About what you CAN DO

Around 6 years ago when I first moved to Salina and joined Genesis, I remember when the spring time came around Anna Simoneau and Cindy Crehan kept asking my to do this 5K thing out of town. I really had no idea what it was or really cared to find out. I declined the 1st year, but when Anna moved to Manhattan and I was on staff at Genesis, Cindy just put me in charge or gathering women together for this 5K I had no idea about.

The first year I did it, I just kept hearing it was an ALL WOMEN'S 5K. I thought, what the heck, I'll go and learn. I gathered as many of my female clients and other gym goers together to do it. I was blown away that first year. There were 1,000 plus women there and the race was honestly to celebrate women and their health. I stayed for the ceremony after the race and found out there was a woman 94 years old who walked it. I was taken back by the age groups and women from all walks of life that participated. Moms, Grandmas, Aunts, Sisters, friends, daughters, women's cross country or track teams, girl scouts, and various others! I would say nearly 60-70% walk the race AND that's completely cool! It's women coming together to celebrate women.

So after that first year under my belt, I vowed to get as MANY of my clients and gym friends to do it the following year. It always varies and we have a team of anywhere from 15-25 women from Salina go and do it. So that second year when I was rounding up women to be on the team, I nearly told one of my clients she would do this 5K. She had never done one before. And once she committed and did it, SHE LOVED it. The next year my client was diagnosed with cancer and we actually got team shirts with her name on it. Then, there was this year. This year my dearest client who has been battling this cancer and wasn't given long, has fought one crazy fight. She CONTINUES to fight like no other person I have ever met before. So even though her cancer isn't in remission, I messaged her daughter to ask if they would be interested in the walk or even allowing us to push her in a wheelchair for the walk. Well this strong client/friend of mine refused the wheelchair, she WAS determined to walk that whole 5K....

And.., She did! I ran the 5K on Saturday and waited at the finish line for her and her daughter to cross. I'm not a huge emotional person, but when she cross that FINISH LINE and fell into my arms I absolutely lost it. No words would even come out of my mouth, We hugged and cried for a while and when she walked over to her husband, I turned around to see the rest of my clients and friends standing just a few feet away in tears as well.

So here's the lesson. Here's something that goes BEYOND just the scale.

All too often we sit on our tails thinking about everything we CAN'T do.

I can't lift weights bc....

I can't do cardio bc...

I can't wake up early bc...

I can't workout after work bc...

I can't log my food bc...

I can't eat right bc...

THE EXCUSES go on and on... and reality is, many times it's not until we realize what we're fighting for do we actually start fighting.

So many times it's not until someone hits absolute rock bottom when they decide they need to make a change.

I'll use myself as an example... I was nearly 230 pounds at 21 years old and 5'4 1/2". My hair was falling out. I was pre-diabetic. I was depressed. I wanted to sleep my life away. I spent a lot of time in my bed crying... I WAS A HOT MESS.

What changed? I was tired of being pathetic. I remember just a few days ago a good friend of mine posted on Instagram, "The mirror never lies so if you look in the mirror and don't like what you see, don't make an excuse. FIX IT."

Could it be anymore real than that? Most of us have our health and we take it for granted. The more individuals I have the opportunity to work with, the more I see shitty life cards dealt to people. With health problems, diseases, and disorders... yet these individuals don't make any excuses. They ARE my hardest working clients because they KNOW WHY and WHAT they're working for.

May you see your health is greater than just the number on the scale. May you know your worth.

Alison

Why I Post on Social Media

Many of you have been following me for a while now on either Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat and I want to thank you for continuing to follow my journey.

However, I want to take a second and explain the reasons behind my posts starting with a brief story.
The other day I was on my phone logging my food when someone started talking to me. I wasn't giving the convo my full attention because I wanted to get my food logged for the day. The individual said,

"Get off your social media, I'm talking to you! You're always posting something."

Let me just say, that comment irritated me and here's why.

When Facebook began to grow and Facebook's newsfeed came about, I remember reading post after post of negative and critical content. I vowed to myself that if I post something on social media, I want it to Encourage, Inspire, and/or Empower someone.

So with that said, the reason behind my social media posts is to share my personal journey as well as share a few success stories from clients and friends who inspire or encourage me.

Making the life changes that I have has changed my life for the better. I'm not who I was 5 years ago and I've grown mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I share my personal fitness journey because I want people to see dedication and consistency pay off. I share to keep myself motivated because if we're all going to be honest, shit is hard! Some days just getting in your recommended water consumption in for the day is a success. Maybe getting to the gym when your life feels like it's falling to pieces is a success. Maybe choosing to drink your protein shake instead of eating the donuts at the office is a success. WHATEVER, your day to day successes are, it's ok to share them! EVER wonder why this Blog is called "Success in Various Forms"?!

Because EVERY SINGLE day has it's own successes! Maybe not a weightloss goal success, but if we really take a step back and reevaluate our days, we all could find one positive... one single success.

So yes, I'll take a picture of my "healthy meal prepped" food and share it on snapchat because honestly, I'd rather be eating a dang donut just as much as the other guy.

Maybe you or someone you knows struggles with depression or anxiety? Ever think maybe somebody scrolling through their social media may see a positive post that helps them face another day?

Maybe someone sees a video of an overweight clumsy woman exercising and think, "She can do this, so can I!"

Maybe someone who has considered ending their life because they don't like the person looking back at them in the mirror? Maybe they see a positive post on social media that gives them hope and a reason to face another day.

Maybe someone is at home alone fighting cancer or some other terrible disease and comes across a motivational post that inspires them to keep going....

Trust me when I say I can relate to each and every single one of my clients. I FEEL for them and know where they are coming from. Maybe I haven't had cancer, but I have fought through a lot of personal struggles to get where I am. I don't have to share every single damn struggle of mine because complaining gets me NOWHERE. However, what does get me somewhere is the people I choose to surround myself with. I choose to surround myself with people who encourage and believe in me and the same goes for my social media. I follow positive and encouraging people and their stories because that CHALLENGES me to be a better individual.

So if you're wondering why I post, it's because of the love I have for others. I may not KNOW you personally, but I can honestly say we're all fighting a battle and we all have our struggles. But it's my goal to share my successes and the successes of other to ENCOURAGE, INSPIRE, & EMPOWER others.

#Blessed
A

Weight Loss isn't supposed to be EASY

Many of you who follow me on Twitter, IG, and Facebook know that I just finished reading, "The Year of Yes" by Shonda Rhimes. And if you have the opportunity to read or listen by audio books, I highly recommend you to check it out. Her book chronicles a year in which the self-professed introvert said yes to unexpected invitations that came her way.

The one chapter that really grabbed my attention was chapter 10 where Shonda explains her journey and struggle with weight loss. She specifically explains her 110 lb weight loss was actually a byproduct of her saying yes to her health. (Attached is her interview with Oprah) 

http://www.supersoul.tv/supersoul-sunday/shonda-rhimes-on-realizing-weight-loss-isnt-supposed-to-be-easy/

She says in the interview,

“[The weight loss] came from, sort of, having an epiphany of ‘I work hard to succeed at every single thing I do. I work my butt off at work. I work really hard to be a mother. I work really hard at everything. Why do I think that losing weight is supposed to be easy?'”

Her words struck me. This is what I try to explain to my clients every single day. So many times people set out to lose X amount of pounds because they have this idea in their mind that they need to weigh X. That's awesome people are setting goals, but how realistic is that? In a world with diet fads and gimmicks, so many times people start two weeks in and and lose no weight or 1-2 pounds and THEY ARE PISSED! "I quit, I should have lost more!" is usually what I hear from 80% of people. I guess people assume or they've watched so many episodes of The Biggest Loser that they think 

Week 1= -14 pounds 

Week 2= -18 pounds

and after 3-4 weeks they should be sitting around -50 pounds.

Is that the weight loss math people do in their heads? Listen, that weight didn't just happen over night... you probably have been packing on the pounds over the years. So reality is, don't expect to drop 100 pounds over night, or even in a month!

HONESTLY, IN ALL HONESTY... If a person is losing that much weight in that short amount of time their calories are going to be drastically cut, they're going to be spending ungodly amounts of time in the gym doing ungodly amounts of cardio, and they're going to be losing muscle along with any fat.

Sustainable weight loss doesn't happen over night. It's a lifestyle change. You cannot diet fast and hard core and expect to keep it off. If fast weight loss is what you're after, at some point your going to say screw this and dive into the cabinets at 2 am in the morning and eat the dang house down!

I've been there. I once was topping the scale at 230lbs for my 5'4" frame. Lord knows how many 1 and 2 am gimmicks I purchased off TV and how many weight loss gimmicks and fat burners I tried. Just like Shonda said in her interview, "WEIGHT LOSS WAS A BYPRODUCT of making healthy choices".

I will stand 100% behind Shonda's statement because my weight loss happened the same way. I was sick and tired of being depressed. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was tired of shopping in the moo moo section where you just bought the biggest size hoping it would cover and mask how large I was underneath. Anyone who knows me knows I love fashion. I'm a clothing and shoe whore! So not being able to shop for cute outfits was depressing. Not being able to wear cute outfits when I went out with my friends was saddening and often I would opt out. Avoiding mirrors that's a whole other story, I just didn't look! Trust me, I know it all too well and I will never forget it. 

It may have been 5 years since I've started this whole fitness journey, but I will NEVER forget where I started. I truly started at the bottom. I decided I HAD to change my daily habits and my eating habit. I vowed to never miss a Monday and I vowed to workout AT LEAST 5 times a week. I vowed to stop eating fast food and start making my own. I vowed to LEARN how to cook healthy options. I vowed to not step on the scale and just solely focus on my DAILY ACTIONS AND HABITS. HOW did I lose 90 lbs? Honestly speaking, it was the byproduct of my daily habits.

So my question for you is if you aren't WHERE you want to be, if you don't like the person staring back at you in the mirror... Answer this, what are your daily habits like? Are they getting your closer to your goals? If not, I'd recommend making changes.

Food For Thought

Love Alison

Judgement Free Zone

I'd like to prefaces this with saying I 'personally' feel I'm a pretty nonjudgmental person when it comes to about anyone or any situations. I always give people the benefit of the the doubt and give people chance after chance. However, maybe that isn't so true?

Let me explain...
Couple weeks ago I was in church singing along with the praise and worship team. Half way through a couple walked in with a baby. I had seen the girl before, but never her husband. They both stood as well and my first thought was, "aww they're cute". However, couple minutes later I noticed the shirt the guy was wearing. The church is "come as you are" -but on the back of his shirt was a shirtless Indian Chief hold a naked woman in his hands. In just a matter of seconds so many thoughts rushed through my head. The first being, "Are you serious! How degrading to the women in this church sitting behind you!"

Before I knew it, the pastor was closing out praise and worship. It dawned on me that I allowed something so stupid to take up my attention & my favorite part of the church service- the music! I started to think things like, "I missed the best part of the service because of this guy and his distracting and disrespectful shirt!"

Then I heard God say to me, "SERIOUSLY ALISON? WHO ARE YOU? This man came to church 100% humble wearing all he had". I put my head down and did some more thinking and praying as the service went on. I felt bad for taking all this time during worship that I could have been singing praises. Instead, I spent the entire praise and worship time hating and being critical. The ONE THING I say I don't do!

Then the next thought came to me, what if all of us who walked into church were wearing shirts with our sins from the past day, week, month, year? Would we even walk back into church? Umm probably not!

That's how the gym is right?! We hear it all the time, "your body reflects what you consume".
I have always viewed attending church and going to the gym as similar. They both seem to be a place where imperfect and broken people go. So many times, people looking in from the outside, view the people walking in as people who have their shit together. Yet, that couldn't be further from the truth. If we really take a step back, the people walking into church are TRULY BROKEN people recognizing they can't do this on their own. And the same for someone walking into the gym. They're humble people who are just dedicated to self improvement. They don't have their shit together, they're working on it. A lot can be learned about yourself when one stays focused and dedicated to a goal. The same with knowledge, it seems the more a person learns, the more you realize your have MORE to learn.
It's a PROCESS. A PROCESS of self improvement. Whether you're walking into church, the gym, a classroom... everyone has more to learn. The question is though, will we set our ego and pride aside to move forward?

Humbly moving forward...
I'm still learning...
Nowhere near perfect...

Uncomfortable Growth

As I look back on my journey thus far, I can pin point two things that have been the hardest tasks.
1. Walking into as gym and asking someone for help who knows more about health and fitness that I did.
Scenario 1: Back in my junior year of college I was weighing in around 230 pounds. Truly my heaviest & I needed help.
2. Walking into church in a new city and needing to find a church to call my 'new home'.
Scenario 2: Growing up with parents who drug you to church every Sunday your entire childhood, it's actually odd to have to wake up and go to church by yourself.

Let me explain both because I believe you'll be able to relate to either one or both.

Back to Scenario #1: It was the start of my fitness journey because I was working in the Athletic Training office in college. I worked for the Head football Coach, but the Assistant Basketball Coach always came in and joked around with me. One day he invited me to his 1 credit course that was basically weight training and emphasizing healthy eating choices. I was super nervous to sign up for it because that was the one course that the football and basketball players would take. I knew nothing and that was the last place I wanted to start. However, after meeting with a doctor and finding out I was at high risk for diabetes and heart disease, I figured I needed to start somewhere. I was scared out of my mind. I had no problem walking into any of my other classes, but this one was the hardest. Hardest because I had to be real with him. Had to do measurements, weight, and log my food. Nothing is as humbling as being held accountable to a food journal. But it was truly the biggest learning experience. I learned to enjoy weight training and how to properly log my food and that fad diets and shakes and pills don't work.

Scenario #2: Raised in the church, apart of the youth group, small group leader, bible studies, Christian college, and truly believe in Christ with my whole heart. But the hardest was moving away from my family to a new city and having to find a church to attend. I think I visited 7 before I landed on a church I actually didn't mind attending. Music was legit. People are legit. Time of service was legit. But still... I fought going to church because I dreaded going by myself. I dreaded coming home and not sitting down having Sunday dinner with my family. Church meant me facing I was an adult and had to go. I used work as an excuse to get out of going for a good year and a half. But those who truly know me, kept asking me why I wasn't going. After a while, "just because" wasn't an 'ADULT' response. It was a lazy response on my part.

So let me be real. I had an individual ask me one day, "How come you go to workout on Sunday morning instead of going to church?" My response, "Ehh, I don't know. Going to church by myself is uncomfortable!" Then she said, "Don't you think living outside your comfort zone applies not only to fitness, but your spiritual journey?"



Ouch! She was right. It's true, we hate to be comfortable. We hate to feel as if were going to be judged. We just like to be comfortable and in our circle of people. I've learned a lot about myself physically by stepping outside of my comfort zone physically and spiritually. I remind myself daily that I can't grow if I never accept a challenge. Growth requires me to take action & it WILL be a little or A LOT uncomfortable.

Maybe this blog made since, maybe not. But lessons of being uncomfortable continues to shape me. It's not about me, It's about loving God and loving and serving His people.

Looking the Part

I'm sure many of you have seen the following picture

And I'm sure it wasn't meant to offend me, but the more I see it, the more it pisses me off.

The more I think about as to 'WHY' it pisses me off, I have to self evaluate.
Coming from a female who once didn't care AT ALL what she looked like, to someone who become scale obsessed. Our society tells woman especially that they're worthless if they don't have a flat stomach, big boobs, and butt. I didn't even have a flat stomach at 134 pounds & now sitting at 160 I'm not surprised by the fact that I don't have abs either! I think the reason this picture irritates me is because it passes judgement on men and woman of whether they look at certain part or not.

I wouldn't ever say somebody couldn't do their job or be effective at their job by how they look. I can't determine that. Many times we judge people before we take the time to get to know them, get to know their journey, hear their experience, or listen to their advice.

I saw this powerful picture the other day and my heart ached. At the age of 27 I still can relate. We look at pictures of women that are more pleasing to the eye, most whos pictures have been touched up, but we beat ourselves up. On top of just being a female, I'm a  Personal Trainer. God forbid- I DON'T HAVE ABS! I'm sure people walk into the gym every single day who don't know me and wonder how the hell I'm training?! Only the people who have taken the time to get to know me, my journey, and my struggles understand. To be perfectly honest, I almost never became a trainer because I didn't have abs. I used to think that having abs meant being a damn good trainer! 

Here's what I've learned, a persons body can look absolutely amazing and do every exercise in the gym incorrectly. There are trainers who give out some really crappy advice and know nothing about science, the body, and metabolisms and can lead people to a great body... OR a horrible body! Somebody can eat like absolute crap and have abs. WE ALL HAVE BEEN GIVEN DIFFERENT GENES! I see people who STARVE themselves every single day because they think they'll lose weight if they just don't eat. There's so many scenarios! If I walk by a candy bar, I'll gain 20 lbs! My body is different than the next persons.

As for myself, I will ALWAYS have to monitor my eating! I accept that. And I spend more time eating veggies and protein than I do "living it up in the bars" or enjoying eating out. My body just can't do it. One week of not logging my food equals undoing all my hard work. Some people will never understand the discipline I personally have to have... or the person in similar shoes as myself.

So for the person that made the meme, I'm sure you're a genetic freak, my hats off to you. As for the rest of us that are working out asses off just to fit into our skinny jeans... keep working hard- You're the individuals that push me to work harder each week.

Women & their Bodies

I truly have no room to be blogging on such a topic as women and their bodies. I'm possibly the hardest on myself when it comes to body image, however, many conversations I've had it the last month have triggered deeper thinking.

For example from my personal experience.
A once 230 lb female dropping 90 pounds in a year. I did a lot of running and minimal weight training. I lost the weight and I did it fast by HOURS of running and not eating enough (not ideal). Even when I was at my lowest weight of 134 lbs, I still had lose skin around my midsection. I can remember getting dressed and pointing at lose skin around my stomach and telling my mom,
"GRRR, I'm SOOOOO FAT!"
She asked me, "Alison, what are you trying to accomplish? What weight will you be happy at?!"
Me, "I don't know! I just don't want this fat here!"
She would sigh because there isn't much one can tell a crazy weight obsessed person to be honest.

With my mother, this was when I was about my largest.

Just running, at my smallest

So fast forward to not being able to maintain ungodly amounts of cardio and barely eating. Personally, this would be the whole reason for hiring myself a Coach/Trainer. One can't do this fitness journey alone. I personally need the accountability of someone to be honest with me and tell me to chill the hell out or to step it up and stop whining. So with that said, I'll be moving into year number three of being with my Coach and getting healthy.

With having a Coach, I lost weight then gained weight. I've had ups and downs. I've learned that I have to be more diligent about my diet and nutrition than the typical person. When it comes to having someone hold me accountable, there's no under eating & there's no binge eating. It's all about balance! It's all about controlling what I can to be better, but it's been hard as hell!

Then there's a whole other element... What about looking in the mirror? That's the whole point of this blog anyway! I didn't like what I looked like at 230 lbs so I made a change. But I still didn't find satisfaction in my body at 134 lbs! And now, where I fall right in between... Shit is hard! It's hard to look in the mirror and say, "DAMN I LOOK GOOD!" Realistically, I can't maintain 134 lbs nor do I want to be 230 pounds! Whole reason I started was to be HEALTHY right?! Is loving myself realistic?

I listen to clients and friends who have just had babies or babies years ago. They tell me about the changes their bodies went through. The changes their hormones go through. They tell me about all that comes with nursing and it's mind blowing to hear all the things a mom does in a 24 hour period for not only their babies, but their husbands, animals, and friends. It's HUMBLING! Yet they still struggle to look in the mirror. So why do us woman spend so much time not loving our bodies? I'm 100% GUILTY! We spend more time looking at other women wishing we had their body, when they're most likely looking back at us wishing they had our arms, legs, stomach, chest, butt, hair, eyes... WHATEVER!

Do I have an answer to this? Actually I don't! I wish I did. But I wanted to share this photo that my client had shared with me. It's all so easy to get caught up in comparing everything we are not, but how many times do we tell ourselves- "I love myself"? As parents, I'm sure you tell your babies you love them. But here's my challenge to you...
Take a deep breath in front of them and say, "I'm so proud of my body!"
A positive physical outlook has to start at an early age, why not start modeling it by how we take care of ourselves!

My mother has always said, "you can't love anyone until you love yourself". Still this day I believe that. I may suck a practicing it, but I always keep it in the back of my mind. My body doesn't determine my worth, but I can't not take care of it. I have to be the best version of myself when it comes my my mind, body, and soul.

As always, I enjoy reading and talking with many of you who read my blog. Feel free to comment here, Facebook, Instagram, twitter, email or in person. 

With Love,

A