Welcome to our blog! This is our first venture into the world of blogging and we wanted our bloggers to get to know us a bit....
My name is Kristin Rios and I was born in May of 1981 in Stamford, CT to my wonderful parents, Debbie and Israel. My mom, a small-town Connecticut girl, and my dad, a city boy from Caracas, Venezuela, met and fell in love in the hospital-- the classic love story of a handsome doctor and beautiful, young nurse. I was lucky enough to enter the world with two big brothers, David and
My name is Kristin Rios and I was born in May of 1981 in Stamford, CT to my wonderful parents, Debbie and Israel. My mom, a small-town Connecticut girl, and my dad, a city boy from Caracas, Venezuela, met and fell in love in the hospital-- the classic love story of a handsome doctor and beautiful, young nurse. I was lucky enough to enter the world with two big brothers, David and
Michael, who loved to play with and take care of me, followed by another string of good luck, welcoming my third brother, Jason, into our home two years later. As you can imagine, growing up with 3 brothers had a large impact on who I am today.
After an early childhood spent on the east coast, my family settled into life in the midwest. I had the most spectacular childhood, exploring the woods that surrounded our home, finding fossils in the creek behind our house, spending summers jumping from our swimming pool down to our tennis court for tennis lessons, catching fireflies, biking through our neighborhood, playing kickball in our cul-de-sac, catching frogs, sledding down the huge hill in our backyard during the winters, having lemonade stands...needless to say, I had an active and magical childhood. During these years my younger brother and I had private tennis lessons at our house and began playing competitively, entering tournaments throughout Cincinnati. I fell in love with playing softball in first grade, and shortly thereafter started taking gymnastics and began skiing, followed by joining the soccer league. I found out at an early age that I had a natural affinity toward sports-- I loved the challenge of competing; I came to realize that I had an intensely strong, innate competitive streak, and playing sports nourished that part of my soul.
Fast forward to sixth grade and I was now living in Marin County, CA. The prior year and a half before arriving in California, I had been uprooted from my magical childhood in Cincinnati and moved across the country, with two pit stops along the way, one in Indianapolis and the other in Kansas City, finally landing in Marin. Talk about a culture shock....I had a fairly difficult time adjusting...to be fair, I was entering my 5th school in under two years after all.
Fast forward to sixth grade and I was now living in Marin County, CA. The prior year and a half before arriving in California, I had been uprooted from my magical childhood in Cincinnati and moved across the country, with two pit stops along the way, one in Indianapolis and the other in Kansas City, finally landing in Marin. Talk about a culture shock....I had a fairly difficult time adjusting...to be fair, I was entering my 5th school in under two years after all.
While the challenge of competing in sports was what I did best, the challenge of adjusting to a new home (again), new school (again) and making new friends (again) was just too much. My fierce competitive drive gave way....and a severe eating disorder stepped in. I began to subconsciously create control in my seemingly out of control life...I stopped eating. As you can imagine, this didn’t bode well, for me or my family. It was a scary, horrible period--my parents were afraid for my life, and I was too afraid to eat. I was no longer physically able to play any sports, I simply did not have the energy, endurance or strength. I was withering away and causing all kinds of pain to myself and everyone around me in the process. I am grateful every day of my life for the amazing love and support my family gave me....without them, I likely wouldn’t have made it out alive.
By the time high school rolled around, sports once again occupied my free time. I was thriving--training, competing, having fun--a normal kid again. I began my lifelong obsession with working out during these years; I realized the importance of taking good care of my health. I was a founding member of the eating disorder and body image awareness group at our high school, which developed into a county wide task force group called The Body Positive. Today, The Body Positive (thebodypositive.org) is a highly successful organization that has worked ferociously on ridding our society of body hatred and body image and eating disorders by teaching self love and worth. So simple, yet so incredibly difficult to do.
I am incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to have attended UC Berkeley. While I did not continue competitive sports in college, my need for athletics in my life quickly surfaced. I took up rock climbing and kick boxing, still enjoying my quest for being strong and healthy. After about a year of taking kick boxing, the instructor of the class approached me and asked if I’d be interested in taking over his class. He offered to work with me and train me in Kenpo if I was interested, which I was. People often ask how I got into personal training and fitness; while my love for fitness and health has been a lifelong passion, I give high credit to my mentor and friend, Scott, for pushing me and teaching me the ropes. Working with him was an incredible experience, and I appreciate him often for thrusting me into a career that I was destined for.
Six and a half years later, and I am still at it. I find that working with my clients on their fitness is so much deeper than that. It is incredibly fulfilling and rewarding--I love knowing that I can help be a part of a positive change in people, one that leaves them happier and healthier. I truly love working so intensely with people; the relationships that develop are real, meaningful, and long lasting. I admire my clients for the hard work they put into ridding themselves of hard-to-change bad habits; I’m happy as well as very lucky to get be a part of this transformation, showing that while it’s not always easy to take the steps to create positive change, hard work comes through in the end. I know this because I’ve lived it, and I can honestly teach this.
I owe a large part of my well-being to my incredible husband Doug, who I married in August of 2007. His love strengthens me and makes me believe that all of my dreams can come true. I inherited a beautiful daughter, Ava, in the process of falling in love with my husband. My passion for health and creating an environment free of body hatred has intensified by loving this little girl so much. Nothing hurts worse than to hear your child question his or her worth because of mixed messages he or she receives from society, the media, or other people. My goal is to raise her, as well as the future children Doug and I wish to have, viewing their bodies as strong, capable and perfect, teaching them along the way the vital importance of taking good care of themselves.
