It wasn’t until the beginning of my
college education that I would start to gain some self confidence.
The summer of 2008, shortly after graduating high school and
enrolling into college my aunt, Diane, offered me to live with her
and her family.
Living with her and maturing into a
young adult, my confidence and self esteem started to rise. She is a
very confident person who is always following the latest trends and
actually takes the time and effort into looking her best.
Living with her, she slowly eased into
teaching me how to do my hair, make-up, and even how to dress in a
more flattering way. This would take my self esteem to the highest it
would be in years.
After about two years of slowly
gaining self esteem and confidence, I knew that I was still lacking
happiness. Around this time, I was starting to become unmotivated
with life, my education, and I was missing a good sense of direction.
I was unhappy with where I was and didn’t know what I wanted to do
with my life anymore. I needed guidance in many aspects of my life.
As December, 2010 was coming to an
end, I remember sitting at a New Year’s party talking to my cousin,
Mona. We were talking about New Year’s Resolutions when she turned
to me and asked what my resolution was. I looked at her and said, “I
just want to live a happier and healthier lifestyle. “ For me, this
resolution meant a variety of different things: from simply being a
better daughter, to going to church more often, to drinking more
water, to eating more fruit, anything that would make me a better
person at the end of the day, not only for others, but for myself.
As part of that
resolution, the two changes that would make me the most successful
were, one, to go to church more often and, two, to get a gym
membership. I knew that in order to fill the voids I carried with me,
I needed something greater than I go guide me through the journey I
was about to take on. I needed to learn to have faith and hope. To
me, faith is having the ability to believe in things that I can’t
always see. I needed faith to believe that there is a God because
without faith, how could he exist? Without hope, there is nothing; no
reason to put forth the effort needed to truly succeed. Not only did
I need to learn to have faith in HIM, but I needed faith to believe
that the small changes I was making to better myself today, would
benefit me tomorrow. For this reason, I started attending a local
church, Valley Bible Fellowship, on a regular basis for guidance.
Also as part of
that resolution, I decided that getting a gym membership would be a
healthy decision. I went into this not expecting any results. I
didn’t want to set a weight loss goal, because I didn’t want to
lose weight, hit that goal, and then stop once that goal was hit,
just to gain everything back. If I was going to lose weight, I wanted
it to be off my body because of the better habits I created for
myself and because I maintained a healthier lifestyle. I wanted to be
happier forever, not just for a few months.
Getting this gym
membership, I met a girl that would change my life forever. Sam was a
personal trainer that I met for my fitness consultation. After
confirming that my weight was 250 pounds and that 45% of my body was
pure fat, I knew I was going to need her to help to get me through
this barrier.
After a year of
hard work, discipline, failure, sacrifice, and determination, I lost
over 80 pounds I had built a support system that was so strong that I
couldn’t fail, even if I wanted to. Although my time with Sam was
limited to two times per month, just seeing her at the gym kept me
motivated. She was one that would never disappoint me and someone I
always felt comfortable asking any questions I may have had. On top
of her endless support, I used social media to my advantage. Every
few months, I would post a comparison picture of my results so that
all my family and friends could see the results I was attaining.
Despite all the
positive support I had, I encountered plenty of skeptics who would
try to shoot me down. Although the negative attention I received
bothered me, I used that energy in the gym. I ran faster and longer,
lifted heavier, and ate better. I had my eye on the prize and I was
determined to get to my goals.
All while working
on my lifestyle habits as far as fitness and nutrition; I was
attending school studying fitness and nutrition in a personal
training course.
By the end of 2011,
through hard work, dedication, trial and error, and discipline, I
lost my initial 80 pounds and finished the personal training course.
By the time February, 2012 came around, it was time for me to become
a certified trainer and find a job.
I enrolled to take
my test and passed on the first attempt. 80 pounds down, I was
definitely not the fit trainer ever seen, but with an old picture and
certification in hand, I applied and interviewed for a personal
training position. I was hired on the spot.
Since then, I have
held my position as a personal trainer inspiring many to make
positive changes in their lives. I am not only fit and healthier, but
I can honestly say I am much happier.
By simply making
the decision to better myself, I have found happiness, passion,
faith, and a career that I love.
Of course there
were times of doubt and mountains I thought I would never be able to
overcome, but looking back now, all those barriers that I overcame
made me that much stronger. Even if I felt like I was in the dirt
crawling, I was still moving forward.
Now, at about 100
pounds lost, I am using my story to inspire hope. Although 2011 was
the foundation of everything wonderful in my life today, it was
probably the most stressful and most unpromising year I experienced
in a long time. I didn’t know what I was doing, I didn’t know
what to expect, and I wasn’t even sure if the personal training
school would work out in my favor. Even filled with these doubts, I
put my faith in God’s hands and hoped that I was headed in the
right direction.
Looking back now, I
know now that my New Year’s Resolution was the best decision I have
ever made. Taking time to work on myself was one of the hardest
things I had to learn to do. I’ve learned that no one will take
care of me the way that I need to be taken care of. Everyone has
their pain, their story, but it’s your choice to sit and mope about
it, or stand up and change what you don’t like. Along the way, I
realized how much I love and respect my family and friends. Recently,
I have learned that I had people praying for my success. I had
friends who would take time out of their schedule to run with me at
my pace all to keep me motivated.
I have never taken
these people in my life for granted but for what they have done for
me so selflessly during one of my hardest times of my life, takes the
level of respect I had for them to entire new level. Without them, I
wouldn’t be anywhere near the place I am today.
I am excited to see
what future plan God has lined up for me because I know it is
something great. America is suffering from an obesity epidemic and I
want to be part of the change, not the statistic.
We all have
obstacles in our life; but it’s our job to create the destiny of
those obstacles; because pain will always be inevitable, but suffering will always be optional. Put all your fears, worries, and
struggles in His hands because he is all you need in order to succeed
in anything in life.
