Monday with Mandi

I LOVE having guest bloggers on my page. It’s always fun to hear about all the amazing people out there! SO everyone please welcome my girl Mandi as my guest blogger today! She is such a beautiful soul and definitely one of my girl crushes. She is always so inspiring with her posts and always keeping it real. We need more people like her in our world today. People who are caring, real, loving and just glow. So I wanted you all to get to know her as well and find out how awesome she is for yourself! Xo

 

Hey girl would you like to introduce yourself and tell everyone a bit about yourself?

– My name is Mandi Kalmon. I’m a 24-year-old fitness enthusiast born and raised in Wisconsin. I am from a very small town, but moved to Madison for college, where I attended the University of Wisconsin Madison to get my bachelor of science degree in Economics and Spanish. I have been working for a state agency since I graduated 2 years ago and though I feel lucky to have this job, I know that my true passion lies with health and fitness. So a year ago I decided to become a certified personal trainer, start my blog, and start creating my own business! I’m highly motivated by traveling. All I want to do is travel the world.

What got you into Fitness in the first place?

– So I remember thinking I was fat since I was in 4th grade, which is absolutely heartbreaking. I remember doing exercise tapes from the 80s with my mom after school and “watching what I ate”, even though I was very uneducated. I got into running and ran a few half marathons (which wrecked my knees), but had body image issues really bad through middle & high school and college. So my desire for fitness came from a place of hatred of my body. Then, the summer before my senior year of high school, I suffered from a pulmonary embolism, which almost ended my life. The doctors told my parents I survived only because my heart was so strong from all the exercise I do. So long story short, I was in the ICU for 8 days, lost ⅓ of each of my lungs, and went through hell and back for 6 months, as I couldn’t exercise for that long. It cause physical damage, but mostly mental — I became obsessive with exercise after that. But it wasn’t until after college where I started treating my body with respect and learned to appreciate it. Once I fell in love with weight lifting, working out started coming from a place of “my body is amazing and strong” instead of “I hate my body and want it to change”.

What motivates and drives you everyday to be your best self?

– I know how good I feel when I get a good workout in and eat well and that is my biggest motivation. I am driven to feel my best, not look my best, though most of the time those things go hand-in-hand.

You recently released an e-book full of amazing recipes called clean eats. What inspired you to write it and what was the thought process while creating it? Also how did you pick the recipes you use?

– I created it because I always here “Eating good is SOOO hard”, and I cannot relate even in the slightest because I love food and love what I eat and it’s so easy for me to eat clean! There are so many healthy alternatives people can implement into their lives and hardly notice a difference, like using stevia instead of sugar in their coffee for example. I also know that learning what my body needed in terms of nutrients has been the biggest game changer in my fitness journey. Your diet will determine if you’re able to lose weight or not, and so I wanted to educate others who need guidance. Healthy Eats embodies everything I eat. Literally every ingredient I have in my kitchen is in Health Eats, which also includes a grocery list.

Where do you hopefully see yourself down the road?

– I honestly would love to have my own business. I would love to be an online trainer and instagram influencer, and make a living through that. I could work from home or remotely and be a nomad and travel the world. (these are my big dreams that I’ve never shared with anyone!). Unfortunately, my fitness business needs to remain a side hustle until I pay off all my student loans LOL 🙂

What is your favorite muscle group to work?

– Shoulders. I used to never train shoulders because I have had wide shoulders my whole life, finding shirts that fit is a struggle. But the truth is that training shoulders won’t make them bigger, it’ll make them defined, which what looks better than a nice set of shoulders?!

On your Instagram you have a post every Wednesday titled “What I eat Wednesday”. What inspired you to start that up?

– Similar to creating Healthy Eats, I don’t think it’s hard to eat healthy. I just want to give others ideas on healthy foods and meals that they can have. I love watching vlogs or IG stories of others full days of eating, I find it helpful and get some new ideas, so I’m hoping my followers feel the same.

What is something recently that inspired you? Something someone said, something you saw? Why did it stick with you?

– I was listening to Rachel Hollis’s podcast, Rise, and she said something along the lines of “No one doing more than you will judge you”. It’s only the people who wish they could do what you’re doing who will have negative things to say about you. Thinking about the platform I have now is absolutely unreal because my whole life until a couple years ago I have been the most shy, unconfident woman.

If you could have one super power what would it be?

– Fly! Because then I could travel constantly 🙂

What is your favorite way to decompress and unwind?

– My favorite, most relaxing thing in the world is to go for a walk and listen to personal development podcasts. I find it so inspiring and it recharges me.

What does your workout schedule for the week usually look like?

– It varies all the time. I go to the gym when I feel like it, but it’s generally 5-6 times a week. I try to get in 2 leg days a week since growing my glutes is my goal. I usually have an arm day, back day, shoulders, and a day were I do core and chest. Spending my Friday and Saturday nights at the gym is my favorite thing because no one is there!

Do you have any fun summer plans?

– Yes! In July/August, I’m taking a 3-week European vacation! I’m taking my boyfriend to the south of Spain for a week (where I studied abroad 3 years ago and fell in love with AND I CANNOT WAIT TO GO BACK!) and to Bosnia and Croatia for a week to visit his family who is from Bosnia.

What is your all time favorite food?

– Butter cream frosting. I don’t know why, but this has been my favorite food since I was little. It’s so random. Not even cake, but just the frosting hahah and Costco has the best.

Do you have a favorite quote that inspires you?

– “The most important relationship is the one you have with yourself”. How true is this? If you’re not happy with yourself, if you don’t treat yourself with respect, if you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot possibly live a happy life.

 

 

 

 

Thank you so much Mandi for hanging out on my blog today and sharing a bit about yourself! Please check out her recipe book, I’m sticking all her links at the bottom of this post, as well as her blog and website! We really need to keep real people around and always be on the look out for real and amazing people and she is definitely one of them! Xo All the best

 

Please check her main page below!

https://linktr.ee/fit.bymandi

and find her on Instagram at @fit.bymandi