Once I found fitness, I found my voice.

Ever since I was little, I was a free spirit. Not a care in the world. I was creative and the world was my oyster. Then it happened. High School. I remember it starting earlier, but didn't realize what was happening until high school. Either way, bullying was there and happened a lot. No kid or teen should ever be affected or no want to be themselves because other kids are picking on them. It is no way to live. I remember going home and crying to my mom and not wanting to go back because the girls were so mean. My mom always told me that all I had to do was get through high school and life would be different. No that I look back, it is so frustrating to me that bullying even happens in the first place and with technology it is getting worse. One of the greatest outlets that so many people use in a positive way, can also be a way that kids or teens get targeted. 
My experience being teased and bullied for living to my own drum and wearing things I sewed or made, wearing my hair in different ways was not something accepted by my class mates and caused me to quit sports teams and not want to join clubs. The girls that were the worse probably don't realize how bad they made my life and the worse girls were the ones that caused me to sacrifice basketball. I sport I loved and really enjoyed. They made me so miserable that I quit. Basketball was in my genetics and my sister excelled at basketball to a varsity level and my grandpa was the first white man to play for the Harlem Globe Trotters. It was in my blood but they took that away from me. 
As grade 12 finally came, my mom said, you've made it and things will be different and soon enough the summer passed and I was in college. There were so many different types of people from so many different places and no one gave a shit what I was wearing or what my hair looked like. They liked me for me. After the first few weeks I went home one day and cried for a completely different reason. I could be myself. After years of hiding under baggy sweatshirts and jeans and being plain. I could do what ever I wanted and it felt good. This is where I first got a taste of freedom but the confidence came much later. I was so comfortable in who I was and really liked the new me. It was freeing. 
After college and starting my 2nd job life was so much better. My whole life I struggled with confidence and finding the strength to be my own person with out the permission of others. I had always been around school sports teams and leagues but once I found fitness, I found my voice. 
At the ripe age of 23 I started reading Oxygen Magazine and Women's Fitness and copying the workouts I found in the magazines. I loved it. At that time I was working at the Richmond Olympic Oval leading up to the Olympics and I was surrounded by athletes and I got the bug. Addicted to training that it. After an opportunity came up while I was working at the Oval, I decided to move onto a job as an advertising coordinator at an auctioneering company and it went from walking around all day at the Oval and working out to being in an office. It was sure different. After a few months the company I was working for moved into a brand new building with a 3,000sq ft gym. It was spectacular. 
I remember the day like yesterday. A mass email I sent out to all 300+ employees that if anyone was interested in working out at lunch and doing an ab class to meet downstairs on Monday. The people that worked around me popped up out of their cubicals and the critizism and negativity was in their voices. You are doing an ab class??? Do you think people will show??? Laughter...It reminded me of high school all over again and a wave of embassasement flushed over me and then it was gone. I didn't care what they thought and on Monday, 10 people showed up to my class and the following week 16! After classes I would recieve the best emails about how awesome the class was or how good they felt and that, felt really good.
Those 2, 30 minute classes every week were the best part of my day and week. People loved coming and always had nice things to say. I felt like the popular kid around the office because it brought together so many different people from different departments. It was a great sense and feeling of community. It wasn't until 2 years later that I met Natalie Waples and was inspired to compete in my first competition which led me to compeleting my personal training certification. Ever since I began training, I realized it was something only I could control and no one could take away from me. I wanted to share this feeling with others. It's amazing how powerful living a healthy lifestyle and working out can be.  

The Sexy Fam!

The latest people to be affected by this bug are my own parents! After years of bugging my dad about his weight, him and my mom joined a Healthy Winner program at the local community centre and they have come so far. My dad retired almost two years ago and I always feared for his health due to poor eating and a lack of acutal excercise. He now hits the gym 6 times a week and my mom and him love yoga and my mom took up pole walking. This is all in addition to their weekly boot camp classes. I went home a few weeks ago and was speechless when I saw my dad. He was SKINNY!!!! No more beer belly or balancing cereal bowls on his stomach. He was trim and did it the healthy way. I went downstairs to see my mom and she has lost weight too! I didn't notice it the last time I was home because she was in a sweat-shirt. She has lost a bunch of weight too. It was great to see they had, in their own time, commit to their own journey with fitness. 
For me, it took leading one class at work and for my parents, months but we are all hooked! Fitness is a lifestyle and once you find it, you'll find happiness. It takes will power and discipline, but it is SO WORTH IT and so are you. It takes small changes but over time those changes become habits. 
I know it's in each of us. Some of us find it at 23, some at 61. GO find it!


Train. Eat. Sleep. Repeat! xo


Nic