Reflection

As I look back over the last year, it has been an interesting and challenging one for me. I started the summer of 2008 having just completed P90X & P90X+, I was feeling strong but a little injured from the repetitive strain on my body from all the training & teaching I was doing in and out of the gym, plus my nutrition program and working.

By the time the fall came around I was feeling run down, slightly heavier than when I went in to the summer; by the time October came around the thought of working out/training myself & teaching was giving me panic attacks and I was physically drained.

I stopped training with my trainer and gave up teaching my classes because I was mentally and physically exhausted and soon discovered I had adrenal fatigue. It was very frustrating to go from being fit and healthy to not being able to walk up a flight of stairs without being winded and physically exhausted.

The one thing I was determined to do was my Spinning class, the one hour ride on Sunday mornings- it took everything I had to complete the ride. Other than the ride on Sundays I did not enter a gym or work out in any way. It was very depressing as trainer, trying to help people on the way to fitness and I couldn’t do anything myself.

By the time May 2009 came around, I was done my nutrition program and I was determined to get myself back on track- get myself fit and healthy again. For some time I had been curious about kettlebells and was excited to find out that the training was coming to Halifax. I signed up for the course and then as the time grew nearer I started to doubt that I would be able to do it. I didn’t know if I had the physical strength to get through the 16 hours of grueling workouts (a year prior, I wouldn’t even have given it a second thought and would have jumped right in- knowing I could do it.)

I showed up for the course and I think mentally that it was something I had to prove to myself that I could do it. I was heavier & slower than normal.

The weekend kicked my ass but I passed and the instructor said I did a great job. I also met a great friend and colleague at the course.

I soon started training with him regularly on the kettlebells. My strength slowly returned, actually I think I have surpassed where I was before. I feel both physically and mentally stronger each and every time I train. The kettlebells challenge me and force to continue to improve and refine myself. I am toned and lean and have learned a lot over the year. Within 2 months of serious training, I had dropped all the weight I had gained over the past year.

I have learned and continue to learn how to listen to my body and not push myself to the point of injury, but to set healthy, attainable goals - without driving myself in to the ground.

As I always tell my clients, life is a journey and it is truly not the destination that is important but what we learn along the way and how we take and use that knowledge to make ourselves better and grown and improve. I look back on the last year as learning experience.