NEW YEAR , NEW ME ! THE REAL LIFE JOURNEY OF A PT !
W L W L
FITNESS
NEW YEAR , NEW ME ! THE REAL LIFE JOURNEY OF A PT !
By Charlotte Forde , Elevate Fitness
Another year has passed and New Year ' s resolutions are upon us , for some this may be better health ; others , greater fitness and for many it may be to get into shape for an upcoming event like a holiday or wedding . 2023 was very different for me , I opened a new fitness studio and was overwhelmed with work but one thing that happened in the summer changed everything for me mentally , emotionally and physically .
I have never been one for setting New Year resolutions , not that I don ’ t agree with them however , as a personal trainer for the past 20 years I find it very difficult to focus on myself . Being in an environment that I have already spent so much time in isn ’ t my idea of ‘ switching off ’, especially in a gym ; I either feel like I ’ m being judged because people recognise me and know what my job is or I ’ m criticising the gym or class because that was my part of my job role for so many years . For that reason , exercise for me would normally be a walk or a round of golf . Anybody who knows me , also knows that food is something I would never sacrifice . I would never restrict anything from my diet or advise anybody else to . I eat everything in moderation and I am generally consistent with my intake so strict dieting is not for me . And finally , with working so many hours , especially early mornings and evenings and being stood up all day , normally I ’ m that tired that the last thing I want to do is train myself ( plenty of times I have finished a workout in the afternoon and fell asleep on the gym mat whilst stretching - true story !). Due to all of these factors I find it challenging to change my shape but despite me knowing exactly what I need to do to achieve it , the problem for me is applying my knowledge and establishing a plan that works cohesively with my established lifestyle , however , as mentioned in my introduction , last year was very different for me .
In 2023 , not only did I have a purpose to make a change but my approach was different and hopefully this will help you unlock whatever it is that may be holding you back from achieving and maintaining your goals .
Historically , the first four months of the year as a Personal Trainer and a Golf Fitness Specialist are chaotic with little to no down time , add moving into a new studio , two children who frequent activities and a partner that works away ; I lacked motivation , consistency and felt stagnant . I tried a transformational coaching programme and taking short breaks and although I felt present and great in that moment I returned to the imbalance of my day to day life . I found myself lecturing my clients on the same things that I was doing myself therefore by the time the summer came around I decided I needed to make a change , for my mental health if nothing else .
Some people find the summer holidays difficult with childcare but for me it gives me more flexibility and freedom as I am not tied down to school drop off or pick up . This is also a slightly quieter period of work for me when people are going on holidays , so I took advantage of this . I established a plan that was going to change my life forever and for the better .
I started with my gym routine ; committing to resistance training for 20-30 minutes , 3-5 days weekly . A basic programme including mainly compound exercises and repeating it for 2-3 sets and gradually increasing the weights . Simple yet effective .
Then came my food plan ; I will never be a strict calorie counter however , it is important to have an awareness of macros and the amount of daily calories that you are consuming to at least maintain your shape . However , when I found myself neglecting any type of routine I felt lethargic , sluggish and unhappy so I decided to add structure to my diet . I don ’ t eat breakfast anyway so I continued with my morning fast , limited my lunch time meal to around 400-600 calories which normally consisted of salad or soup ; I snacked on protein bars , gyozas or crudités and hummus and had a really fulfilling evening meal ensuring I was drinking 2 litres of water daily at the very least .
With only these two little changes within a couple of weeks I found myself performing better in work , being more present and clear minded , feeling more content with my image , sleeping better , feeling more energetic and so much happier . So much so that my fiancé and I decided to plan to get married when we were on holiday last month . If you would have told me this time last year that this is where I was going to be now , I would have never believed you . There is no way that I would have had the time to organise a secret wedding in just 3 months , feel the best I ’ ve ever felt physically and mentally and have achieved a successful work / life balance if I hadn ’ t decided to commit to making that change and made sure that I prioritised my diet and exercise consistently 6 months ago . You don ’ t have to make extreme changes , you just need to be consistent . Even on the hard days if I only get 10 minutes of exercise in on one day I remind myself that it is better than nothing and more than what I was doing before and the same with my diet ; if I have an off day and I know that I have over consumed or ate really poorly , I wipe the slate clean the following day and start again without worrying about the past that I am now unable to change .
“ It ’ s not about perfection . It ’ s about effort . And when you bring that effort every single day , that ' s where transformation happens . That ' s how change occurs .”
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