I work every day with people who want to get in better shape for their lives, it's something I have such a strong passion for, I live for this. I love what I do, and there's nothing better than loving your job. I ask people questions every day about their lives, and get to know these people on a personal level, I build relationships and bond with these people, and maybe it sounds weird, but we're all like a little family.
I feel like I get to know my clients, and yes, my clients know me, but only bits and pieces of me. They know I'm married, I have an adorable little dog, and small details like that. However, my clients don't really know my story...where I came from as far as fitness goes, and why I'm doing what I'm doing. Well, here's your chance, this is my story.
I was always active growing up, and involved in every sport imaginable (except soccer, I never seemed to get into that). When I got to college, school became the number one thing in my life. I still had a passion for fitness, but it seemed to take the back burner, school was so busy! I'm pretty sure I underestimated just how crazy college could be! Well, let's speed through four years of monotonous lectures and all-nighters and fast forward to graduation.
I gave into the whole college diet. My freshman year I lost 10lbs, mainly because I REFUSED to gain the freshman 15...however, that caught up with me by my senior year. My Freshman year going into college I weighed about 120lbs, pretty average for someone my height and build. But after graduation, and by the time of my wedding I weighed about 153lbs. Yes, that's a 30lb gain in 3 years. Now, some people may say that this isn't such a big deal, but for someone who was in tip-top athletic shape, and at the top of their game, this was a BIG DEAL. I still "worked out", but let's face it, I didn't push myself at all. I did enough to make me feel like I actually did something, and then quit. So yeah, I wasn't in completely horrible shape, but I sure wasn't where I needed to be.
Here's my success story:
My starting weight: May 13, 2012 was 153lbs.
My moment of clarity came after graduation when I started looking at certification requirements for being a personal trainer. This was something that I had wanted to do my whole life, help people become the best versions of themselves...and I realized, how could I possibly do this, if I myself, was no where near the kind of shape that I should be in? I knew I needed to change my life, in order to help other people change their. It was time to practice what I preached. I needed to get my life into shape, and I needed to get serious about it.
My biggest challenge was my own insecurity. Even though I was a great athlete in high school, I lost all that confidence that I had. I knew I didn't look the part of that athlete I once was, and it showed whenever I worked out. I was winded before I knew it when I was running, and I knew I had lost a ton of strength that I had previously. I let my insecurity follow me everywhere I went. I wore baggie clothes, nothing form-fitting, EVER, and when I came to the gym I ignored the weight floor, and focused on the treadmills, always staying in the back row so no one could see me walk after running for two minutes. I didn't want anyone to see me working out in the gym, I wanted to be invisible. But I overcame them, but kicking myself in the rear, and finally asking for assistance, and researching things. I asked for help (which for me was a huge piece of humble pie), and as soon as I knew it, I was working out in PUBLIC, where people could see me, and doing things I never thought I would do.
I was especially proud of myself when I finally began to see the results that I have been working so hard for in my mirror. As a trainer, we're surrounded by mirrors all the time at the gym, and I always would look at them as I passed and wonder if my body was actually changing because I could never tell, and I began doubting myself. Then, I made the decision not to obsess over looking in mirrors. I would pass them, looking straight ahead, and ignore their presence completely. Then, one day, weeks after not looking in one, I finally did it, and looked in the mirror, and finally started to notice definition in my arms, my legs, and my midsection, my abs were coming back! WOO!
I fell, but I didn't fail when I started getting intimidated by some of the other women working out in the gym. These ladies were cut, and I mean, CUT. Definition, tone, the whole "look", I mean, they looked like beauty queens! I wanted to be these women, I wanted to look like them, and then I'd look in the mirror and see myself, yeah, okay, I guess I'm pretty lean, but nothing like these women. I started questioning myself, maybe I was taking in too many calories, maybe I wasn't working out hard enough. I even overheard two ladies talking about me in the locker room, mentioning how my workout clothes were frumpy, my hair was gross, and I was fat. Yes, they called me fat, and thought I couldn't hear them because I had headphones in...but I wasn't listening to anything. This crushed me. I felt like I was starting right at square one again. But I got myself together. I'm doing everything I need to be doing! No, it's not going to happen over night, it's going to take time, and I thought about how far I had come since May of 2012, surely these ladies didn't get this way over night, and neither would I, but I will get there somewhere, and I can't let these women throw me off, especially these ladies that were talking about the way I looked. I mean hey, at least my makeup doesn't run off my face when I'm at the gym...thankfully I don't have this problem because I don't wear makeup anyway, so, HA!
My favorite story of someone helping me along the way, was my husband (caution, SAPPINESS ALERT!) He's so incredibly supportive, and always told me that I was perfect just the way I was. I mean, what girl doesn't love to hear that they look beautiful, especially on days when we're sporting sweat pants, dirty, messy, hair, and no makeup! My man's awesome, he always knew what to say. And one of the best ways he helped me was by telling me not to worry about those girls at the gym that were talking about me in the locker room because if we're being realistic, "they're just there to get guys to look at them and that's it, I'm sure all the cocktails and margarita's will catch up to them in five years" (thanks babe). I wouldn't wish that on anyone, but at that moment in time, I needed to hear someone say that even though I wanted to be better, I wanted to be the best version of myself, that I was still beautiful, and still the girl that he fell in love with.
Something important that I learned about myself was that I'm capable of so much more than I every thought possible. I never thought it would be possible for me to do an entire Battle Rope workout without dying at the end of it, and I never thought I would be able to increase my squat weight so fast (right now I'm currently at 120lbs, hoping to be at 135lbs by the end of the month)! I learned that my body is AWESOME, and that I absolutely love everything I do with my clients, and how awesome they are (seriously, you guys make me love my job).
My goals for the future are to be able to squat 200lbs by the end of the year, and to run in a mud run, like the Spartan Race or Tough Mudder. But more than that, I want to be able to help out as many people as I can with their weight loss challenges, and not just with weight loss, but with an entire life-style change. I want to make everyone that I come in contact with fall in love with fitness and health, because I've fallen in love with it. I want to help people live longer and become the best version of themselves that they can be. Ultimately, I want to change lives.
My ending weight, as of right now is 125lbs. I've got about 5lbs more to lose before I hit my goal weight, and let me tell you, I'm on my way there.
It's going to be a good year.
Let's do this together.
