Growing up I was not a fitness girlie. I didn’t like working out. I believed the lie that I wasn’t made to be fit. So if that was you or you’re curious about fitness journeys, this is for you. I am not a physician, nutritionist, or someone you should be taking medical advice from, just someone who wants to share my story. This post will contain affiliate links. You can check out my policy here. Part 1: Falling out of love with fitness I took PE all throughout elementary and junior high school. I was in dance, gymnastics, cheer, lifeguard training, acrobatics, softball, basketball, and volleyball as a kid. I performed in the Gilbert Days Parade. I was a fairly active kid–but I was never someone who was fit. Falling out of love with fitness probably started with cardio. My elementary school did the Presidential Fitness Test and I had to run the mile twice because I didn’t run fast enough the first time. I remember having to spend my weekend running a mile for practice. I remember cardio feeling especially horrible because my legs were on fire and I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t have asthma, I just couldn’t get the rhythm of breathing down. But I believed the lie that I wasn't built for cardio. Then in junior high I hairline-fractured my wrist because I fell in PE. I got acne that I blamed on sweating and not because of puberty or the cleansers I was using or my food habits or anything else. At this point, I had changed schools and couldn’t really find friends in sports. I believed the lie that since I wasn’t immediately good at a sport or fit in with the team, I simply wasn’t made to do sports. In high school, I hairline-fractured my other wrist while rollerblading. I healed up and from that point forward, I stopped trying to find a sport to get into or going to the gym. Part 2: The Way Back In freshman year of college, I lived on campus and was walking 10,000 steps a day. Because I got 3 pages worth of allergies, I was eating better and burning a lot of calories. So I lost a lot of weight. Enough weight that my family was worried about me not eating enough even though I swear I was eating 3 meals a day, and snacks. When I moved off campus, I didn’t want to get a car pass because they cost $700 on the low end. So I got a bike, used the bus, or walked a couple of miles. It helped that my university had my classes all over campus so I was walking a few miles Monday-Friday. I had friends who would also go with me to the high heels dance class my university offered which was a lot of fun. We also went hiking up slide rock where you’re hiking up a river on a hot summer day. Refreshing. After college, I wanted to glow up in every sense of the word. I started flossing more. I nannied and spent 8+ hours on my feet with my client’s kids all day. I took my cat for walks in her carrier. I spent my lunch breaks at my new job walking. I tried to make it fun. When my husband and I started dating, we did fitness challenges where the first with the most steps won. This made it easier because there was a healthy competition going between the two. As a New Year’s resolution, we made a pact to go to the gym at least 3 times a week for the entire month of January. We just got engaged and I think we were both super motivated to lose weight for our wedding. It started out where I would be able to do a full body workout in 15 minutes and want to leave. Over time I got to the point where I would make it an hour, then spend at least 15-20 minutes in the gym’s sauna. This is what I packed for the gym: Additional items you may want based on what gym you go to:
Life happened, my sister got married, friends got married, wedding planning picked up, and we gradually stopped going to the gym. At least until all of that was done… What I noticed when working out regularly:
I’m not a fitness influencer, I don’t know what protein powders to buy or how to use every piece of equipment in the gym. I wrote this post because I want to encourage you. You don’t have to look like the fitness guys and girls on social media. You don’t have to wear the two piece sets–I wore these biker shorts and t-shirts or tank tops. You don’t have to believe the lies that I believed that kept me from working out. I mention going to the gym a lot but you don’t need a gym to workout, you just might need more equipment or do different workouts. Tips for getting into going to the gym:
I hope you found this post to be helpful and encouraging. If you liked it, please share with your friends, subscribe to my mailing list, and comment down below your favorite workout. I’ll see you in the next post!
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