Red Suspender Confessions: A Personal Trainer's Quest to Get Her Mojo Back

Hi! My name is Heidi, and I am a Certified Personal Trainer with a confession to make... My ski pants no longer fit. As a matter of fact none of my regular pants fit. Like Regina George, carbs got the best of me,  and faster than you could said warm baguette with butter...

 

People tend to think that Personal Trainers are immune to weight gain. Sadly we don't have super powers other than mad cueing skills and a little twisted sadistic side.  We pick up tricks over time through practice, and tend to have a better understanding of "maintenance practices" when it comes to fitness and overall health. Over the years I have used my clothes as the best means for maintaining my weight.  It's easy, you have them on hand, and if you do it right you save a crap ton of money because you don't have to change sizes. If my clothes started getting too tight, it meant I needed to make some adjustments in either how much I was moving, or how much I was eating. With the invention of leggings, however all bets have been off, and when I switched from a 9-5 federal gig to working as a trainer and going to school, yoga pants are now life yo. I will swap them out for scubs when I finally get into the nursing program again, but for now lycra blend is my saving grace.

The ski season started out well enough.  I usually  have to make some slight adjustments around Thanksgiving to get ready for fitting in the ski pants for winter season activities.  I was super excited to find that not only did they slide on with ease, but I actually had some room!!  I had just finished a tough semester, and had been accepted into the nursing program for Spring semester.  I was on cloud nine in this picture enjoying an early season day on the slopes to myself after completing my Pathophysiology final. 

    

 6 weeks later

 

What happened?  Combination of factors.  I had already put on about 10 lbs switching to school full time in the fall semester.  I was studying a lot more and therefore sitting a lot more, and also dealing with a horrific chronic migraine flare-up.  This means a lot of time in the horizontal position trying to sleep off pain and nausea.  I was put on a few medications to help, and all of them have the added side effect of weight gain. We had some pretty significant stress in our personal lives thanks to not only changes with me going back to school, but I re-married, my husband started a new job, and we were involved in a lengthy custody battle.  That adds up to a lot of stress, and when you are sick 15-20 days out of the month, carbs are the only thing that can be remotely tolerated.  So yeah.  Here I was in all my glory, looking at 25 lbs that I didn't have on me even 6 weeks prior.  I had gone skiing for the day with a close friend and could not for the life of me get my pants to stay snapped.  Trying to ski with pants falling down is not advised.  So I had to call it after the second run and hit the pro-shop to find a solution.  They had suspenders, so naturally I got the most obnoxious color they had.  This was my fitness scarlet letter, and I wore them with pride.  Did I feel a little defeated?  Yup.  Was it the wake-up call I needed to make changes? Heck yes.  

 

Then COVID hit and well...sourdough bread is life, and not losing your sanity is more important than jeans that fit.  I have refused to buy new clothing through this, because I know I am capable of making changes and getting myself back to a healthier and highly active state.  I feel my best when I can hike, bike, run, and swim for hours, so this is what I redirect my focus to.

I have spent nearly a decade dedicated to fitness and health with great success.  I have for the most part maintained my weight with the exception of some big life events (babies and divorce) over that time which was a huge feat for me.  Why?  Well I picked up a lovely case of Bulimia in college and had to spend a lot of time recovering from it.  I still have to be mindful especially with high stress, but recovery has taught me a lot. I gained almost 60 lbs between my freshman and junior year in college.  I was in the throes of some trauma I didn't know how to process, and binging and purging became something that helped calm the anxiety that I felt virtually all the time.  

 

I hated the way it made me feel, and it was awkward being in my body at a heavier weight when I had been super active and fit all my life.  I knew I couldn't stay the way I was and I needed to make changes in my behavior. So the summer before my first wedding, I hired a Personal Trainer. I worked with her for 3 months and dropped 35 lbs despite having a walking cast for a broken foot for the first 6 weeks of training. I was able to drop the last 15 lbs successfully on my own after I finished my undergraduate degree, and was so drawn to the progress that I changed my education path to pursue nutrition and fitness further. 

After my kids were born I resumed training again in a more formal fashion and started racing triathlons.  I dropped any baby weight I had, and it was a great way to stay fit. I maintained a high level of fitness for about 6 years with just my regular racing/training schedule and sticking with a plan 10 months out of the year. I gained weight again during my divorce (hello wine and cheese!), and after it was finalized I realized that I was in need of an overhaul and signed myself up at a gym close to my house with child care. I hired a personal trainer on the spot without hesitation.  One of the best decisions I ever made.  Not only is she one of the best trainers I have ever worked with, but she is now a dear friend.  I got to stand up at her wedding a couple years ago, and now get to watch her blossom into motherhood for the first time. Its sorta wild!!

 After the first 2 months of training with her I was hooked, and decided that this was a real endeavor I could pursue. I had toyed around with the idea of triathlon or running coaching, but after suffering from several racing injuries I found the importance of proper fitness and strength training.  I became a personal trainer because I believe wholeheartedly in what they do.  I have seen the positive effects not only through my own clients, but by using trainers and coaches myself.  As long as I stuck with the program I was put on, I saw results.  I simply listened to the professionals, and immediately saw the benefits. I have also built amazing relationships within the fitness community, as we all sorta cheer each other on and love sharing what we do. It is a peer supported field which demands that you stay up to date on current methodologies for fitness, and we are required to take continuing education units to maintain our certifications. It's sorta like show and tell all the time, and you get to learn new and fun ways to do the same boring 5 movements.

I will be posting some of what I am personally doing these days to get myself back into my pants...I have a couple more months before we start full ski season, and I need my pants. Right now I am simply enjoying getting back into being active, trying out new ways of staying fit and beating cabin fever while also adhering to social isolation practices to fight off this virus spread. It's nothing crazy or unbearable, and after making some minor modifications over the past 6 weeks, I am already losing at a rate of about 1.5-2 lbs per week which is perfect.  Feel free to follow along for pointers.