Welcome to my first journal entry!

My name is Courtney Sirotin and, as it turns out, my long sought-after purpose in life is to gather information about fitness and nutrition and to share that info with other people. My husband, Jason, and I created this website to be a portal for us to share all the interesting things we learn as we continue on our own journeys toward living happy and healthy lives.

Who would have thought this chubby girl from New Hampshire would grow up to be a fitness guru? When I was a little girl, happy as a clam, I ate my way through boxes of chocolate covered ice cream bars and daily doses of cream cheese and sausage covered butter-fried bagels, while sitting in front of my Nintendo and Brady Bunch re-runs after school. Somewhere around puberty I realized I was missing out the experiences my friends were having and I wanted to lose weight, ideally have one of my crushes notice me for a change, and finally be able to go to a pool party and play Marco-Polo without a giant Garfield t-shirt covering my bulging body. That’s when a light bulb went off for me and I realized I needed to at least try and see if I was destined to be fat forever or if it was possible for me to lose weight. Always a curious kid, I started gathering information and set out to lose weight.

I’ve had an insatiable interest in fitness and weight management ever since that first time I tried to get in shape back in elementary school. In the years that have made up my 30, I have worn many hats and dabbled in quite a few careers, everything from book publishing to television, but I’ve always held health and fitness as my main hobby…sometimes at the expense of my paying jobs! Finally I’ve gave into it, and I’m making this my career. They say when you love what you do, it isn’t work. This doesn’t feel like work to me.

We decided to call this site “Fool Yourself Fit” because both Jason and I get a real kick out of discovering new and clever ways to lose weight without feeling deprived. As soon as I’m told I “can’t” have something – it becomes the only thing in the world that I want! For that reason, I’ve made it my mission to find healthy ways to enjoy all the foods and fun that typical “diets” would try to deny me. My approach to staying fit is to create a healthy and inclusive lifestyle rather than try – and fail – to follow fad diets that deny me any fun or flexibility! I embrace that my life is not boring. Real life is not black and white. Any “diet” that has a chance of making it in my real-life, not-so-boring world cannot be black and white either! Can I hear an “Amen”!? Ha ha!

Well, in fact, for the last fifteen years or so I have maintained a fit physique while still indulging in the foods I love – my secret is simply that I, as the name of this site implies, fool myself into being fit. I do this by reimaging recipes, turning unhealthy treats into healthy ones using lighter ingredients and healthy cooking methods. I’ve also made a commitment to exercise regularly – I have a standing date with my sneakers – and it’s no joke that healthy eating and regular exercise speed up your metabolism and allow you to eat more and still achieve your weight loss goals. I rely on a host of tricks I’ve developed to make myself feel like I’m eating a lot when actually I’m not. I’ve been keeping all these tricks to myself for so long, that it’s going to be cathartic as I piece by piece get to reveal them to you in the articles and posting that will be appearing on this site and, of course, in my upcoming first book: Fool Yourself Fit Presents: Metabolize This! Everything You Need To Know To Kick-Start Your Metabolism. I’ll let you know ASAP when it goes on sale!

I plan to add journal entries here as often as possible – hopefully every day. I will share with you about my life and how I fool myself fit each day! Until next time….