Keri Lynn Ford

Single, Searching and Sweating

Dating post-college can be difficult. Trying to stay in shape while dating can be even more complex. Not only does stress contribute to added pounds, but it can be hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle of eating right and exercising when trying to maximize your social calendar. I have had a lot of experience balancing these three aspects of life and I am going to share with you some of my stories of how I have been able to get through these difficult obstacles. 

My name is Terry and I am a Jersey girl who migrated south after college for a new life filled with warm weather and southern gentlemen. I thought that a change would be a great way to start my adult life, make a ton of new friends, and hopefully meet that special someone. Naturally, I thought this would all happen pretty quickly, but of course it takes time and a game plan. One of my biggest challenges that I felt was standing in my way was my physical appearance. I’m a pretty confident person, but I was never good at sticking to a workout routine or eating healthy in college, so I ended up graduating at the heaviest weight I had ever been. I didn’t want to continue feeling the way that I did so I knew I would need to make a change in order to start the life that I wanted to live.

When I first moved to Atlanta I didn’t know anyone in the area except family members. I realized that I had to put myself out there, step out of my comfort zone, and force myself to meet people. I went to a large university in the northeast and decided to look up my college alumni chapter in the area.  I found a social calendar on their website and decided that this would be a great place to start. I was pretty lucky that I had moved to Atlanta right before the beginning of football season. I went to my college alumni bar for the first game …completely ALONE. Luckily I’m pretty friendly and must be approachable, because by the end of the game, I had made a new friend my age and had been invited to some upcoming events with friends he had made since moving to Atlanta as well.

The first step was over. I had a friend. What came next was putting myself out there in more of these types of situations. I joined a kickball league that my alumni group had organized and met even more friends through that. Bonus – I was starting to get active! I found that the more athletic groups I could get involved in, the more I would find myself creating a healthier lifestyle. 

The first couple of years involved a lot of transition and patience. I slowly made more groups of friends and found myself involved in a kickball, softball, and bowling league. Before I knew it, I had signed up for my first half marathon. You should know that I couldn’t run to save my life before 2008 and now I was going to run 13.1 miles?! I was crazy, but I was determined. I trained really hard for my first race. I doubted myself at first, but started off slow and built myself up over a few months. I knew I could do it after I ran my first 5k during training. My motivation began to skyrocket and I ended up training and running in several additional half marathons after that. 

I have been learning a lot about myself, life, and setting and achieving goals over the past few years. I have also spent time developing the right eating habits (through trial and error of course), increasing my physical activity level, and taking a dip in the dating pool of Atlanta. These three parts of life can be difficult to juggle and I’m excited to share my self-discoveries in these areas through some of my past and present stories. Stay tuned for my first official article where I will discuss the dangers of what I like to refer to as the “dating diet dilemma” and provide some advice on how to deal with staying healthy as a single woman in the dating world. 

I look forward to letting you in on my crazy world and I can’t wait to hear some of your own stories. 

Terry 

Terry Abromitis is an elementary school teacher living in Atlanta, Georgia. Terry is originally from NJ and is a graduate from Penn State (and die-hard PSU Football fan). She enjoys running, softball and dancing. 

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Keri behind the scenes rockin' NUX gear!

Back in February of this year, I was presented with the opportunity to work a booth at The Arnold. At the time, I was working a full-time design job and I was crushed I wouldn't be able to take the time off to fly out to Ohio.

My expo badge!

Later that month, I was given an awesome opportunity to work a local organic agave nectar booth, called Orgave, at The Natural Products Expo West (and I only needed to play hookie for one day from work). The Natural Products Expo West is an annual, three-day expo of the world’s largest natural, organic + healthy products with over 3000 exhibits and nearly 56,000 industry members in attendance. Being the Promotional Model for the Orgave booth included doing product demos, answering questions, conducting radio interviews and networking with possible buyers or retailers. I was so thrilled to be working the expo that I didn't even take a lunch break. Instead, I went around to booths tasting samples and chatting with the people working the booths. I specifically approached booths that interested me or that could be a potential contact for Orgave for use in their products.

The first day I was drawn to one booth in particular: an organic egg white protein powder booth called Gifted Earth Originals (anything with the word protein and I am there!) It was here I met Mark Bruland, Brand Manager of GEO. After striking up a conversation about my fitness background, goals and career, I also told Mark that I was working the Orgave booth at the expo. I asked if they had considered sweetening their product with our Orgave instead of Stevia. He asked if I was sponsored. At the time, I was excited to network, but I never expected that my sales pitch on behalf of another company would grant me a sponsorship opportunity.

mmm. My favorite flavor, Divine Chocolate GEO.

Later that weekend, Mark brought the President of GEO (and Eggology I might add) along with the President's daughter, Genevieve, dressed in a chicken suit (the poor thing!) to come and meet me at my booth. I made sure to follow up with Mark immediately after the expo. A few months later I drove up to Eggology headquarters and before I knew it we were signing a contract for me to be the very first Official GEO Sponsored Athlete and Spokesmodel!!!!

Get ready because this next year is going to be an EGGciting whirlwind of sponsored fitness competitions, GEO media interviews, product photo shoots, national online and print coverage and featured Keri Lynn Ford recipes made with GEO on their blog! I could not be more thrilled and blessed to be representing such an amazing company, and the good-hearted people behind it.

Thank you, GEO, for believing in me enough to be the face and future of your products and company, we have so many great things ahead of us!

Genevieve and I at the Natural Products Expo West