Last year I became a Certified Personal Trainer through NASM. I am not a fitness fanatic. I am not super buff or a bikini model or bodybuilder. I try to eat a balanced diet, but I’m unwilling to give up all enjoyable food just to be as fit as possible. To be honest, I don’t want to be in a gym 5 or 6 days a week showing people how to exercise or watching them exercise. So, why, you might be thinking, would I become a trainer?
The truth is, I didn’t have it figured out all the way. I needed to make a change in my life. I needed a victory in something when it felt like I was having failure after failure.
What drew me to becoming certified
I know that I enjoy helping people. I know that after going through several years of marriage problems I would love to help others better their marriages. I know that being fit or keeping the extra weight (that is so easy to put on and ignore) off is a great way to respect your husband. I know that when I feel better about my physical appearance I have more confidence, am happier, and allow my husband to enjoy me more.
So, with my husband’s support, I started working towards taking my test and in January I passed and was officially certified. The problem is, I haven’t done anything with it. Don’t get me wrong, passing the test was a big deal in my life by itself. It helped me to gain a little confidence and reminded me how much I enjoy learning new things!
But, when it boiled down, I didn’t want to be a trainer. I spent several months exercising with a trainer to get the first-hand experience, and while, I think that it is a great thing for some people, it isn’t for me.
Benefits of using a trainer
Using a trainer has a lot of benefits. You have someone watching who is able to correct your form when it is off. Exercising is good. Exercising with incorrect form is bad and can make things worse instead of better. And, it is helpful to know that someone is keeping you accountable. If you want to take a day off or not watch what you are eating, knowing that you are going to be meeting with your trainer is great motivation. You don’t want to show up without making improvements week after week.
I think accountability can be so helpful to stick with exercise goals. Personally, I am not a great eater. I have a huge sweet tooth! I would have chocolate and Pepsi every day for lunch if I thought I could get away with it. But, I know that when I start eating more like that, I start feeling bad about myself and my body starts to feel bad.
It was helpful meeting with a personal trainer who would ask me, “What did you have for breakfast this morning? What did you eat before bed last night?” Trust me, you don’t want to say, I ate a bowl of popcorn and several scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough to a woman who makes cookies out of chickpeas.
So, here I am almost a year after becoming certified, doing nothing with the knowledge I have gained. And yet, I took so much away from the experience.
Have I let fear stop me from doing anything with this certification? Yup, you guessed it! Have I been stuck in my rut in this area? Absolutely!
But, I gained confidence and gave something a try. Now it’s time to try something else until I find what the best fit is for me.
Need a little accountability?
Could you use some accountability in your life? Could you use some encouragement or a cheerleader to help you get or stay fit? Do you have some big weight loss or fitness goals that you are working towards and aren’t comfortable sharing with those close to you (I’ve been there, sometimes it’s easier to share numbers with those you don’t know in “real” life)?
If this sounds like you, leave me a comment or send me an email. I know it can be scary to take a step like this because then you are putting your goal out there and it opens you up to the fear of failure, but I promise working towards a goal is always better than staying stuck! So many people wait to take action to exercise or lose weight until it can be their New Year’s Resolution, if that is what they are doing, they aren’t that serious about making it happen.
There is no time like today.
I challenge you to find accountability for yourself and your goals. It could be a trainer, a coach, a friend, or mentor. Don’t be afraid to make the changes in your life that you want to see happen.
Serena @ Simple Holistic Girl says
Wow – I so agree with everything! I am a certified personal trainer too, but am not into the protein shakes, muscle-y looking, six pack abs training in the gym for 6 hours kind of stuff. I’ve been around personal trainers that seem to do nothing but go to the gym and eat hard boiled eggs all day (not sure what they do when they’re not in public though). I think being a real person first and a trainer second makes all the difference. Congratulations on your certification! Visiting from #TurnitupTuesday
Stephanie says
I what you said “being a real person first and a trainer second makes all the difference”! I think there are a lot of people out there who wouldn’t be so intimidated to work with a trainer if they were a little more like this and not so over the top fitness.