“If you were having fun, you would have caught that ball.” – The Sandlot

Yep. I totally just quoted a movie that I’ve only recently seen. It was our first ever gym movie night and I had never seen The Sandlot. (I’ll wait till you’re done gasping.)  There were SO many lessons in this movie besides it being really funny and clearly a cult classic.

So, this line got me thinking. Am I having fun in my current health and fitness journey? Do I look forward to going to the gym or do I just go because I ‘have’ to or I ‘need’ to.  This brings me to another movie line. It’s from The Devil Wears Prada.  Anne Hathaway’s character was complaining about her boss picking on her. Her coworker, Nigel, said to her “Because this place, where so many people would die to work, you only deign to work.”

So many people I know have said to me that they wish they had my willpower, my drive, my ambition to get healthy.  Here’s a little secret: YOU DO. You already have it in you, you just have to be willing to put in the work. I’m not going to lie to you.. it IS work. Hard work. You’ll wonder why you’re doing this to yourself in the very beginning. Then something happens and it switches to fun. It switches to spending an hour with some of the best friends you’ll ever make. It changes to looking forward to working on a specific movement or getting better on the assault bike. Trust me on this. I know what I’m talking about.

When I first started at 13 Stripes I was TERRIFIED.  I mean, at 310 lbs, who wouldn’t be? I was about to embark on something that I KNEW was going to be painful and probably make me cry. But, I was also at a point in my life where I really didn’t have a choice. When I joined I met some of the most amazing and influential people I’ve ever met. I hoped that if I kept going I could actually do this, I could get stronger and lose weight and have fun. All in one shot! Who knew???  I didn’t know that I would start looking forward to getting on the assault bike to see how long it would take me to bike 10 calories.  I didn’t know that I would look forward to working on overhead squats or rope climbs. I really didn’t know that I would love our friendly community competitions, either.

This was all about my approach. If I looked at working out as the most horrible thing ever I knew I would fail. I would quit before I even really got started. I needed to learn to speak up for myself if I need to modify or scale instead of just doing what the prescribed workout was. I needed to communicate with my coaches if I was sore or injured.  Thankfully, this community offered me a place to feel comfortable enough to do that. I had caring coaches who asked me if I felt comfortable doing step ups on a 12 inch box or if I would rather a 45 lb plate to start off with. They knew my fear of falling, my fear of making a fool of myself and they were kind and gentle with my broken spirit. They knew that I needed to have fun in order to be successful at this and they wanted to make sure I was having the time of my life. Each workout got better and better. Each time I went I got a little stronger and I had more fun. I made friends. I shocked myself. Sometimes I even shocked the coaches. They celebrate my victories no matter how big or small with me. They correct me when I’m doing something wrong… not to embarrass me but to make sure I don’t hurt myself.  13 Stripes became my family, my tribe.

In one year I have dropped 85 lbs. of fat. I have gained muscle. I have lost inches…  many, many inches. I’ve gone from a size 26/28 pant to an 18/20. Even my gym clothes are falling off of me. I’m stronger. Better. Faster. Healthier. I’m having more fun than I ever thought I would at a gym. Where I’ve only ever deigned to be at one point in my life, I can’t wait to get there now.  I decided to embrace the parts of working out that I disliked and turned them in to learning opportunities and fun moments.

We can find a MILLION excuses not to get healthy.  How about writing them down and bringing them into 13 Stripes during a No Sweat Intro with our coaches?  I’ll even meet you there for moral support. No more excuses. Only fun to be had here! You CAN do this. And just when you think you can’t, I’ll be there to remind you that you can. WE can.

Together.

See you at the box!!!

#fromcouchtofitness #mystandardsmyway #togetherisbetter #moviequotesforthegym #motiviationmonday #newweeknewyou #success #13stripesfitness