Well I made it.

One week without the scale.  My normal Saturday morning used to include a scale ritual which would  determine whether things were a failure or success that week and then trying to fix whatever didn’t seem to be working.

This week I did not do that.  I wrote client programs for the following week, ate breakfast, and had an AWESOME workout at the gym.  After that Mm new esthetician also asked if I was a student and when I told her that I just had my birthday that past Monday she really gassed me up about how young I look so I’m a customer for life.

So I had a good day and there was no scale.  I must confess that I kept fighting the temptation throughout the week and on Saturday to, “just take a peek”.   Instead I went and put on the pants that didn’t go up over my behind last month and now they are. Next stop buttoning them up.

I have decided that I will not weigh or measure myself until after I complete all the workouts on this program. I’m on workout #12 as of today and I have 32 more to go…so we shall see.

Confronting some Hard Truths

Seeing how anxious I got about not getting on the scale made me confront some hard truths.

I’m really angry and disappointed with myself for not making it to the stage

I think what gets me the most about this entire experience is that: I NEVER MADE IT TO THE FREAKING STAGE.  I wonder if I would be handling this better had I accomplished my goal.  Not only did I NOT accomplish what I set out to do, I ended up going backwards in many regards.  It’s not just the scale weight.  My endurance has also regressed and I don’t recover from workouts as well as in the past.  That could be due to age but I also feel like I’m in worse shape than before. I’ve noticed an improvement since embracing “STIMULATE DON’T ANNIHILATE” training philosophy.
And yes, I am angry that in this moment and time I would love to be back where I was before this whole “Trying to be a figure competitor” adventure.  I would love to be back at the place where I didn’t weigh myself, where I ate well because of the way it made me felt, and where I had fun workouts because they were fun and I loved the way I felt.  Oh yeah and during that time I was 15 pounds lighter…but here you go:  I thought life would be better if I could become a figure competitor and get really lean.  Instead I ended up learning some extremely valuable lessons and having to start from the bottom,

Coming back from Failure

I’m not one of these people who post inspirational messages on Social Media that are feel good empty crap. These are the things that I have to say to myself to not give up and quit.
This endeavor was a failure in many ways but I’ve learned SO MUCH and I doubt without this failure, I would have gotten as FIRED UP about the following issues: Women’s Body Image
Health Coaching/Designing Programs that are targeted towards lifestyle rather than cosmetics and speaking out about body dysmorphia.  I also learned a lot about myself and following my instincts.

Plus we have to take risks in life or else it’s boring.  This experience is a definite part of my message to women about finding worth in appearance, ineffective dieting, and self esteem issues.  Who knows what other doors this experience will open?  I honestly believe there  is going to be some major vindication when all is said and done but for now it sucks.  The song Shattered Dreams comes to mind…

Body Dysmorphia is Rampant in the fitness industry and it is having a negative impact on clients.

One of the women trainers I follow on social media recently opened up about her struggle with Body Image.  She used to weigh upwards of 230 pounds and lost 90 pounds much of it through lots of cardio and starving.  She finally understood that was not the way to go and began to educate herself about eating more and strength training because she did start gaining weight again. Then she decided that she wanted to do a figure competition because she thought that would help her get into better shape and challenge herself (Sound familiar?) After about a year of dieting and training she ALSO never made it to the stage and now she’s somewhere in between the 90 pound weight loss and 230 pounds.  She is finding herself frustrated and angry because she doesn’t want to weigh 230 pounds again but she also is refusing to go back to all the cardio and not eating.
Someone asked her: “What was the big deal?  When will she be happy?” She’s one of the most popular instructors in her area and one of the top trainers in her gym.  She helps a lot of people but she was so hung up on and insecure about the way she looked. It’s hard not to be with all of the naked Instagram and Facebook “trainers” who have no certs but tons of selfies.
In her blog this week this woman talked about how little girls never hear their mothers say anything positive about their body and what type of message that sends to their daughters.  She’s right.

I’m going to take it one step further and say that there are far too many people in the fitness industry that are always negative about their bodies or preaching about perfectionism and that is a terrible message to send to clients.

People have much bigger problems than six pack abs and butts.  They have family troubles, stressful jobs, relationship issues, financial issues, stress, and yet the industry continues to market magic beans, workouts, and meal plans as the answer to real problems.
I really think that the reason that 80% of people are not active is because the public can sense that the shallow message of the current fitness industry is promoted by delusional people who are avoiding their own lives and overcompensating for perceived shortcomings.  The public can sense this stuff is nonsense and stay away.

My experience has SOLIDIFIED my MESSAGE.

A fitness coach with a healthy body image and sense of self is what we need more of.  We need people who are going to meet people where they are and STOP saying you just need another meal plan or you just need to try this supplement.  How about you need to GET YOUR LIFE.
I could talk about this all day so I won’t.  I will shut up now and save more for next week.  Until then, feel free to reach out to me!  I love hearing your feedback.
#GETOFFTHESCALE #NOSCALECHALLENGE