Who's Nikki?

I'm Nikki. :)

To go into a little more detail, I'm the writer behind this blog.

I used to write another blog called "Cook With Nikki" which was a blog filled with random recipes, reviews and information about things related to food. That blog was from my pre-vegan days though, so I've decided to start fresh with this one! I'm on Twitter, so if you're on it, feel free to follow me! :)
And like every blogger/Tweeter on the Internet, I'm also on Instagram. You can follow me by clicking here, or on the Instagram link to the right of this post!

By day, I work at an advertising agency in the media department. By night, I sleep.
I also like to work out, go for bike rides, do attempt yoga, doodle on canvas and in sketchbooks, spend time with my boyfriend and dog, and obsess constantly over different healthy and interesting food options/choices.

Maybe you're wondering why I'm writing a blog about fitness and going vegan. Am I an expert? No. Do I have a background in nutrition and healthy living? Nope, not that either. Have I been doing continuous research to ensure that I have all the best tools to maintain a healthy and happy life balance? Yes!


Here's a little background on WHY I'm writing about this stuff:

1. When I was younger, I was overweight. I was 5'8", weighed 175 lbs at my heaviest, and had a bfp (body fat percent) of 34. 
2. I battled with eating disorders. (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Body Dysmorphic Disorder, working out TOO much, and had taken several different types of diet pills at different times.) I also used to eat a LOT of junk food.
3. When I was 18, I had finally had enough. I got a nutritionist and a personal trainer, and started on a long and painful journey to changing my life. In that year, I managed to lose over 25 lbs, and decrease my bfp to a percentage that was no longer putting me in the "overweight" range.(Currently, 9 years since I had a personal trainer and nutritionist, I am maintaining a weight of about 125 lbs on average, with a bfp of less than 17.)
4. Of course, there's times where people slip back into old habits. So long story short, I spent the majority of my late teens/early twenties jumping back and forth from being in shape to being out of shape.
5. I went back and forth from being a vegetarian and a meat-eater. My longest time being a vegetarian was a little over 2 years. I still ate egg whites and tuna. Also, I wasn't a "healthy vegetarian", I was one of those "packaged goods vegetarian". You know the ones I'm talking about. You see them order the fries and the coke, but they skip on the burger, or order a "vege-burger".(Not that there's anything wrong with vege-burgers!)
6. A few years ago, I took the initiative of seeking out knowledge on nutrition and fitness on my own, without the help of a nutritionist and personal trainer. Somehow this really worked for me, because I felt as though I was doing it "on my own". I really felt like I was taking responsibility for my body by doing my own research instead of getting someone else to tell me what to do.
7. I always loved working out at the gym, but then was shown the wonders of P90X. And before you start to wonder, NO I'm not an ambassador for P90X. I just really, really, really love the work-outs in the original P90X. The first time around, I probably put 50% effort into it. Second time around, I just did random work-outs when I wanted to. I was always happy with the results though, because they are intense!
8. Because I've been maintaining a healthy diet of whole foods, and a diet of more than 50% raw, I've decided to give P90X another go. But I'm doing it differently this time. Instead of a 90 day program, I like to incorporate the workouts into my weekly routine, and change it up so that I am having fun while working out. I'm not trying to lose weight, but building lean muscle mass and toning up is very important to me. I feel an odd sense of accountability when I'm tracking my progress and others can see it, so I often use Twitter/Instagram/this blog as a way to talk about progress/goals, or track where I've been and where I'm going. Somehow it feels more "real" when you put yourself out there like that, and hopefully someone might someday stumble upon this all and find motivation for themselves. 
9. Did I mention I've decided to go vegan? This time I believe that I will stick with it, and it will be a life-long decision. I have gotten to a point in my life where I will no longer let the opinions of others influence my choices that I make for better health. There are so many negatives to eating meat and consuming dairy that easily outweigh any benefits. With that said, I feel comfortable enough in my life to make that commitment. I've cut out even things like products that contain eggs, and don't even eat honey anymore.**An update: It's been over a year now, and the veganism is going strong! :) I'm very proud of myself for sticking to this, even when it's been tempting. I can't believe how many vegan options are out there, and my mind has been opened to many more interesting food choices than I thought I'd ever have. My body definitely feels a hundred times better than it did a year ago, and I'm happy to see where it goes from here! With the summer months approaching (2013), I have a whole new drive to push myself harder at the gym, and in the outdoors, and have a new love for my body and what it's capable of.
10. The final reason I'm writing about this stuff, is because this blog was actually a project for my Interactive Marketing class at school. We were asked to create a blog, and write about something we are passionate about that we feel will generate readers. I know there are a lot of you out there who are as passionate about health, fitness, and general wellness as me. I also know that there are a lot of you out there who are WAY MORE passionate about it than I am. I enjoy having conversations with people about these topics, and because I already have a blog about cooking, why not have a blog about my second passion? School has been done for a while now, and I'm glad I started this particular blog when I did - because I enjoy it. :)

Well, that's all of my rambling for now... I'll be updating this blog often, with random posts and thoughts - and many things about food, fitness, and anything related. 

Have a nice day! :)