My journey back into fitness started two years ago. I made an appointment with Mel for a personal training session and assessment. I have degenerative disc disease and was concerned with injuring myself. I drive past Mel’s house every day to get to and from my own house and I had seen people flipping tires and jumping on boxes and knew I could never do that. I figured PT was the way to go. I wish I had a picture of her face when I showed up wearing a dress and flip flops!!!! I thought it was just a consultation!! You know .., we would just chat. I was wrong. I looked around at the equipment and thought NOPE and I left.
Fast forward one year. Mel posted a Beginner Fit class. I thought that I can maybe do. MAYBE. My main concern when I started on November 1, 2015 was weight loss. I just wanted to be skinny again. Middle age spread was swooping down on me and I wasn’t going to let that happen. I joined with some friends and off I went. It was weeks after before I could sit comfortably on a toilet or walk successfully down the stairs but I kept going.
January of 2016 I took the Nutrition Fit seminar. Learned all about added sugar and meal prep and that I needed to be eating a lot more than I was. I learned how to properly fuel my body. A few months into the new year I felt the classes were getting easier (but I didn’t dare tell Mel!). I increased my weights and took some PT sessions again to learn proper technique. I’m pretty sure I still don’t pop those hips like I should but I didn’t show up in a dress!! April I ran the TC 10K. My first 10K and it was actually pretty easy. Perhaps I was getting in shape. I put on a pair of jeans that hadn’t fit me in years and they slid on no problem. I also realized at that point that I hadn’t thought about my weight in months. My focus had changed to fitness and strength and I hadn’t even noticed. I just wanted to be strong not skinny. The weight I was lifting was getting heavier. My kettle bell went from 10 pounds to 20 pounds (30 on a good day!), slam balls went from 10-20. I was doing real push-ups and when I saw E.M.O.M or AMRAMP on the board I finally knew what it meant!!
I remember one of the first things I said to Mel was that I had no interest in ever doing a Tough Mudder or anything like it. Getting dirty and gross is not my thing. I knew I would never be able to climb over a wall and I would NEVER crawl on my belly through the mud. I signed up for Mud Mulisha in August. It was gross but I had fun and survived. Starting to step way out of
my comfort zone! Tough Mudder was way out of my league though. It would never happen.
September I joined the Run-Fit class with Janine and Terra. Turns out I’m a pretty good runner too. Who knew. A few weeks in and I was running 10K one or more times a week. Three days ago I did the Bear Mountain 10K which is deemed the hardest 10K in Canada. I’m sure my 10k’s will soon turn into half marathons. My goal to be skinny changed to be strong very quickly. You can only be so skinny but you can always be stronger. One year later I’m fit, I’m the strongest I’ve ever been and I’m happy. I’m
flipping those tires and jumping on those boxes and on a good day I can do a couple double unders!!
Having Mel as a trainer is the best decision I made. She pushes when you need pushing and backs off when you don’t. I know she’ll
have my back when we do Tough Mudder in June. Yup… I’m doing it. I don’t think I can step any further out of my comfort zone than that. After that, who knows but I’m sure it’ll be a good time!
