The other day one of my clients asked about what I eat in a day. It got me thinking about my own fitness journey.
My fitness story hasn't been one where I have always been into fitness and eating healthy. Growing up I ate fast food a lot and Mtn. Dew was a regular in my life. In high school I was always the smallest ever. My problem was even the smalls or extra small were too big on me. I was just tiny. I wasn't strong or fit.
It was until I was about to graduate college that I started implementing a fitness routine in my life. I met my now husband and while living together we would spend roughly 2 hours 3-4 times a week in the gym. It was routine for us when we got off work to go home, eat then go to the gym.
Moves and work happened. We started going out to eat more and not really caring too much about working out. There was a point when we both would get home and want to chill. We used every excuse we could use - work was too much, I just want to chill. This is where we weren't the best accountability partners for each other. For me it was a few years where I kept gaining and gaining weight. Most of the weight I gained went straight to the belly area. I saw the scale keep going up and up yet I did nothing to change it.
Arizona and West Virginia were probably the places that I was at my heaviest. Arizona it was probably towards the end of our time and the beginning of our time in West Virginia. We had interested start to our time in WV so we did a lot of fast food. Plus my time in WV wasn't the best so I ate and drank to make it a little bit better. (Honestly it didn't help.) But this is where I was at my heaviest. I was the heaviest I have been. I was probably anywhere from 12-16 in pants. In my shirts I got up to XL.
I have always been a person to put everything into my work for good or bad. I want to succeed and be the best at any job I do. A boss told me once I play chess while everyone is playing checkers. I just want to be the best at any cost to myself. When I started studying for my personal training certification I was working at gym in Iowa. I was working in the sales department and would anywhere from 9-12 hours a day for 5 or 6 days. I would take 1 day off because I had to or else I probably would have worked, to be honest.
My lunches there would be all over the place. Some days I would pack my lunch and some days I would go and grab lunch for my boss. If you went to get his lunch he would buy your lunch too. I was doing everything that I was learning not to do. My nutrition was out of control. My workouts were non-existent. I did get my cardio in every day. (I was hitting anywhere from 10K-15K in steps every day.) I was slowly starting changing my habits towards the end of time in Iowa.
Then we moved to Seattle. I made a promise to myself that this was time to change. I was going to start working out more, eating healthier, feel confident and comfortable in my own skin again. It had been way too long since I felt comfortable in myself. I have never mentioned this to anyone but I would wear my husband's clothes more than my own clothes because of 1.) my clothes didn't fit and I didn't want to get new clothes. 2.) They were just baggy enough to hide.
While today I am not still 100% confident in my own skin I am more on my way than ever. I work out every day. Listen to my body when I need rest and ok with not working out. Just the other day I did more cardio than strength training AND I was fine it. Usually, I would be super disappointed. I am planning our meals and sticking to it.
We went shopping this weekend and I was trying on clothes. I was shocked by what size I could fit in. I tried a pair of size 4 Lululemon leggings and they fit. I ended up not getting them, but while we were going to the next store it made me realize I have come a long way in my fitness journey. I don't give myself enough credit that I give to my clients daily. Right now I am in a size 6 in my pants, and I think that's where I stay for a while. My tops are small or medium. Still need to work my core area more, but I think that's everyone.
Every day is a struggle for me. I know my food and nutrition are the hardest thing for me. The season has always been the tough part of the year, because I hate cooking and cooking for one. So I need to get past my excuses and work towards it.
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out me anytime.
