Monday, July 14, 2014

Let the struggles make you stronger; don't give up!

I was inspired this morning by a post from Fitnix. I have actually been contemplating writing a blog like this for a while but I couldn’t find the right words.

I started on this journey to fitness in 2011 and I was feeling great, making strides and seeing significant progress. In November of 2012, I competed in the fitness category at a local fitness competition and I was on top of the world. I felt more confident than I ever had, I was completely comfortable in my own skin and I was happy with myself.

However only a few months post competition and I was lacking energy, feeling so drained that I could hardly get out of bed in the morning and despite eating extremely clean I was gaining weight!! Unexplainable weight!

I was visiting doctors, naturopaths and so on to come up with a solution but nothing was working.

The gym suddenly felt different to me because I was now self-conscious. Self-conscious about people seeing that I had put on some extra pounds and what they would think and say. Would they think that I just binged post competition and therefore gained all this weight back?

I began accumulating a bunch of equipment for my home gym and as the weather got nicer I was slowly removing myself from going to the gym at all. I was and still am training at a high intensity and working very hard but still, to this day, I cannot get leaner. The benefits just simply don’t show on the outside these days despite the fact that I am getting stronger and still feeling fit overall.

There were many times when I even hesitated posting pictures on my facebook page. For a while I was documenting and openly discussing my issues and trials to fix it but soon there were no updates because myself and everyone I talked to were stumped. So how would that motivate my followers?

It did actually. It did and I really hope it still does because you’ve seen that I am real; that I struggle too and also that I NEVER, NEVER gave up and I have still NOT GIVEN UP!

I’ve learned many things in this process, including how strong I am both mentally and physically. I’ve learned that it is important to love and believe in yourself, to remain positive, to listen to your body and to tell yourself consistently that you CAN do this.

Don't wait until you feel great to show up....show up now (direct quote from Fitnix)….. continue to work with focus and intensity. Don’t let the bad days get the better of you!

People will be encouraged by your strength, determination and focus......

I begin my career as a personal trainer in a month (part-time to start), I am no longer as self-conscious to walk into the gym, I have good days and bad days but for the most part I am comfortable in my own skin again. I still haven’t found a diagnosis or treatment for whatever is wrong with my body but with some help, I am working on it.

I will get through this because I know I can. I know where I want to be and where I feel my best so I’m striving for that.

 Don’t let the struggles get the best of you; let the struggles make you stronger.
 
Until next time,

 

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