I've been meaning to get this blog up & running for over a month now. Part of my procrastination/hesitation/delay in getting it up has been this very post. The first one...trying to set the tone, per say. So, I've decided that I'm just going to get over myself (& get out of my own head) & just do it already. Take the leap. Get this party started...
So, first I should let you know why I wanted to start this blog & what I (hope) it will be all about. As many of you know, at the beginning of March I started what I call "my healthy journey". The catalyst for this journey came in two different forms. The first, a tragic & heartbreaking motivation. The second, an uplifting encouragement.
This past December, I lost a good friend from grad school (founder of The Good Virus), Chane't Johnson, to sudden heart failure. She was my age (35), she was about my size & (as far as she knew) didn't have any prior heart disease issues. And yet one morning, after not showing up at a meeting, a friend found her passed away on her bathroom floor. I had just spoken to her on Facebook days before. She had an exciting new series about to come out that she had been working on. She was one of the most generous, vivacious, charismatic people I've ever known...and then she was just gone. This shook me on several levels. It's one thing to lose a close friend. It's another to lose one so young. And it's another entirely to fear that you could at any moment be following in her footsteps, unless something changed. But what? And HOW?
Enter the girls from Vixen Pinup Photography, who paired with personal trainer John Stone & Scott Fitness, in late February of this year to offer a unique fitness program, The Fit Vixen Challenge. It sounded intriguing to me, so I put out the word to a few friends to see if anyone wanted to do it with me (I was rather apprehensive to go it alone). My beautiful friend Cassi stepped up to the plate with me, and off we went. I thought that it might be fun. I thought I might get a swift kick in the rear on the exercise train. I never thought it would change my life. But it has...in so many ways.
And the ways that it has changed my life...well, that's what this blog is going to be about. Chronicling my journey, answering the questions I seemed to get asked over & over & over again, as well as having a venue to express my thoughts, frustrations & triumphs -- without feeling like I'm preaching to people on my Facebook page (who could care less) or or offending them on my motivational group (where, because I'm the moderator, I feel that some things I say can get taken out of context quite often...possibly interpreting things I say as mandates instead of simply my opinion...which I need to be able to express as much as the next guy). Hence, the need for the blog. I need a place of my own to help me through this journey. If it helps others along the way, great. But that is not my primary intention. I am being a bit selfish with this one. But much like the rest of this healthy journey, it's a selfish decision for the betterment of me. I need this. All of it.
Lastly, I'll let you in on the reason behind the name, The Drea Files. "Drea" is the name of my hungry alter-ego, as dubbed by my workout partner, motivator & fabulous friend Cassi (hers is "Sandra"). Drea is the little voice in my head that battles me every step of the way on my journey, for I am my own worst enemy in this journey. I, and I alone, can lead myself to success or lead myself down the path to share in Chane't's fate. I love her & miss her dearly, but I don't want to see her anytime soon...not in that way. I'll see her soon enough, but until then, I have things to do. She, more than anyone else, would understand that statement. So, I dedicate this blog to Chane't...who I know is cheering me on from the wings.
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