Fight For It
I’m stuck in a gluttonous tornado.
I’m 55 pounds over my goal weight post baby numero 3! My confidence is hanging lower than my gut. Covid has suckered me into a gluttonous tornado. I’m tired of living inside a body that doesn’t feel like it’s mine to inhabit. Ever had that feeling? How much longer can I live in this body that doesn’t belong to me?
In a desperate attempt to get my life back on track, I sign up for a group class. I show up in my Target stretch pants (which I found in the pajama section). The front desk lady straps on a heart monitor to my right arm. I’m confused. A heart monitor for working out? Unheard of. I’m told I need to meet with the instructor 5 minutes before class for a quick rundown. How hard could this possibly be?
As I’m putting my belongings in a locker, I hear someone call my name. I look up and all I can see are a set of the most divine legs. Legs of a Goddess. Legs so perfect I’m sure she was sculpted by Michelangelo in a past life. Anyway, her name also happens to be Mary. “Hi Mary, I’m Mary. Nice to meet you,” she says. Same name. Same age. Same place. Same time. Divine intervention? It seems that sometimes the universe really does whisper, “Get your ass up and make a change.”
And so my fitness journey began. For the first time in my life, I met a woman who trained me on how to engage in positive self-talk.
“You got this Queen.”
“There’s nothing you can’t do.”
“Don’t let the weights win.”
In the last seconds of sweat dripping down my face and my body trembling from the push, she reminds me “THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN’T DO FOR 10 MORE SECONDS.” So true! I realized my perspective needed to change. The burn was to be embraced. The trembling in the muscles to be considered a victory of mind over matter. The struggle was a sign that things would change because, let’s be honest, taking a stroll on a treadmill while watching food commercials just doesn’t cut it.
There are 2 major must do’s that ‘fighting for it’ entails. 1. Show up even when you don’t want to. Put one foot in front of the other and hurl yourself out the door.
2. Surround yourself with people who have already achieved the goals you are working towards. Environment is everything. Sometimes we need to see our goals materialize for other people to believe that it can happen for us too. So, tell me, what are you fighting for and what does that self-advocacy look like for you?
Written by: Mary Terterov