Welcome to Miss Athlétique or how it all began

The moment has come to say – WELCOME to my new blog!

After coming a long long way Miss Athlétique is up and running!

Actually this public blog is a big challenge for myself as I have never shared to world my struggles, my experience and personal life even if I have been blogging for last 10 years and being active for all my life. I have always had my insecurities and doubts about my body and myself and, as closed person, I have never really shared my struggles and problems to no one as were convinced that I am the only one having them so didn’t want to bother/ amuse others with them, after all – it is just my problem. However I was wrong, I am not alone and this when I realized that the real results and satisfaction comes when you start sharing your struggles, asking for advice and help, exchanging your experience, encouraging and motivating yourself and others to become the best versions of themselves.

This is what Miss Athlétique is going to be about – eating clean and experimenting with healthy recipes, working out, sharing tips how to remain in shape when travelling, look good inside and out, motive and inspire myself and others and all this in addition of living a normal but busy life in Milan: working full time, teaching and being an explorer.

So jump on board and let’s do this together!

 

In case you wonder how it all started below you will find my story on how this passion for healthier and fitter lifestyle began. Spoiler alert – a long text ahead.

I have always been a  sporty and an active girl, well some would say it – hyperactive, as I have way too much energy and I have to be always in a movement to try new things, see  new places and have a new experience. As  grew up at small beach town in Latvia – Saulkrasti (where is the most beautiful sunsets in the world), I spent my summers playing beach volleyball. I love winter sports and used to play basketball, high jump and dance. Oh, I love dancing. I started dancing (Latvian folk dances) since I was 3 years old therefore dancing has always been my passion. Whenever I hear a good tune I just cannot help myself not to tap my feet or start moving in the rhythm of it. I am a girl who can start dancing in an office elevator or while strolling down the street like Pharell Williams “Happy” video, and sometimes I don’t even sing in the shower – I also dance there, this is how much dancing means to me.

When I moved studying to France I commenced salsa and bachata classes and hit the local salsa/night club 3-4 times per week, start going to gym and went running. I guess this is where I got hooked even more with physical activities. After my France adventure came back to Latvia and got my degree I was ready for next adventure – Italy. Moved to Milan and tried to find some Latin American dance classes to stay fit, but all the ones I tried out just were not as fun as I remember them to be so I just quit and were passive and did nothing except trying to learn the language to fit in this foreign country.

As didn’t move at all I gained pretty much weight and were not satisfied with myself and mirror at all, that my survival in Milan made even more difficult, as this is the city where people really pays attention what they wear, eat and how often work out to stay in shape. Than one day out of the blue I got an offer to take out of the hands a promotional subscription to a gym for 3 months. I never really considered gym as an option but felt bad for my flat mate as she had got this 2 subscriptions for herself and her boyfriend and than they fell apart so I decided to support her and cheer her up and replace his name and presence with mine.

We went together for the first time and tried out some courses. I tried this Zumba thing that really hooked me (mostly for teacher and his talent for moving and making it look fun)  and seemed that I have found a replacement of a dancing class I was so longing for. As felt a need to use better this 3 months subscription I tried some other courses and got hooked even more with them and gym itself. I guess it was all those positive endorphin’s, extra energy and fun that I was getting that made me to renew the subscription afterwards for a year even if my initial ally decided not to.

As heavy weights has always scared me and all those machines than I always avoided them mostly because didn’t know how to use them and didn’t want to look silly asking anyone, especially when you have to ask in Italian ( mine was not good at all at the time )so I just skipped that part. Than one Saturday had some group course with a different trainer, that turned out to be a personal trainer, and once the class finished I took my courage to ask him advice how to get fitter, seeing that half a year in regular gym sessions was not really showing big changes in my body. This is where he persuaded me to make an appointment and give a try lessons with a personal trainer.

I give it a try and I liked it. Soon after I got some confidence to come down to the gym to do my workout routine alone in additional to sessions with trainer for even better results.This is also where I learned that without eating right you will never get any results even if you train 5x per week. Some tips for a better diet gave my trainer and since then it has been self education, reading, asking for advice for professionals,  cooking and experimenting and eventually – first results.

 

And once you start seeing results and you start noticing your body changing (good changing) in mirror and world around you noticing that too – there is no way back – it’s like a drug – you just strive to become better because it’s a new challenge to arrive where you have never even dreamed to be because deep down you believe that you can look like that girls with perfect flat belly on magazine covers. For me it was like that too- I wanted for first time not to feel ashamed for my body at beach and don’t feel like little cute chubby. I wanted to prove to everyone, even the closest people, that I can be pretty too, not just the face. Yes, this is how I felt, but that was all my insecurities that thanks to this new “obsession” helped me to get over and have a cleaner, better and happier life.

Soon after I realized that I don’t need to work out to impress anyone or look like somebody else but be healthy and fit for myself to create the best version of myself and become better than I was yesterday and this, my friends, when you have finally found yourself and your inner peace.

So join my journey of building a fitter, happier and more inspired version of myself and hopefully it will hook you too!