Friday, October 23, 2015

Trust Me, I've Been There!

This is a story...make that two stories about strong women. They were lost, slowly found their way and now, found the "light". Sounds corny, right?? Bah, who cares. I could of used any analogy and I picked the corny one because I Love Corn!!!

Anyways, if you are reading this, maybe this woman IS YOU. Maybe...just maybe...it COULD be you because you have just begun your own story.  What ever the case may be, let's begin the tale. 

My Story (short version):
I was a content 160 pound girl. Had a good school life, a boyfriend who was my world and had family/friends who had my back. My world suddenly fell apart when my so-called amazing boyfriend dumped me OVER THE FRICKIN PHONE.  What a jerk!!!  I wanted revenge. It was the type of revenge where when he saw me at a mutual friends' bday, his mouth would just drop to the floor and think to himself "dang, I missed out."  Yup!  This is how my world turned upside down for the better.

I found fitness.

It was a great outlet for me to get all my anger out in the open with no judgements.  I loaded up my gym playlist with empowering women and songs about crappy ex-boyfriends.  I would spend hours upon hours at the gym. I even remember this one time when the front desk attendant at my gym said "wow, I definitely am noticing your body change."  I was so pleased that I'm pretty sure I wrote a blog post about it when I first started my journey (circa 2009).  Anyways, these types of amazing comments truly motivated me to keep pushing forward.  All those useless hours spent crying over the whole breakup had now been used to better ME. With seeing my trainer on a regular, clean eating and tons sweat sessions on my own at the gym, it helped me realize that I was the driving force behind my own happiness...not him.  I noticed I slowly became more empowered in all my life decisions and less worried about getting revenge on a certain scumbag ex-boyfriend. My heart was stronger and so was my mind and body. I was building my world back with all things that made me happy and I didn't need a man to do it...just like that Pussycat Dolls songs (totally had that on my gym playlist lol).  He was now just a faint shadow in the background of the mirror I was standing in front of. 

It was just me. I had the answer all along. 

You can never really find your true identity unless you are willing to make sacrifices and just be honest with yourself.  It's a journey to take alone but one that's worth while in the end. A person has to work hard and want it BADLY enough in order to obtain it.  "It" being anything really...goal weight...a job...even HAPPINESS!

It was The Old me vs. The New me and The New me WON! Bye bye old self. It was nice knowing you.

Now, it's all about balance. Balancing my life with work, fitness, owning a business, friendships, family, meal prepping, cheat meals and taking some time for me to reflect on how far I've come.  Now weighing in at 139lbs, I can say that I've been there. I truly know what it's like.  That's what's really great about my blog. It's my online diary...my reminder to never go back to where I once was.  

Taken Today: I love me!


Onto Story Numero 2:

Tammy's Story (Mon, Oct 19, 2015):
Ding Dong!  The doorbell rang and I rushed to get it early morning at Snap Leduc. Tammy, one of my newer members looked quite distracted.  No gym clothes or gym bag equals red flag in my mind. Something was wrong.  

I asked "What brings you into the club today Tammy?"
She replied "I came in to cancel my membership."  I asked "why?"
She said "I don't feel comfortable in the gym like how I was reassured I would when I signed up.  There are so many extremely fit people here. Are there even any overweight people?"
I said "I understand exactly what you are going through Tammy. You are not alone. I've been in a place where I too once was uncomfortable and unhealthy. She seemed shocked (like she didn't believe me) but I continued "but you know what?....I just ignored them because at the end of the day, all you have is you. These are your goals and who cares about theirs. Yes, I may have done a fitness show and obtained a body like that (*points to the image of my transformation in the wall) but who says that is the model of health?  It's about balance in your life. Just trying to stay healthy and I believe that is what your goal should be too!  When you go to sleep at night, it's just you. You have to make the decision to better yourself and I know you know that this is going to help you get there.  And to answer your other question...YES, we do have people who struggle with their weight but they too have setbacks every once in a while like my member Jacqui. Every time she falls, she just picks herself up and keeps coming back again."
Sounding defeated, Tammy responds  "I just have tried all the gyms out there...Spa Lady, the LRC and now to quit here. There are no gyms left in Leduc. It's just a cycle. I get really excited to join and am all-in but crash hard and just quit after a few months. My husband says I am just wasting money. It's this cycle that I can't break."
I proclaimed "It stops NOW. The vicious cycle of starting and quitting ends here today. I am not going to let it happen."
As I finish my sentence, I see Tammys' face start to redden and tears fall from her eyes.  I even start to tremble and my voice starts to quiver as I say " I will do whatever it takes to help you. We are here to help you.  Tammy, you are going to make me cry."
We both laugh as I continue the conversation. " I am going to set you up with a consultation with one of our trainers. They are going to help you with your goals...even if you see them just to tell someone your story, I think you would benefit from it."
As she wiped her tears away she said "Good for you Kim. I was so determined when I signed up here a few months ago and I was so determined to cancel. Good on you for changing my mind."  I walked over to her and gave her a big hug and said "everything is going to be okay.  You got this!"  We said our goodbyes and I just hope she left with a better insight. My heart just felt so heavy after she left the gym. I felt every single bit of that conversation.  

I hope that she will continue on her journey.
I hope our heart to heart made all the difference in the world.
I hope but we won't know what will happen. It's really up to Tammy what her next move is.
I just HOPE the move is in the right direction...FORWARD.

-Kim-

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