What a difference a year makes

     It’s amazing the difference a year can make! It was only last year when I joined Muscle Inc. and started to make positive changes in my life. It took me another five months before I started training and really pumped up my motivation and progress. And now, I’m at the gym six days a week, lifting heavy and making max reps in squats and deadlifts, placing in the top 3 of challenges, eating clean, learning good nutrition and doing meal prep and loving every minute of it. 

     It has been a year to remember in my book. In fact, it doesn't feel like it has been a year. Since last January I’ve lost 42 lbs and 14+ inches and I feel amazing. Even better than what I've lost is what I have gained. I am at a point now where I often tell people that the gym fixes everything. I've got a migraine or pain in my shoulder? I go to the gym and do some cardio. The blood flow helps relieve the pain. Feeling exhausted on a Friday after work? I go to the gym and train and I get my second wind. Feeling stressed or overwhelmed? I go to the gym and work out my frustrations training or doing cardio. Fact of the matter is, I feel most comfortable at the gym and training has literally saved my life. Last year I had frequent migraines, tendonitis, bursitis and arthritis (yes all three!) in my shoulder, asthma and aches and pains in my knees, neck, elbows and wrists. I was on medication for my asthma and allergies and pain medication for my shoulder and migraines. Now a year later I rarely take prescription drugs and opt for a workout instead. Eating clean has changed me too. Over Christmas when I fell off the clean wagon for a few days I noticed my skin started to break out (from all the junk I was consuming no doubt). Once I got clean again my skin cleared up. I have more energy now and sleep better. And overall, I have a more positive life focus. I look at life very differently now and have different priorities. Not that I am happy all the time. But that I know even when times are tough that better ones are inevitable. 

     And I'm not done. I won't ever be done. I still have 30 lbs I want to lose and muscle I want to gain. Beyond that I have goals in lifting as well. And as Brandon once said to me, "You're a gym rat now. There will always be another goal." And it's true. I will never be satisfied. I am not at the point yet where I can relax because I'm still transforming. I am 'under construction.' I'm still learning. Training on my own is very different from training with a trainer. But Brandon instilled in me a drive and equipped me with the tools and skills to train on my own. When he left I had eight sessions that we did not finish. So for the last couple weeks I've been working with Marissa from Transform PT. Marissa has a different approach to training than Brandon but works me just as hard. And in just two weeks the next Transformation Challenge begins and I'm hoping it is just the push I need to get to my transformation goals. 

     This year I've been inspired by some pretty amazing people along the way of my journey. People who continue to inspire me including my trainer Brandon, and the trainers at Transform PT, Marissa, Bobby, and Scott. I've found camaraderie with others on their own transformation journeys like, Kimberlee, Nanci, Maggie, Wendy and Raquel. And I could never thank my sister, Anna, enough for talking me into joining Muscle Inc. in the first place. 


     Looking forward I have goals that go beyond the gym. I am happy to be inspiring others to make a change in their lives and want to take it one step further. I've begun writing a book that chronicles the contrast between my life in an abusive first marriage with my positive life focus now and how training has changed my life. I see a future in motivational speaking. I have aspirations to learn more about nutrition and possibly pursue a degree so I can help others embrace a clean and healthy diet. And I also envision a year of gains at the gym going beyond what I ever imagined I was capable of doing and maybe even competing in women's powerlifting. So yes, I am not done and as a gym rat there will always be another goal.  And I am ready for the next leg of this new life I have embraced.