The Journey:
Now that I finally decided to go out on my own as a Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, I want to share WHY this was the right time for me to take this leap of faith in my career. Throughout the past few months I have undergone a complete mind shift in my perspective of health and fitness.
Since May, when I competed in my last show I did not feel the same joy and fulfillment as I have in the past. I knew I still loved fitness and nutrition, but I was no longer feeling passionate about prepping for shows. I was tired of focusing inward on my own body, feeling the need to schedule every minute of my life and needing such control over calories eaten versus calories burned. It was burning my mind, body and soul out! I knew if I wanted to pursue my dreams in helping others, I had to start helping myself. It was time to start practicing what I'd been preaching about living a balanced and healthy life.
My mantra of my business is Because Fit Feels Good, which it should! I wasn't fit before...I was disciplined. Being fit should feel good in every fiber or my being if I am going to coach others. When you FEEL fit, you are feeding your soul, fueling your body and freeing your mind.
Fuel Your Body:
When I started prepping for shows, it began with me adapting healthier eating patterns while in university. This new way of life helped me to avoid wasting money on eating out and helped me keep my alcohol consumption much lower than my peers. But after months and months of prepping for show after show without a break all I knew was competition dieting and this didn't make me feel good. I was irritable and frustrated that this is what I had to do to feel "fit". Now I know this is NOT the only way. A good diet is one that consists of choice, gives us energy, fuels the body with essential nutrients and increase our entire well-being. NO deprivation required. I now understand how to balance my eating to feel healthy everyday, but also enjoy having cheats once in awhile, without feeling the need to binge or indulge in a way that is damaging.
Free Your Mind:
When we exercise, we don't have to worry about anything else, we have the opportunity to focus and listen to what our bodies are asking us for. My mind was not free a few months ago. Since I had not yet mastered balance, I found myself multi-tasking through exercise and distracted by other life stresses during my workouts.
Some days my body would tell me "No More!" but my mind would tell me "You HAVE to go!" This was not fit, this was punishment. Exercise isn't easy, but it should be challenging mentally and physically. It should make us feel good and accomplished while increasing our sense of empowerment and confidence. After training too hard, too long and scheduling my life around workouts, my mind wasn't FREE. I felt trapped in a cycle and routine that I knew required a change in my habits. Freeing your mind with exercise for me means looking forward to working out as a de-stressing time. If it causes more stress mentally that day, I don't go. If it causes more physical stress, I either choose to do yoga or take a day off and do another mind freeing activity.
Feed Your Soul:
I saved the juiciest part for last. For me personally, feeling fit is not just about eating healthy and exercising. When I feel most fit, I have a pure sense of peace. My well-being feels fit when I have exercised my soul. Before May of this past year, I did not understand the term "personal growth". Now I want to tell everyone I meet about a great book I'm reading or advice that "fills my cup with gratitude."
As a busy bee, I was rarely making time to recharge and JUST BE. Achieving mindfulness is a part of being fit because when you have a solid stress relieving practice, your sleep improves, your body can relax, your mind is clear and you can fuel your body properly with wholesome food. When your stress decreases, your cravings will diminish, your cortisol driven body fat will melt away and you feel like you can take on another day.
I challenge you to feel grateful, know your own worth and be inspired to change your life to FEEL FIT!
Thank you to everyone who has supported my journey so far, I'm only getting started....
Much love xoxo
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