Erika Niland

I have always enjoyed being active and playing sports. For most of my childhood, I was surrounded by older male cousins who excelled in sports, particularly wrestling, football, and hockey. Being the only girl in my family, I spent most of my time playing sports trying to always out-compete the boys, whether it was deck hockey, baseball, football, or simply being placed into a wrestling hold by one of them. That led to my competitive nature and my love for both slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball, which I played on several travel teams, the high school varsity team, and for a short stint in college. I hope to share my passion for health, wellness, and fitness with others, but especially my son. I dealt with a busy work-school schedule while I was enrolled in graduate school, which led to not prioritizing my health and wellness. It was then that I gained a great deal of weight, and I was not in the best of health as a twenty-something. That is when I knew I needed to prioritize my health by exercising and focusing on my nutrition. With help from a supportive network, I lost over 100lbs, and I competed in many 5k and 10k. Running was fun, but I knew I needed something to help keep my interest. My friend and I were training for a half marathon when we both found CrossFit, and I never looked back. Ironically, I never ran that half-marathon, but figuratively, CrossFit is my continued marathon by having trained at a CrossFit gym for over 13 years. CrossFit and my community have helped me focus on my health and wellness, and I have been able to find new passions in exploring different sports or activities, like hiking, mountain biking, soccer, and even running, again. CrossFit also opened my eyes to the world of Power Lifting\ and Strongman/woman events. Never did I ever think on my health journey that I would have been able to lift the weight that I have or flip a tractor tire for fun!

I have always struggled with nutrition and my weight. It was when I stopped prioritizing my health and wellness over when life became busy that I felt the worst, but also my health was the worst it had ever been. Having the tools to help me adjust to life's challenges, I now realize that using the 80/20 for nutrition helps mentally so that I am not setting myself up to fail again. Life is never perfect, but I always strive to make incremental changes that will add up.

I am a teacher by trade, and I have always loved sharing my passion for sports, health, and wellness. I find it extremely rewarding to teach someone about a specific topic and see how they can use it in their everyday life. Sharing these tools of health with others can only benefit our community.