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I first heard about this challenge when I saw Sarah Van Ek at the gym looking slim and strong and was totally in awe of not only her transformation but her hard work. She was doing some freaky things in the gym and I was amazed and wondered secretly if this is something I could ever push myself to do. On my first day of the challenge, there was Sarah greeting me and saying “you can do this”.
I have been a member of Body Fit for over 15 years and I am the one you see at the same time of day over and over doing the same things. Stuck in my routines, not pushing myself and not doing anything different than what I have always done.
My husband is a person who works out often, eats whatever he wants (often bad things) and remains in fantastic shape. (Grrr) I am not so lucky. I am a busy working Mom of over scheduled athletic kids and the grind of the busyness led to rushed meals, grabbing snacks and eating on the road. It is almost impossible to maintain a healthy diet especially during the winter without lots of planning. Working out happened only when everything else was done. I can assure you that this was not happening. The kids were and always are first.
My friend Diane heard about the challenge and said “let’s do it” and although reluctant I mentioned it to my family and they said “do it”. So I did it.
At first I was anxious and scared; I worried and wondered what I had gotten myself into. The first week was difficult, the diet seemed daunting and I wondered if I could actually do this. Although the workouts were really tough, having the structure and companionship of the group seemed to really help. We were all in this together and I took great comfort in that. We could share and talk about how we felt and felt safe complaining behind the back of our trainer Christina. (complaining in front of her didn’t work)
The workouts were tough, the diet is tough, but things got easier with time. My body stopped craving bad things and began to crave good things. Instead of flaking out at night exhausted, I had to go out to the gym. I would always say night time is not my time for exercise but I eventually found it that I loved it. I had to count on my husband to deal with dinner and everything else and out I would go to Body Fit. At first I felt guilty and selfish but after the first few weeks I knew that this is what I needed. This positive change then led to many other positive changes. The changes went way beyond how my clothes fit or how I felt my body change.
Overcoming obstacles is something we all have to learn how to do and can be applied to our whole lives. Someone once told me to just itemize all of the things weighing on you then deal with them one by one. So here it was.
I am tired all the time
I am unhappy with my weight
I am unhappy with my fitness
I have no clothes that fit me
I’m worried about my skin and hair
I have no time for myself
As I read that now I see that the problem was obvious. I learned that it is ok to ask for help. I learned that I couldn’t do this myself or else I would have by now and I learned that no one could do it for me.
As a result of the challenge I feel stronger; my outlook on pretty much everything has improved significantly. I feel so happy and proud of myself for finishing this challenge. My family is proud of me too and that is the icing on the cake…make that the cream cheese on the celery. 🙂