There are some things in life you take for granted until they’re gone. For me, that thing was sports. Since about second grade, I don’t think there was a time in my childhood that I didn’t play sports. I started playing soccer because my best friend Alicia joined the youth league and I wanted to try it too. Looking back she was my original #fitfluencer: I wanted to do everything she did—and she never sat still for very long. (Interestingly, she’s a trainer now so maybe she was onto something back then). I played soccer for nearly a decade, but also took up gymnastics, dance, and horseback riding. I took swimming lessons in the summer. I joined the basketball team in middle school. I went to volleyball camp once in junior high. By high school, most of the girls from the soccer league left to join the high school teams, so I played lacrosse for four years instead. In the off season, I did colorguard for the marching band, which, while not exactly a sport, was competitive and made my lacrosse shot shockingly strong when spring came around again.