Real Life Real Faith April/May 2015 | Page 11

Remember how I mentioned my demanding sweet tooth? Yes, I was eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. And once again, I started creeping back up. At this point, I had enough with the up and down. I wasn’t doing myself any favors by taking this approach. So I put myself on a strict routine of weight lifting and dieting. I was miserable. The dieting was too extreme and I ended up looking too thin. I definitely couldn’t maintain this for the long haul. Finally, I had to come to the conclusion that in order to be the true healthy me, I had to be realistic with myself, just like I have to be realistic with my clients. I began taking the calories in vs. calories out approach. And what happened was miraculous! I was healthy, happy and able to perform all my tasks at work. I was training more clients than I ever had before. And I was still giving my sweet tooth what it wanted, within reason.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s still a struggle for me. I enjoy my chocolate and cookies sometimes to the extreme. I don’t always eat the right things. But, I can honestly say that I am happy that I am strong and I am happy that I am healthy. I work out every day. I am a normal human being, not a superhero that lives on salads. I understand the hard work and dedication it takes to live a healthy life, and I can also understand the struggles. I have been there, I have lived it and I am not ashamed to share my struggles. I want people to know that not all fitness professionals look like fitness models. The vast majority of us are real people facing the same hardships that the average person faces. I think this makes us better able to relate to our clients. And that is what can make all the difference in the trainer/client relationship

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Compassion, understanding and just plain being human.