New year...not so new me.
I used to go to the gym ... often. Then, life happened, and I stopped. However, I’ve never been gymtimidated. Yoga, pilates, boot camp, barre, Zumba, kickboxing — call me, it’s a date — as long as it’s after 6 p.m.
However, this isn’t a brag — sometimes I go and I can only manage a 15-minute walk. Once my stomach turned on the treadmill, and I left after five minutes. I don’t have a gym body. I don’t eat clean (click here you’ll thank me later).
I’m far from my ideal. I’m the living embodiment of Don Miguel Ruiz’s Fourth Agreement “Do your best.” The point is I show up. I put in the work to get close to my ideal in teeny tiny increments.
I recently returned to the gym. Late night post-break-up anxiety, Powerhouse Gym’s 24-hour policies and close proximity to the Farm Haus inspired my triumphant return to the treadmill. After grounding the activity into a habit I decided to call in the troops. I met with Brandon Granger, Gaylord premier personal trainer. He came highly recommended and his mind-body approach falls in line with my general philosophies.
Our first consult was more like a chat with a friend. He is very easy to be open with. Confiding one’s insecurities to a stranger is always difficult, but he makes it simple.
“I teach people that we have everything backward,” he says, “We think ‘If I lose weight I’ll be happier’, but if you start becoming happier, then you’ll start to lose weight. You have to start to enjoy yourself.”
I’m really feeling this idea — the idea that achieving goals begins in the mind, and the rest falls into place.
Granger goes on to say, “Everybody’s looking for a quantum leap. They want to lose 50 pounds in a week. They want to make a thousand dollars a day. They want to be happy 24/7. But, that’s not how life works. Unfortunately, there is no quantum leap. Small daily disciplines over time that’s where you’re going to get the biggest impact.”
This also resonates with me. The idea that we must “show up until you create a habit and stack onto that habit until your goal evolves to fit into the newer reality you’ve created.”
He goes on to discuss nutrition and next steps. I feel excited about the prospects of working out with supervision. I like the idea of someone holding me accountable. I also, like that having a trainer will make my solo work out more effective. Knowing how to exercise is an underrated life skill. I am looking forward to mastering it.
