The past decade has been about transforming my life. In my late twenties I finally decided to quit smoking. I replaced cigarettes initially with things like Starbursts and Now ‘n Laters, any kind of hard candy I could throw in my mouth and pretend I didn’t want to smoke. Finally I weaned myself off of most of the candy (the cigarettes were stopped immediately) but I never said no to food. At home I tried to make good food, not necessarily food that was good for you. I ate out at restaurants a lot and there were many nights of take out, mostly bad choices from the menu. Suddenly before I knew it, I had gained a ton of weight. Even though my size kept going up I didn’t realize it. I was just walking through my life and not paying any attention.
It did hit me when I could no longer fit into regular sized clothes and had to shop at a plus size store. I was so humiliated having to shop there that my face would turn red when I approached the storefront. Also at this time I started having pain in my feet and went to a podiatrist. He determined that the pain was the result of the weight and while there were things I could do to ease it on a daily basis, I really just had to reduce my weight to feel better. My body had become so big that my feet couldn’t handle the weight anymore.
I spent years trying to get the weight off. I joined Weight Watchers and the Y. I later signed up for an early morning boot camp. I would head out in the dark to an elementary school parking lot where a trainer would lead us through an hour of cardio, weight training, and stretching. I got some of the weight off and even toned up a little. But I still had a long way to go to get back to a healthy weight. My life was out of balance and I was unhappy.
I decided to make a big change and left New England, a high paying job, and my family to work at a guest ranch in Jackson, WY. This was the best decision of my life. It was in the west that my life became in balance and my health began to improve. I was happy living on the ranch, being outdoors and around horses, and away from the stressful life I was living. I came to terms with the idea that not everyone is meant to work in corporate America and live in suburbia. That living a lifestyle that made you happy was more important than living a lifestyle that brought you money. In my second season at the ranch I fell in love, something I hadn’t experienced for a long time. Once my life started to become in balance I was open to more things and I was happier and this allowed me to be able to fall in love.
The following winter I moved to Telluride, Colorado and started living an incredibly active lifestyle. I learned to snowboard, ski, and mountain bike when I moved to Telluride. I overcame the plateau I was stuck on and lost about twenty more pounds and went down two dress sizes (about 80 pounds over the course of this journey). Every day is an opportunity to get outside and be active, even in the snow!
I have always felt a calling to help people in my life. I have spent many years volunteering for various organizations and that helped me fill that need. But I always knew I was meant to do more. One night while watching The Biggest Loser I decided that I wanted to help people transform their health. I knew I didn’t want to be a trainer but I didn’t know what to pursue. I immediately emailed my old trainer in CT and she suggested I look into Health Coaching and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. After perusing their website and attending an information session I knew this was the right school for me.
I enrolled in the September class and I am halfway through my training and already certified to see clients. I am working with two incredible women and each session with them invigorates me to get out into the world and help as many people as I can.
My foot pain has long gone away. Now my biggest problem is trying to breathe at this altitude! I try to get outside every day and spend most of my time off from work mountain biking, hiking, or even just taking a walk around the neighborhood. Winter of course is spent snowboarding, skiing, and sometimes ice skating too (maybe ice climbing next winter!).
Get moving and make better food choices. Try not to get down when a slip up happens. Every day is a new day and a chance to take a step in the right direction. It’s all about being healthier and feeling good. These are things I try to do on a daily basis. This is how I am going to get stronger to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro one day.