Back again and I wanted to dedicate my first real post to the biggest change I made to help myself get to where I am and where I'm going. And that was beginning to work with a personal trainer.
After college and me realizing that whoa I was not kind to my body during those 4 years (even though I thought I was), I thought I got this! I have a background in sports medicine and exercise science and despite my fluff, fitness has always been something that really interested me. So for 2 years, I wrote my own programs based on the knowledge I gained in some of my exercise science classes in college. Never once in those 2 years did I stick to one of my programs for longer than 2 weeks and my attempts at eating healthier (aka counting calories) made me drop quite a bit of weight at one point but I still wasn't happy.
I began to become a slave to counting calories, every time I was about to put something in my mouth I quick ran for my phone to scan it into MyFitnessPal and then immediately felt guilty for eating whatever it was. I was skipping meals because some App told me I couldn't eat anymore that day if I wanted to lose weight, even though my stomach sounded like a 250 lb lion was living in there. I was unhappy, so I would quit calorie counting and quit my workout programs only to become more unhappy and the never ending cycle started all over again.
Then about a year ago, I found an online fitness plan, Bite Sized Fitness, and did that routine for about a month (woohoo we're sticking around a little bit longer). Then I gave the lame excuse that life got in the way and quit doing that too. It was around this time where I met a very dear friend and someone who will have a special place in my heart because without her I would have never started on my journey and gotten to where I am today. This friend started posting videos of workouts she was doing at this place, which motivated me to get my butt back in the gym and do what I knew best and loved dearly, lifting weights. I saw her flipping tires and pushing sleds and I thought to myself "Damn it Katie, if she can do it why can't you?" As I started to get bored with what I was doing, I decided instead of quitting I was going to find something else to do. Crossfit is a huge new fitness market, so after meeting a Crossfit coach (who doubles as a photographer) at our family photo shoot in November and being at total awe of how strong she was, I began scouring the area for gyms. I looked at prices every where and read trainer bios and called places. But none of them felt like the right fit for me. I don't make a lot of money and I was having a hard time wrapping my head around paying THAT much money for something that I knew just as much as they did (or so I thought). I had a lot of people laugh at me or try and change my mind on what I wanted to do by trying to join Crossfit or hiring a personal trainer. Then one day my friend mentioned that her trainer (the guy who I watched jump OVER her while she was pushing a sled) had group sessions that if I wanted to try out she would put me in contact with him. GROUP sessions I thought What? I hate group workout classes more than running, so I was a little put off at that but I wanted to try something new and different so I thought maybe this won't be like going to Zumba classes (sorry if you love Zumba but this girl has no rhythm). So I had her put me in contact with Jimmy. He and I talked and he told me the first class was free and I said Sold, if I didn't like it I wasn't going to be pressured to stick around. So I did what I had been doing and went to the website of the performance enhancement gym he worked at and read his bio. I saw his credentials, I saw his background ( He's a fellow Illini) and through looking at what a transformation my friend was having with him, I thought this guy HAS to be good. Good is an understatement. Jimmy has a passion for this that I don't think anyone in the world could match. He's constantly bettering himself to make his clients better.
SO the day of my first class comes and I get there so nervous that I was going to make a fool out of myself, then I met Jimmy and it was like I had found where my journey to being happy with my body was going to start. He kicked my butt that day (and the group consisted of me and one other client). He is so laid back that you think oh this is going to be a cake walk...NO NO NO you are SO wrong. I've been waking up every Friday morning (with a few exceptions) eager to have my butt kicked by Jimmy for 5 months now and on top of that I follow his workout plan (Mon-Thurs) and he's given me an eating plan to follow (were still working on me sticking to that). I walk out of my workouts with him feeling so tired that if I don't take a nap before work, I don't make it through work. He is always there to support me and answer my questions and I don't think there is any way possible I could thank him enough for what he's done for me.
So enough sappy talk lets get to my Tips.
Tip #1: Check their credentials
Most personal trainers out there have to have some sort of certification in order to get a job as a personal trainer at a gym. Just double check. If it's one you aren't familiar with, look it up and see what the requirements to get that certification are. If you aren't comfortable with it, then don't go with that personal trainer.
Tip #2: Watch what they do with other clients
This may be something that was easier for me because of my background but I would casually watch the personal trainers at the gym I was going to and see what they were doing with their clients (I still do it today but shhh). But there was one trainer who had a 70 year old man doing medicine ball slams, to me there is no legitimate reason that someone that age needs to be doing medicine ball slams. If something seems off to you (even if you have no background) it probably is and you should avoid them.
Tip #3: Take advantage of free classes/personal training sessions
You never know you may love it and if you don't it didn't cost you anything anyway. This is the best way to test the waters and see how you feel working with a personal trainer.
Tip #4: Ask to see a portfolio of their success stories
I'm not sure if this is something that personal trainers do but mine sort of does. In my mind if a personal trainer is successful in helping his clients accomplish their goals they would want to sort of show them off. My trainer is constantly posting updates of his clients and their successes (big and small). You don't want to spend the kind of money it takes on a personal trainer who has had little to no successes but lots of clients.
Tip #5: Don't be afraid
This is one of my go to mantras. I think many people fear that a personal trainer is going to yell and scream and push them to practically dying. I've never seen a personal trainer do that but I'm sure they are out there. Some people need that extra push and some don't so that's a good thing to look into when searching.
I hope that you found this enjoyable and maybe gave you that extra push you needed to start working with a personal trainer. I certainly don't regret my decision at all!
Katie
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