Where Do I Start?

Where Do I Start?

That's a great question isn't it? You're probably asking yourself this if you are starting a new health and fitness plan. I am asking myself this as I decide what to write about.

Since we all know personal trainers are narcissistic (insert sarcastic tone here), let's talk about me first. I'm sure you're thinking that I was always an athlete and I've always loved health and fitness. Well, you're WRONG! At a very young age, I think the earliest memory of this is from the 2nd grade, I became aware of the fact that I was overweight and it was a bad thing. I would try to hide under sweaters, even in the summer, swearing I wasn't hot. Don't get me wrong, I did grow up playing sports. In kindergarten I joined the swim team and continued to swim for about 11 years. In the off season, I would join the local kids club with various sports. Being aware of my weight, I knew that people may have thought I was out of shape. So, I thought that if I never appeared tired or out of breath, then maybe people wouldn't think I'm fat. My stamina was actually pretty good, but I hated running. In the 5th grade, my parents tried to help me lose weight by encouraging more exercise and better eating habits. I hated the exercise, but showed good willpower when it came to food.

Enter high school (every teens’ nightmare). I had lost a lot of weight and was very proud of myself. However, when prom came around, I thought I should lose more weight. I joined Weight Watchers and lost about 10 more pounds. I became hyper aware of calories and what I put into my body. These habits would continue on for a long time...

I won't bore you with all the details, but let's just say that like many teen and young adult females, I did not have a good body image. I began to use exercise as a punishment. I hated my body and just wanted to be super skinny (damn Victoria's Secret models) so I would workout for hours a day. This path started to lead to disordered eating habits. If I ate something I felt regret about, I would workout to burn it off and then go into a pattern of food restriction. This would continue for many more years...

Fast forward to age 27. Lord knows why I thought competing in a bikini show was a good idea. It started with me simply needing a challenging goal. It quickly turned into worse disordered eating and over exercising, which, I had become a little bit better about in the previous few years.

Finally, I hit the big 30 and things started to change. Knowing I didn't want to live a contradictory life, (I am a health and fitness professional for Christ's sake!) I decided to truly make a change to find balance, a good program for me, and above all, HAPPINESS! I gave powerlifting a whirl, did a lot more nutrition research and testing (on myself) and finally found a good combination. I am the happiest I have ever been with my body and have a whole new appreciation for how incredible the human body is. I no longer want to look like a skinny model, I love the body I have built. I worked hard for my muscle and am proud of it. I enjoy my workouts and look forward to them. I eat foods that I want but have a healthy moderation. I no longer obsess about one small thing that I may have eaten, but let it go and trust that my muscle will use that fuel when needed.

Everything isn't so peachy all of the time as I may be making it sound now. I still work hard and am conscious about what I eat. Sometimes I find myself wanting to do extra cardio for eating more cheat meals than expected. However, 99% of the time now, I can talk myself down from those negative behaviors and have learned to trust the journey.

Crap! I'm still supposed to talk about you! Where do you start? That's a tough question to answer. Since I don't know you, it makes it even harder. As someone who is trying to sell you my business, obviously I would say give me a call! I'm sure I can help! But, I'm not supposed to actually say that right? In all honesty, if you can find someone to work with, that will always be your best option, at least as a starting point. Even trainers have coaches and other eyes for help. It's tough to analyze yourself. Find someone you like and trust. After that, I would recommend finding ways to move that you truly enjoy. You're not going to want to keep going if you hate the workout. Heck, if you hate the word workout, go for a hike! Trick your mind and don't let yourself think you are doing a dreaded workout. Next, set goals for yourself both small and large and track your progress. It truly does keep you going and wanting more. Next...wait, another one I can't answer. What comes next is part of YOUR journey. You have to decide what you want and how you are going to get there. I can give you all the encouraging words in the world and sure, they might give you some motivation and make you feel good (temporarily), but without the drive coming from YOU, and inside YOU, you simply won't get there. So ask yourself, "Where do I start"?