Use Me As a Guide and Not a Goal

I'm definitely a guide, not a goal. Your fitness is an individual journey to become your best healthy self. That means you won't look like me nor will I look like you. Believing you can accomplish the goal of looking like someone else isn't realistic, possible, or the point of getting fit and healthy. 

What I provide is motivation and guidance on adopting a healthy lifestyle which is an amazing opportunity for me and you. Agreed?

During my early school years, I didn't always feel the best about myself. Through this time, I found motivation and encouragement from my physical education teachers and coaches. They made me feel accomplished and inspired me to do more and be more. It was at that young age I wanted to be like them. I wanted the ability to make young people feel inner strength, confident, and happy. I felt strongly my goal in life was to be a P.E. teacher.

Of course, I couldn't climb into their bodies and become them but imagining being them was pretty awesome. In my twists and turns of life, I'm doing my passion on a broader scope than in a high school gym setting. Life has a way of turning struggles into even greater achievements. 

The thing about life, mentors, and motivators is to understand the concept of guides, and yes to have goals. Goals are to be individual, and we can be inspired by our coaches, trainers and even fitness competitors. Sometimes, this admiration turns into a passion for work or personal goals. That's great as long as it's done as a true personal achievement and not because you long to live in another person's skin. 

Fitness goals are personal and not a contest to become someone else. You can look at the motivation from a guide as a gift that contributed to your ability to achieve your goals. This would be completely acceptable and even appreciated. Working as a guide, I'm inspired and thankful to receive feedback on how I made a positive difference in a life. 

I want to open the door about my physical appearance as a guide, not a goal.  There's nothing that makes me any more special than you just because my fitness persona is on the net. Ladies (sorry women) can get too hung up on the way other women look physically. They want to have 'her' body instead of their own. This problem is bigger than even realized. Let me share a short story.

In my early competitive days, I admired a certain fitness competitor which I will keep anonymous and really did want a body like hers. I followed all the nutrition plans and extreme workouts to make that happen. The truth was I still wasn't her. When on-stage physique judging came, my body still wasn't good enough. What a blow for me. 

I was being judged on a stage by people I didn't know, ready with pen in hand to tear apart the body I worked so hard to put together. I quickly learned and realized there is a political side that exists in fitness competitions. That still didn't seem to matter because feelings of inadequacy and ensuing lack of confidence can break a person in such circumstances.

The moral to this learning experience was I would never be the amazing fitness competitor I admired. Although this felt like a huge letdown, it created such a light bulb moment for me. I needed to start loving me for me. I wasn't doing that and it took being torn down to start really building myself up. 

So, I do understand when guides get skewed out of position and even placed on a pedestal. But you know what, we're all just people. I am no more special than you are, and doing what I do is a passion that I want to provide as a gift of motivation for you. 

To this day, I remain conservative with the self-images I use for motivation. I want them to be inspiring and provide a message of 'you can do this'. As a fitness guide, I feel even more responsible to convey a clear message on the importance of looking like yourself. 

We live in a world where skinny and fake is overboard. It's to the point where the negative impact is felt from all age groups, especially our young women. I hope this message provides some encouragement to know you're good enough and working toward self-improvement is the goal. Use me as a guide and motivation to adopt a healthy lifestyle. That's my role. 

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Be well and Stay Healthy