Thursday, March 6, 2014

Inspiration For Anyone

One of the frustrating parts of being a personal trainer/fitness professional is dealing with those who say "I can't..."  I fully understand that not everyone loves to workout.  Heck, I don't like doing it some days.  But I have yet to find someone who honestly "can't" workout. 

So when I started the Weigh To Go program as a coach, I learned I had a participant who was over 60 and had never worked out.  I don't mean never worked out in the past 10 years or anything like that.  I mean NEVER worked out in her entire 60+ years.  While she sounded gung-ho about working out and the program, every time we met and talked about what she eats and what types of workouts she should do, I was met with "I can't do that because I had 2 knee replacements"  or "I can't live without my Diet Coke" or even "I don't like drinking water."  Boy did I have a challenge in front of me.  I decided to take it one step at a time with her.  You know.  Rome wasn't built in a day and all.  The program has been going on now for about 5 weeks and each week she shows up for our meetings and with a more positive attitude than the week before.  The first change came with her not having 4 sausage McMuffins in a week and ending each night in bed with a 32 oz Diet Coke.  Then she started adding more veggies to her diet.  Last week, she told me she was up to 4 bottles of water a day.  Now, they aren't big bottles but it's 4 more than she had been doing previously so it is a HUGE step! 

Last night, though, she made me so proud to be her coach that I just have to share it with everyone.  We were having our meeting and talking about how far she had walked in the past week (proof is in the pedometer).  Then she tells me that she goes with her friend to the hospital in Milwaukee for her friend's checkups and when they went earlier this week, she was able to walk from the parking lot to the clinic without stopping at the cafeteria to rest.  Her friend even made a comment about her not having to stop to rest.  And the smile on her face while she told me this story was worth a thousand words.  She was so proud of herself and she realized that all her hard work was paying off.  Then she said that she wanted to go walk around the gym a few times!  WOW!!  I couldn't believe it and that's exactly what we did.  Not only was she able to do about 15 laps with just one quick break, she was walking at a faster pace than I'd seen her do before. 

The program ends in a few weeks but she has already told me she will stick with the walking because she is started to feel different/better.  What more could a coach possibly ask for?  I honestly am so proud of her! 

The point of sharing this with you is that you can do anything you set your mind to!  A 60+ year old woman has discovered the benefit of walking/moving and is surprising even herself so there is no excuse!  Get up and move!  Even if it's slow and just around the living room.  Take it one literal step at a time!  Who knows what you can do.

 


BE BOLD! BE YOU!

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