A year ago, I was in the worst shape of my life. At 5'3" I was a bit over 200 lbs. I had back pain, knee pain, and occasionally got migraines. My allergies were terrible, I was always tired and felt as though I was living life in a fog. I've never been athletic, but always felt I was still strong... but even my strength was fading. I don't "do" gyms; I've occasionally gone on the elliptical or treadmill at the gym in my town but never consistently. The last time I consistently went to a gym was college and that was only for one semester. Yet for some reason I connected with Elite Technique, a gym in Beltsville, Maryland and signed up for weekday personal training sessions.
I'm famous for giving up when things get tough, but I stuck with the gym. Over an entire year, excluding vacations and business trips, I have only missed eight training sessions. Every weekday morning, I go to Elite Technique and work with my trainer Khalil for a half hour. Often, the session starts with 10 minutes on the treadmill, then we do weight training.
When I joined the gym, I didn't have big dreams about getting thin. I just wanted to get back under 200 lbs and I wanted to be strong again. I achieved my goals in this past year and with it, learned so much about myself and what defines health.
When I joined Elite Technique, I was a size 16 with a 38F chest. Now, I am a size 12 with a 36DDD chest. I haven't had a migraine since I started working out. My cholesterol and blood pressure both dropped into a nice comfortable, healthy range. No more back pain, hardly any knee pain. My skin looks better, my posture is better, and my body is a completely different shape.
I mentioned in this post, but with all these changes I've only lost 10 lbs. But these photos show that weight is not the only factor in determining health, shape, or strength. And at age 43, I show that it's not too late to start. In fact, my mom is 75 and she just started working out at Elite Technique this year. She recently had surgery and the doctor said she likely healed so well and got through the procedure so beautifully in part because of her weight training routine.
Society may make us feel bad for its size, shape, or ability but our bodies, all of our bodies, are awesome. Our body is the only reason we are here, and deserves to be nurtured and respected. Weight training helped me reconnect with my body and improve my relationship with my self. It has helped me fight past that bad influence on my shoulder that encourages me to hit the snooze button, has retrained my mind to crave different things when I am sad, mad, or frustrated. It helped me find routine and time for myself as a work from home entrepreneur who could spend all day in her pajamas in front of a computer. It made me an inspiration for my daughter, reduced the number of days I was sick or out of commission, and made me a more equal partner with my husband when we went camping, kayaking, biking, and completing home improvement projects.
Here's to one year of fitness, I cannot wait to see what I can achieve in 2019!
I know some of you are curious about what I am wearing. I stopped trying to make my hair work at the gym so I wear baseball caps; they also keep sweat out of my eye. The sports bra is the Catalyst from Knix. The leggings are Core10, you can design your own for a good price and they've held up beautifully. They're my favorite leggings; Zella is a close second. The navy shirt is from Daily Ritual, the turquoise one is Zella, but my favorite workout top is from Universal Standard. My favorite workout underwear, as well as everyday underwear is the boyshorts from Knix. My favorite socks for working out are SmartWool Hide and Seek (they keep the sweat and funk at bay and last for years). My current favorite sneakers are these from Asics which give a lot of arch support and stability.
