The opportunity to teach fitness came unexpectedly over seven years ago. A younger and busier mom at the time, I started with 3 classes a week, each one leaving me anticipating the next. Today I still teach fitness, am up to 11 classes a week and still anticipate the enjoyment of every class. Where else can I show up, ... sense excitement and desire among people who actually follow my advice and DO what I say (a weary mom especially appreciates this), hear laughter as friends workout together, have a chance to teach, motivate and see people push through something difficult, hear so many thank yous everyday and then leave each time energized, encouraged and even paid to do what I love? Does it get any better? The opportunity fell into my lap after I decided to become certified in group fitness just for fun. Fast forward to today... in addition to teaching, I recently added a new aspect to my job... PERSONAL TRAINING.
What a joy it has been to meet with people one-on-one, giving them their own custom designed workout and motivating them to make fitness their new lifestyle and not just a hit or miss effort to lose a few pounds this summer. Encouraged to think long-term, people stuck in a sedentary lifestyle look up the road a few years and visualize themselves with more energy and less fatigue as they move through their day. They understand that what they do today WILL effect the qualtiy of their lives tomorrow. It's such a privelege to help them keep this vision in sight when they face obstacles or discouragement, reminding them the effects of a sedentary lifestyle didn't happen overnight and the benefits of an active lifestyle will take some time too... BUT the payoff for long haul consistency is GUARANTEED... they WILL see improvement... that's the way it works... give the human body what it needs and it will give an amazing return on the investment. In fact a WHOLE NEW BODY can be had in 2 years through perserverance and consistency! It's a change that happens on a cellular level from the inside out. Through exercise and treating your body right, old toxic cells are replaced by newer healthier cells, and over time a healthier and younger you will emerge.
Convincing people they can be younger next year is the greatest job I have been privelged to assume. Every time we meet is a chance to fill their minds with the myriad of reasons why they wouldn't want to give up and the limitless number of benefits that await them. Recently, one client came in so excited to see some definition in her biceps from all the bicep curls she has been doing this summer. She knows that building lean muscle will create a more efficient body that burns fat even as she sleeps. It's thoughts like these that keep her pushing through the last gruling set of muscle firing squats. I love seeing her work hard and noticing the determination in her face that refuses her any room for giving up. It makes my day every time!!!
We all can be younger next year if we allow exercise, nutrition and committment to replace our sedentary lifestyles... it's that simple... and if it's not that simple for you then maybe try a personal trainer who will help jump start your desire to exercise, motivate you to be consistent and will find it a joy to be there for you to assure you meet your fitness goals today and into tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Oh, Summer!
Summer's here, when the kids are enjoying leisurely mornings, offsetting the rest of the day so they find themselves eating breakfast at 11:00 and lunch at 3:00, everyone hanging with at least one friend if not two or three so that my house becomes a whirlwind of laughter, noise and activity, the boys rough housing, shooting hoops for hours then busting through the door with that lovely outdoorsey scent only a sweaty teenage boy can vent. They eat everything in sight, leaving a trail of mess behind them. The girls constantly giggle, listen to ipods and love trying new nail designs with neon colored nail polish. They all stay up late with no thought of waking to an obnoxious alarm clock the next day, they hang at the mall and everyone wants to go in ten different directions at the same time.
What is that? I'm OK with it really. It's Summer right? Kinda forget as an adult what it was like as a young person. Do you remember Summer as a young person?... Oh, to have that time of life back again... hanging with neighbor friends, riding bikes for hours, going to the park playing frisbee and looking for cute boys, walking to Dairy Queen and enjoying icecream without worry of belly bulge, blasting the music out my bedroom window as we sunbathed on the roof or swam in my back yard pool all day... I even remember thinking to myself one Summer day as I splashed water on my sunkissed face while lounging on a raft in the pool and watching my dad rush off to work ... "I should really enjoy these days... when else in life will I have a chance to be so care free... it's sure to become more complicated when I get older and have a family and responsibilities." I was rather wise for my age, giving myself permission to be carefree, understanding summer is a unique time for a young person, to be embraced as a once in a lifetime opportunity to chill and enjoy before real life comes crashing in full force.
Today as I reminisce, I smile as I listen to the laughter, watch the horseplay and smell the effects of playing hard. When I start to feel stressed or frazzled due to their lack of structure I will remember it's ok to allow for some of that as long as they have some semblance of productivity in there somewhere. Which they do.... thank God. But for the majority of the summer I want them to be carefree kids, creating lasting, lifetime memories to tuck away as part of their journey before life launches them into the real world, when such long stretches of leisure are bound to slip away in exchange for new seasons of maturity and responsibility. Watching them enjoy their season of "young, wild, and free"reminds me to keep embracing my new seasons too, tucking away the unique blessings that come with each one, not rushing ahead trying to live in the next, but relishing the here and now. It's good to know that even though seasons may change, each one is uniquely loaded with surprises, goodness and this amazing thing called life.
What is that? I'm OK with it really. It's Summer right? Kinda forget as an adult what it was like as a young person. Do you remember Summer as a young person?... Oh, to have that time of life back again... hanging with neighbor friends, riding bikes for hours, going to the park playing frisbee and looking for cute boys, walking to Dairy Queen and enjoying icecream without worry of belly bulge, blasting the music out my bedroom window as we sunbathed on the roof or swam in my back yard pool all day... I even remember thinking to myself one Summer day as I splashed water on my sunkissed face while lounging on a raft in the pool and watching my dad rush off to work ... "I should really enjoy these days... when else in life will I have a chance to be so care free... it's sure to become more complicated when I get older and have a family and responsibilities." I was rather wise for my age, giving myself permission to be carefree, understanding summer is a unique time for a young person, to be embraced as a once in a lifetime opportunity to chill and enjoy before real life comes crashing in full force.
Today as I reminisce, I smile as I listen to the laughter, watch the horseplay and smell the effects of playing hard. When I start to feel stressed or frazzled due to their lack of structure I will remember it's ok to allow for some of that as long as they have some semblance of productivity in there somewhere. Which they do.... thank God. But for the majority of the summer I want them to be carefree kids, creating lasting, lifetime memories to tuck away as part of their journey before life launches them into the real world, when such long stretches of leisure are bound to slip away in exchange for new seasons of maturity and responsibility. Watching them enjoy their season of "young, wild, and free"reminds me to keep embracing my new seasons too, tucking away the unique blessings that come with each one, not rushing ahead trying to live in the next, but relishing the here and now. It's good to know that even though seasons may change, each one is uniquely loaded with surprises, goodness and this amazing thing called life.
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