I never used to think of myself a superstitious person, but I’m beginning to think that I am.
This morning, when I got dressed for the day, I made sure to wear my turquoise sparkly BIC Band. I wore it during the Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon when I broke two hours for the first time and I wore it again two weeks ago when I achieved a PR during the ZOOMA half marathon. Now I feel like it might be a little lucky, so I figured why not wear it today when I headed off to take my NASM exam?
Yep, today I took the NASM Certified Personal Trainer examination late this morning and I have some good news to share!
I passed! Woo!
I guess sparkly BIC Bands may be a little lucky after all. 
At around 8:30 a.m., I drove to a tiny airport in Crystal River, Florida that served as the testing facility for my exam. I checked in and went over my study guide and note cards for another 30 minutes before I was escorted into the testing room.
One hundred and twenty questions and a little more than an hour later, I was done!
When the man who ran the testing facility informed me that I passed, I felt awfully excited! (Unfortunately NASM doesn’t reveal your exact score after you take the exam and and you’re simply awarded “Pass” or “Fail.”)
I plan to do a whole post about my experience with NASM since I’ve already received a handful of emails from you guys with lots of questions, so stay tuned for that next week. If you have any questions you’d like to see addressed, feel free to ask away in the comments section of this post. I know I had a million questions when I began researching personal training certifications and then once I had my study materials, I felt a little overwhelmed, so I’d love to help those of you interested in any way that I can.
As for what exactly I plan to do with this certification, I’m not 100 percent sure. My main motivation for obtaining the certification was to possibly teach group exercise classes. While I know you don’t necessarily need a personal training certification to teach group exercise, I love it when group exercise instructors seem to have a greater knowledge of muscles and exercises and wanted to have that knowledge. While teaching group exercise still intrigues me, I have a few other ideas floating around in my mind and have some opportunities on the backburner that I may be interested in pursuing. I’ll be sure to take you guys along for the ride!
Lunch
When I arrived home, I was awfully hungry and immediately grabbed a pear to eat.
As I ate my pear, I made myself a chicken salad sandwich on 5-grain sub bread from the Publix bakery.
Dessert was a couple of small handfuls of peanut M&Ms.
So good!
Nine Years
Today is actually a rather special day for me and Ryan. It’s our nine-year dating anniversary!
(Kappa Delta camo social, 2006 – Just lil’ babies!)
Ryan told me this morning that he has a surprise date planned for us tonight. (He later told me that if I didn’t pass my test and didn’t feel like going out to celebrate, his alternate idea was an “eat ice cream on the couch date night” which sounded awfully fabulous, too.) I’m not sure what’s on the agenda, but I’ll be sure to report back in the morning.
I hope you’re having a fabulous Friday and enjoy your weekend!
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CONGRATS!! SO exciting. And what a fun day to pass it on 🙂 Have a great date-anniversary night!!
Woohooo a big congrats to you pbf!! I’m sure you’ll be awesome however you decide to use it! And happy 9 years….my husband and I have no idea when our actual dating anniversary is so we usually pick a random date each year in December (at least we know the month!) have fun celebrating 🙂
Congrats on passing! Happy 9 years! Very exciting day for you guys!!
I’ve really enjoyed your blog since finding it– so I was hoping for some advice. I am looking to lose 20-25 lbs. I have cleaned up my diet and track my calories. I am so confused on exercise. I have several exercise dvds ranging from cardio to weights. How many times/ week should I do cardio, strength training, abs? And how do I space them out? I don’t want to join a gym right now- hoping to get fit at home. Thanks a lot!
Congratulations on both fronts! You’ll do awesome in whatever fitness endeavor you take on! Enjoy your date night! Can’t wait to hear what he has planned! What a blessing it is to have a man who loves you as much as he does and plans date (that’s what gets me 😉 ) If he has any single brothers in the Florida area, hook a sister up ! 😉
Congratulations on passing your exam & Happy Anniversary!
Congratulations again!!! And also for the anniversary hope you have a great night tonight – double celebration time! 🙂
Congratulations!
Congratulations girl! Looking forward to your future post with your experience with NASM.
Congrats Julie! so proud 🙂
What kinds of questions were you asked? i know it’s hard to be specific, but is it all just muscle groups? or exercise routines? I’ve been wondering!
CONGRATS!!!
Congrats! I passed this exam today as well. I literally held my breath as they told me I passed. So exciting!!
Woohoo congrats!! You would be a great group fitness instructor. And happy date anniversary
Congratulations on passing the test, definitely reason to celebrate! I hope y’all have an amazing date night 🙂
Congratulations! That is awesome!
Congratulations on passing the NASM! I hope you and Ryan have a fun date night tonight, and who says you can’t have ice cream after date night 🙂
Congratulations & happy anniversary!
Congrats girl! Welcome to the NASM CPT club! 🙂 I’m still figuring out exactly what I want to do with my cert as well but it feels good to have it in hand after so many months of studying hard!
Congratulations on passing the test. That’s so great!!
Happy 9th year dating anniversary too!
That chicken salad looks really good.
Yay! Congrats!! 🙂 Really interested in your follow-up post!
congrats, what a huge accomplishment! I love when my husband plans the date night…which he doesnt do very often 🙁
Awesome news! You went to an airport to take the exam?! Odd, but I guess that worked. Have a great night.
Congratulation!!
Congrats girl! All of my certs are through ACSM, but NASM is a great organization. Have fun using it!
Congratulations!!! You certainly deserve it!!
Yay! Congrats! Time for BodyPump in Ocala taught by Julie!
You two look exactly the same nine years later. 🙂
Congrats on passing your test!
Congratulations! You’ll be a fabulous instructor if that’s what you decide to do 🙂
congrats on passing!!! (and nine years!) i think its great that you went the extra step to get your certification even though you could teach fitness classes without it. if you ever move to ny, i would luv to have you as a personal trainer!
Congrats! What an amazing accomplishment. I looked into doing the Canadian version of this a few months ago to go along with my Zumba certification. I was too intimated and decided not to do it so you really are an inspiration. Great job =)
Congratulations!!!!!! I look forward to hearing more about this! Also Happy Anniversary!!
Double congrats Julie! I hope yyou enjoy every minute of both your date and the fact you passed that exam big time. 🙂
After I finish studying with The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (takes approx. 1 year) I’m going to start on getting my personal training certification with NASM. I don’t know if you know anything about IIN but you could be interested, it’s what I’m doing in place of college (huge step, i know) because I’m in love with it and this is what I want to do with my life http://www.integrativenutrition.com/ 🙂
I love seeing people pass the NASM CPT test because I hope to be that person too. So CONGRATS Julie! And happy 9 year anniversary to you and Ryan!
Congratulations!! You encourage me more and more everyday!!
I would love to tell you CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am currently studying and it’s nice to hear good news! So inspiring! 🙂
My Q for you would be… while you were reading the book did you apply what you were learning to your workouts? I’m a hands on person and am wondering if this would help. I haven’t studied for anything since 2005 and am all over the place! hahaha Ty 🙂
Congratulations! I am sure it was a lot of hard work and studying. Great news. I hope you have the most fantastic date tonight too!!
Congrats!! All your hard work has paid off. Hope you do something extra special to celebrate your accomplishment! Can’t wait to hear about your experience 🙂
Congrats hunny! That’s amazing! Oh and happy anniversary. So damn cute
Such a great day for you, congrats!!
And happy anniversary!!
Congrats on your certification AND your anniversary. What a great day today has been for you! 🙂
Congrats!!! You should look into bringing Body Pump to your gym and teaching Les Mills classes! You would be a fabulous instructor. Thanks for being an inspiration to us all! It is because of you that I resumed running after a neck injury and completed my 3rd and 4th half marathon this fall!
CONGRATS, Julie- perfect night for a surprise date night 🙂
Congrats, Julie!! I just received my NASM study materials, so your insights about the experience will be very helpful! How long did it take you to read through the text book? It looks like a bit of a doozy! 😉 Any study tips would be extremely appreciated, too!
I hope you and Ryan had a wonderful time celebrating nine years together tonight!
Congratulations on passing the NASM certification!! That is so exciting! I’ve been looking into the NASM certification and can’t wait to read your posts about the full process.
Also, congratulations on 9 years. I hope you had a great date night!
Congratulations Julie! 🙂
Congratulations on passing your NASM exam! That’s great news! I’m super impressed with your outline and note cards – you’ve obviously worked hard. And happy 9-year dating anniversary! That’s so sweet that Ryan planned a surprise date for you, and even sweeter that he had a back-up option if you didn’t want to go out. He seems like such a great, thoughtful guy – I think you really found a good one 🙂
Congratulations on passing the exam! You obviously studied a ton and know your stuff, but then again maybe BIC bands do have magic good luck powers. 🙂
Congrats julie!!!! And happy nine year dating anneversary!!!! Hope you are havin a blast 🙂
Congrats! Definitely a great weight off your shoulders, I’m sure!
How do you plan on using your certification?!
Congratulations!! What an accomplishment!
I absolutely adore your blog! I was a longtime reader, took a break, and now I am back!!
Keep writing- youre awesome!