Production 5- Feature article

 Marie Nguyen is a local seventeen year old fitness influencer who became interested in maintaining a healthy lifestyle last year. To give some background on Marie, last year she was at a low place in her life when she decided to take control. When interviewed she was asked, "When and why did you decide to pursue a healthier lifestyle?" In response, she talked about her battle with her mental health and how she struggled to be consistent and could hardly get out of bed some days. A big topic trending is how mental health is linked to exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Marie was at rock bottom last year and while she still currently struggles with her mental health, working out has brought her clarity and a feeling of control over her life. There has been recent research on how exercising benefits your mental health. According to recent studies, running just 15 minutes a day can reduce depression by 15%. Marie talked about how much she enjoys running and stands by this fact. 

Due to recent events and the corona virus, it has been harder to have access to gyms and stay motivated. This has made it hard for Marie and many others to continue with their routine. Marie stated that it was "difficult during quarantine to feel motivated." As of recently Marie created an Instagram account to motivate herself and others. Her fitness account features her progress photos, her runs, inspirational messages, and her workouts that she does. Overall, Marie is just trying to maintain her healthy lifestyle because before her fitness journey she was underweight and unhappy. Because of her lifestyle change she feels happy and confident and wants others to feel the same way she does. Working out is an outlet to escape your mind and control your thoughts. 

Progress is a huge part of making a new change and improving your body. It wasn't easy going from the first picture to the second one and along the way Marie had doubts that she was even improving. It is clearly evident that her handwork payed off because in just a year she gained 20 pounds and hit multiple personal records. She said that before working out she felt "weak" and "worrisome." As she progressed physically she also grew mentally. Marie encourages everyone to stick to their routine and trust the process even if there's the slightest bit of change. 

A typical day in the life:

Marie likes to start off her morning with some oatmeal that she pairs with some other type of protein like peanut butter or a protein bar. She then will go to the gym whatever time she is available depending on her work schedule. For leg day she starts out by stretching and then goes for a 5-10 minute run on the treadmill. She then does dead lifts and squats, 3 sets of 10 for each of those while adding more weight each set if possible. After that she does hip thrusts, 4 sets of 12, and does lunges while holding 15 pound weights in each hand. To wrap up her routine she stretches and cools down with some light ab workouts.