I Was Never a Good Athlete — So I Never Thought I’d be Coaching Other People
Not only was I never a good athlete — I was never even very active. Even as a cheerleader in high school. I moved my body very little outside of practice and once high school sports were over I almost never worked out. I never took the stairs, I never parked on the far end of the parking lot, “hiking” to me was slow nature walks on easy trails. I didn’t like to sweat. I didn’t like the feeling of being out of breath.
To add insult to injury — I was an emotional eater for most of my life. I liked to eat junk food while watching Netflix and often would do this and then go bed. It was this way for as long as I could remember. I liked to come home from school and put on my favorite shows and eat as much processed and nutrient deficient food as I could get my hands on.
So when I checked my time hop this morning and saw this picture I took a step back and thought about this fitness journey that I’m on. This was my very first progress pic and it changed everything for me.
In August of 2019 I decided I needed to do something to be healthier and stronger. My muscles were non-existent, my cardio health was was so bad I’d get out of breath walking up one flight of stairs. I couldn’t run for more than a minute or so without feeling like I was dying. I hated the way I looked in photos, I hated trying on new clothes and getting stuck in 2XL sizes that used to fit me… I never cared about being skinny but this was out of control.
I snapped some pics that I could barely look at, weighed myself and to my horror discovered I had reached 210lbs. I took an honest look at my naked body in the mirror and thought about all my physical limitations due to inactivity and poor food habits…
Then I did the work. Just a little better each day to meet 3 goals I set for myself:
- Reduce calorie intake
- Increase food quality
- Move more
I met myself where I was at and did what I could each day to get a little better. Each day I got a little stronger, my run to walk ratio gradually shifted to more running than walking. I felt better and I felt stronger so I kept going.
One year ago today I stumbled upon some jeans that had been too tight to wear the last time I saw them. I was nervous to try them on, afraid they still won’t fit but I put them on anyway and they did fit. In fact they fit better than before because of the way my body was changing. I noticed that even though I had been at that weight before my body shape was different than before. I was starting to get an hour glass figure. A shape I never had before.
So I snapped some progress pics and put them side by side to my ones from 3 months prior. For the first time in my entire life I had a successful transformation. I had noticeable results and I had jeans fitting better than ever.
I didn’t share these pics with the world, I didn’t feel comfortable with most people seeing them but I did share them with my best friend, Callie. She celebrated my success as if it were her own. She helped me realize the victory I had achieved. She pointed out all the other positive changes that weren’t visible to the eye — my mood, my perspective on life, the way I was spending free time with friends instead of Netflix characters, how my taste buds matured and how my overall mental health was simply better.
Side note: I’m so happy that’s the girl who showed to 2020 and not the girl on the far left. There is nothing wrong with the girl on the far left but I’m honestly afraid of what would have become of her if she had to face 2020, if she had to deal with all the losses and change and heartaches that the girl on the right got through.
Anyway back to Callie.. She became somewhat of an accountability partner, someone I got to share my success with, someone I looked forward to telling my next victory about, someone to cheer me on. And cheer me on she did. Every single little victory she gassed me up over. She celebrated every good decision, every smaller jean size, she was the first person to follow this blog.
This taught me how important community and shared goals are and accountability is. Callie played a huge role in my success, and that’s something I want to get into more later but for now what’s important is I learned that celebrating your victories and setting small achievable goals is important. Having someone in your corner
Seeing that side by side of myself motivated me to challenge myself further, to set new fitness goals for myself. Why was this photo so powerful? Because It was proof that I could change my habits, it was proof I had control over my body, it was proof that I could achieve anything I put my mind to if I was held accountable and focused on those goals.
My new favorite author, James Clear, said it best so I’ll paraphrase — “A good way to form new habits is to make it attractive — Join a community where your desired behaviors are the normative behaviors” — When I did start sharing my progress publicly I had people reaching out asking for help and wanting to join in on my challenges. I would talk to them and see what they weren’t satisfied with, we’d talk about what they were willing to do to change that and found one step or a couple steps they could take to start moving towards their goals. I found so much joy from helping other people get started on their fitness journey and it helped me stay committed to my own goals. Holding each other accountable makes us do better. It makes the work and the results more rewarding.
Thats why I got into coaching. To celebrate the small victories with my clients, to hold them accountable to their goals, to help them frame their mindset so that they can be successful in their fitness goals, and help them break down bad habits and build up healthy habits that will make their relationship with fitness more than a weight loss goal. Make it a lifestyle.
If you want to learn more about joining one of my challenge groups check out this link and send me a request or shoot me an email and I’ll send you more information.
Challenge group link: https://www.beachbodyondemand.com/groups/9ac644bb-4863-4c8e-b269-6b7404766273/2427189
Email: delynndaysofsunshine@gmail.com
