My First Year In Fitness: Three Things I Wished I Had Known

My First Year In Fitness: Three Things I Wished I Had Known

I was a New Years resolution girl, you know the ones that make the big announcement on their social media that they’re making a big life change. They make a whole separate instagram account for it, share every little thing. Ya, that was me.

I’ve come a long way in since 2018, a lot of it I had to teach to myself. It wasn’t until year two that I finally reached back out to a professional coach for help. I covered a lot of ground in the year I spent by myself but in hindsight it was frustrating to do it alone. I didn’t have any guidance, no one to bounce off of when I was struggling, no support.

Because of my personal experience I now love helping beginners in the gym! Walking them through the changes, both physical and mental. The workouts, nutrition, habit changes, the works! But aside from some of the obvious here are a few other things, my first year in fitness: three things I wished I had known,

ONE: I wished I had known that developing a strong looking body with muscles, takes longer than 12 months! It takes years!

I yo-yo’d for years, trying fad diets and only small stints (max 2-3 months) of trying to workout. Once I finally decided to commit for one whole year I started to see changes. It does take consistent and constant effort, and it’s not easy! If it were easy, then everyone would do it.

But I was under the impression that once I magically hit the one year mark, I would have my ideal physic and I could just maybe coast for the rest of my life? There’s two problem with that statement. One being that it does take longer than a year, in fact it takes years and years. The people who bodies you admire have been exercising for, get this, decades! The second problem with with “coasting for the rest of your life” is that it’s a terrible mentality to have. You should be re-adjusting and re-evaluating who you are and your goals. As you grow and change so should your goals, which means that coasting just isn’t an option. I’m not saying that maintenance is a bad place to be in your fitness, but if we become to complacent we regress. And I’m a firm believer in that!

TWO: eating “clean” doesn’t give you the body you want. And it certainly doesn’t give you a visible six pack. Back then I believed that if I just ate salads (which I hate FYI) that it would give me chiseled abdominals.

I really truthfully did think that if I just ate salads and bland veggies that it would give me body I wanted. New flash, protein and carbs are where it’s at. I did not prioritize protein for the first few years of my fitness. I more than likely would have been able to make better and faster progress if I had payed more attention to how much protein I was consuming. And of course not seeing carbs as the enemy, which I did for far too long!

Everyone always says it’s about balance, and it is. Clean eating can also fall under this category, you’re getting in all your protein, carbs, fats, veggies, fibre. But you’re so strict on what you are consuming that guess what, it’s exhausting. Where do the Friday movie pizza nights fit in? Where the best friends birthday brunch, or Christmas dinner? Food is more than whats just on your plate, its so much more mental than most people realize. And it’s just as important to enjoy everything that life has to offer.

THREE: being “toned” literally means to put on muscle. And with muscle comes strength! And you need to lift heavy to achieve that, you need to follow it up with consistency and progressive overload.

I believed back then, that I had to lift light weights to achieve this toned look. And that I wasn’t even capable of lifting heavy, I was severely underestimating my skills and as a result it took me longer to achieve my goals. Many many many people underestimate how much they can lift in the gym I see it time and time again. To be quite frank, if you’re not lifting heavy enough you are wasting your time. You need to stimulate your muscles enough that they create tiny micro-tears in the muscle, and lifting the appropriate weight under tension does this.

Do not be afraid to challenge yourself and lift heavy weight in the gym. The worst thing that’s gonna happen, you wont be able to lift it for your next round, so you have to drop the weight a little. But you tried! And that my friends is where change and progress comes from, from stepping outside your comfort zone and trying new scary things.

Those are just a few things I wished I had known my fist year in fitness.

We’ve all been fed lies FOR YEARS by the media that you can “loose 25 punds in 2 weeks” I remember I was in tears after only 4 goddamn weeks, that I hadn’t lost more weight. Absolutely insane looking back on that. Eventually, through sticking to the process. I grew, I educated myself, and I became the person I knew I was capable of from the beginning. A strong, healthy, balanced woman, who still has her bad body image days. But who trusts and relies on knowing that she’s is stronger than she’s ever been before. And that’s what motivates me everyday.

If you don’t know how to even start reach out to a professional personal trainer, that is what we are here to do and we love doing it deeply!