It occurs to me that the title may lead you to believe I am already a fit fat girl, but let me assure you I am not. This is the beginning of that journey.
Hi, my name is Nicole and I completely lack self-control. I love food, wine, and whiskey and when it comes to denying myself pleasure, which all of these items bring me, I suck at saying no. I would love to tell you that I have decided to embark on this adventure for some beautiful and heartwarming reason, but the fact is, it is simple and purely selfish. I am sick of the nuisance of being fat.
Here is the thing, I have always struggled with my weight and at times I really don’t mind being a big girl. I have the most amazing husband who will love and find me sexy no matter if I am 300 pounds or 150. As touching as that is, it adds to the struggle of keeping up the motivation to do anything about it. I also don’t have your standard self-esteem issues. When I look in the mirror, I don’t see a fat girl. I see someone beautiful. I see someone funny, charming, smart, educated, talented, loved; I see someone awesome. The problem is not the mirror. The problem is life.
When I am in the metro, I worry that my ass is encroaching on the passenger sitting next to me. When I go to the theater I worry about comfortably fitting in the seat. I have to pay more to go skydiving. I have to worry about weight limits for things like zip lining or Segway tours. Honestly, it’s a crap shoot whether or not my ass will properly fit in the seats at amusement parks. To further matters, it continues to piss me off that I can’t fit into my fabulous cocktail dresses from my early 20’s and that I can’t shop at my favorite stores anymore. These are all superficial reasons and major nuisances to someone who loves to enjoy life to the fullest like me. So what do you do? You join a gym… or at least that’s what I did.
It’s not like I don’t know how to work out. I was in the military for 8 years. I just hate it. Even when I was in and had to work out in order to keep my job I hated it. Running, Ewe. Sit-ups, Ewe. Push-ups, EWE! But whatever, it had to be done. I kept my body in an acceptable condition, never amazing, but good enough to get by. Needless to say when I got out, the first thing to go was working out. In the last 3 years I have gained 60 pounds.
Back in August, a friend of mine was going on and on about the new Gold’s Gym Elite Training Center (ETC) opening soon and convinced me to come check out their sales center and take a boxing class. I learned 2 things that day. 1. Boxing is hard. 2. This gym was going to be like something I had never experienced before.
In their sales pitch they said this was the flagship ETC location and truly a new way of approaching a gym by making it a carnival of fitness and a home away from home. Somewhere you want to come and hang out even when you’re not working out. Honestly, when I was hearing that I was rolling my eyes and thinking, "yeah that’s bullshit, but it sure does sound good". As the sales pitch went on, we walked down to see the new gym under construction and it was all very impressive. State of the art equipment, multiple studios, and incredible sound systems; all very over the top and appealing… but I wasn't so much convinced. Then something happened that made me warm and fuzzy and I knew I had found a new “home”. I went to the boxing class and when I came out, I looked over and saw their entire staff, including the owners, singing happy birthday to one of their sales guys. This struck me that maybe this was not just a sales pitch, but an actual corner stone of their business model. They really are a family here and they will value their members. I could not have made a better decision.
Since joining I have met many amazing and talented people, made wonderful friends, enjoyed health seminars, and had the most fun I have ever had in my life working out. I consistently laugh, cry, sweat, and look in awe at these God’s and Goddess’s of fitness who have chosen not only to be 5 stars of physical perfection, but also some of the most kind and inspiring people I have ever met. This brings me to Qawnana “Q” and Caesare, a dream team of personal training. I was doing amazing. I had been seeing Q for nutrition education for a few months and talking to Caesare about my fitness goals and “holding him personally responsible for me losing 80 pounds”. Then the holidays hit and I fell off the wagon and I fell off hard.
I stopped eating right, I stopped going to the gym, and I stayed in bed or on the couch for absurd amounts of time. As where this would have normally been where my motivation ended and I would continue fat girl status, my trainers and now friends wouldn't let that happen. I started getting Facebook messages and phone calls asking me where I was and telling me they missed me at the gym. Next thing you know I am back, I have signed up for the “The Gold’s Gym Challenge” which is a 12-week body transformation contest available to Gold’s Gym members. I also decided the only way to be serious about this and remain accountable is to sign up for personal training 3 times a week. Training starts at 9am tomorrow morning.
This is where my true journey begins. I have no doubt that Q and Caesare are going to absolutely kick my ass. I am terrified and excited. Stay tuned for my daily ranting’s of a fat girl meeting her inner fit girl.
