Be an AHB Rockstar: Megan Week 5.
Our next Rockstar has started on her journey and is excited to share it with you. Meet Kathleen. She has been working with us for awhile and has been a star student so we have selected her to be our next Rockstar and help her continue on her quest for health.
If my life was a movie, I’d have you start watching it here. I’m closing in on almost 40 pounds lost, and I just finished not my first, but my SECOND 5K. I spend the majority of my grocery trip hanging out in the produce section. I look forward to working out the way someone looks forward to going to a movie, or going on a shopping spree. I thrive off sweat-drenched gym clothes, and then the muscle burn the next morning that reminds me “you’ve got this.”
But my life was not always this way. Let’s rewind here, and go back 6 months. I was miserable inside my own skin. I looked at the mirror and thought “maybe it’s not that bad” only to have pictures confirm the truth that I was hiding. I drove by runners on the beach with extreme envy. I would tell myself “I’ll change things around tomorrow…Sunday…next month.” I’d go to the gym on a Monday, but not Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday… you get the picture.
Summer 2011
And then, something major happened, in the form of a diamond ring. My boyfriend of four and a half years, the love of my life, finally proposed to me. And between the excitement and the happiness, panic set in. I knew that seeing myself in a wedding dress the way I looked at this very moment was not how I wanted to remember the happiest day of my life.
Since I had had such fantastic luck before (note the sense of sarcasm), I had no idea where to begin. Do I become a vegetarian? Join Weight Watchers or start the Atkins Diet? Even those commercials for Healthy Trim started sounding good.
And then, A Healthy Balance appeared to me, in the form of a Google search. I raced home that day to tell my fiancee, almost breathless with excitement. It almost sounded too good to be true. I’ll never forget my consultation with Alicia. Fun fact: I actually postponed it for a week because I was so nervous, using some lame work excuse (Sorry Alicia!). Little did I know that this would be the last excuse I would ever use. I confused everything I had been holding in, I told her my goals and dreams and her response was “Yup, you’re going to be an AHB lifer.” I left that cold night with a little more pep in my step and a brochure full of options.
I began the 12 week Be Healthy. Be Balanced. class the next week. I started with a “let’s get in and get out” mentality, only to quickly realize that you get out of it what you put into it. So I asked questions, I made friends, I learned. I began to look at food in a whole new light. I was always the student who strived to be the best in class- and this was no different. I finished my 12 weeks ahead of “schedule.” My clothes were suddenly loose and I felt like I was ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
At the same time, I started a few personal training sessions with Alicia. I went into the first one thinking “how bad could this be? It’s not like there’s a treadmill or anything in their studio.” When it was hard to stand up the next day I knew, it COULD be that bad. By the end of my third session I was starting to enjoy the pain, and I “graduated” to bootcamp. I nervously joined a group of women the first day at Coletta Field, checking to see who was watching me and judging me as the “chubby out of shape girl.” I quickly realized-they weren’t. I sweated through the summer, learning that fitness doesn’t have to mean punching in at a gym and feeling like a hamster on a treadmill. Eventually, the “morning after” pain went away (How sick am I that I get EXCITED on random occasions when it comes back?). I learned the strength of my own body, and confident Kathleen started making an appearance again. Then the little bug inside of me said “Hey, what about running?” I started spending Saturday mornings “running” up and down Wollaston Beach. And by running, I mean mostly walking, with some short bursts in between. I knew I looked foolish. I knew I wasn’t going to sign up for the marathon anytime soon, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING! I signed up for an all women’s 5K obstacle course in May…and completed it on September 8th. I know my wedding will top it, but for now I’m going to have to say…it was the best day of my life.
Reading this you’re probably thinking “Wow, now what?” Well let me say this, I am no where near done. I still have a lot of goals to accomplish, but they certainly seem a heck of a lot closer than they did 6 months ago. If I’ve learned anything in my short “running” career (again, sarcasm) it’s that you have to set a pace for yourself if you want to finish strong. Sprinting in the beginning only to have to walk at the end isn’t going to do it. So here I am, setting my pace, steadying my breathing, and keeping my eye on the finish line.
Alicia says: So as you can tell Kathleen is a pretty stellar individual and I am so excited that she has agreed to participate in this program for the next 12 weeks. Her dedication and hard work up until this point have been inspiring and I can’t wait to see how far she can go. And since she confessed earlier that she canceled our first appointment, I have a confession to make too… I think she is going to surprise even herself with what she is able to accomplish and I am honored to be a part of her journey.
Be sure to check back every week to read about Kathleen’s progress.
Be Healthy. Be Balanced.
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