyday madness we call motherhood. It’s only right we stick together and help each other out. With that in mind, I teamed up with a dear friend who is just like me; a mother with young children and works full time. Betty is someone who wanted to live a healthy lifestyle and was having a hard time on her journey. She gained 60 pounds after she had her children and decided enough was enough!

We began our journey as workout buddies in early February 2017 after randomly running into each other at a local hair salon and discussing different workout regimens! We decided to link up early mornings on weekdays and so far it’s been great‼ To date- Betty has lost over 30 pounds, gained muscle and dropped her body fat by 3%. I lost the remaining 15 pounds I gained from my last pregnancy, gained muscle and also dropped 3% body fat.

More than the weight loss and muscle gain, we built a friendship and support system that will last a lifetime. 

Our workout buddy system works perfectly for us because we hold each other accountable and provide that extra motivation when needed. On the days that I am completely out of sync, Betty pushes me to do better and meet my goals. It’s also perfect because I have a friend to talk to at the gym and share all my crazy stories with. We look forward to our time together at 5am. It’s where we can decompress and bounce ideas off of each other. 

My workout buddy was already a friend, but it doesn’t have to be that way. As long as you are teaming up with a like-minded individual, the buddy system can work wonders. We all need a little extra motivation to get our workouts going and having that person to push you will help. 

Let’s face it; it’s much easier to cancel on your treadmill than it is to cancel on a friend.

Finding a great workout buddy can be tricky. Not everyone is on the same path as you are and teaming up with the wrong individual can sidetrack your fitness goals and ultimately prevent you from continuing on your healthy living journey. 

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These were some simple traits I looked for when deciding who I wanted to team up with:

• ‍Positive Vibes Only Please- look for a buddy that will always bring positive vibes your way. The last thing you need is negativity while sweating your calories away.
• Motivation- someone that is as motivated as you are (if not more) to work out and wants similar results. This helps with accountability — like I said earlier… it’s easier to cancel on a treadmill than it is to cancel on a friend.
• Timing is everything- make sure you team up with someone that can and wants to work out on the same schedule as you. Betty and I prefer the early morning workouts because we both have small children and work schedules that would prevent us from working out any other time.

 Hopes this read helps you find the perfect workout buddy.

 Yours,