The past year

Ok, so a lot has changed for me in the past 2 years, but really the past year has been my turning point. Ok so some of you may have known the "old" me. I was the girl that weighed over 200 lbs and I pretended to be happy on the outside, but was miserable on the inside. Well I decided to do something about it. I wanted to be happy with who I was! Geesh...was that too much to ask? So I made a commitment and started to go to the gym 3 times a week..the class of choice was Zumba. So for those of you who don't know what Zumba is, it's a cardio class based off of latin rhythms, but it can also include hip hop which is right up my alley! I met some really cool people and going to the gym became a want not a need! So much of a need that I decided to become a Zumba instructor. I got certified last October,(09) but never did anything with it until March of 10)

So fast forwarding a little bit, the gym decided to do a "challenge" to help people like me get through the holidays. At this point I really wasn't lifting weights at all, and I still was not in great shape. So I made that commitment and made it through losing some more weight, but it wasn't until the second round of this challenge I started to push myself. I really focused on the reason I was doing it (to be happy!!!) and made it a point to get there! That is when a switch in me changed...I needed to focus on me to be happy. Mentally there was a shift and priorities became about what I wanted/needed instead of what I thought others wanted of me/needed of me.

I continued to drop weight and as I did my self esteem went through the roof. I no longer needed to hide in the crowd and didn't mind shining. I added on 3 other certifications too and really focused on getting into my fitness career. It wasn't until I decided to get into independant consulting that I really saw the effect my story could have on others though. I found I love helping people and seeing their success!

So about 20 days ago I got a message on FB from friend that basically said, I need motivation. So I gave her a simple task...do something for 20 minutes. I told her it could be anything as long as she was continuously moving for 20 minutes. She walked the dogs. I told her how well she was doing and gave her the same goal for the next day. She is officially on day 17 and super inspired all because I took the time to give her one task. Seriously?!? Something that easy made a huge difference in her life....and I was a part of that. That makes you glow, but not because you helped, but because that little bit might be their mindset shift, and they could be on their way to find out who they really could be!

Which now leads me to today (in a very scatter brained way)..so I was told today that I need to tone myself down and not have a good time with friends during a fitness class that is focused on the "party" atmosphere. This has happened before and it has passed over, but it hurts more this time. I think it's because I finally have found the "real" me and I'm letting her out. I'm not scared to let others see who I am, and now I'm being told that I need to put "her" away for a little bit. I can't possibly put that girl away...not when it was such a journey to find her. So a lot of searching is going to be going on in the future, hence me starting this blog. Do I try to contain the real me to please others, or do I let the real me show to be true to myself? Let me know your thoughts....