Physically Fit Made Me Spiritually Fit

I found myself in a slump because of situations out of my control.

I felt like I had hit the ultimate low point in my life.

I just wanted to feel better and reduce stress. I wanted to reconnect with myself and love myself.

 What did you do to accomplish this? I got back into balance with exercise and started training for a competition.

We all know the benefits of working out for our bodies. But do you realize the benefits it provides to our mind and spirit? I once read. “A Vigorous 5 mile walk will do more good for an un-happy, but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.” Paul Dudley American physician and cardiologist. No wonder why training to the extreme changes my entire being.

In the past few years I have experienced an overwhelming amount of transitions. With the recent death of my mother and the responsibility of raising my 15 year old sister, my life changed quickly. As a result my spiritual world shut down, which lead to a collapse of my physical world. In the past, I had always exercised, yet over the past four years, I’d been so consumed with sadness, chaos of losing my mom, the stress of my career and the challenges of raising two teenage girls. I simply stopped doing the one thing I loved. .. working out. In September of 2011, I crossed paths with my coach Doug Casiber. On that same day, I made a promise to myself that I’d compete in 2012 with the WBFF.

Since September, I’ve attended training with my coach consistently. Our workouts turned out to be dramatic support for the changes before me, and helped me manage the daily ups and downs of life. My coach is one of the most enthusiastic, down to earth, motivational people I have ever known. As he trained me, I found myself following every movement as he spoke words of hope to me.

“You are not defined by where you are now, but by the path you are taking.” He’d say when I’d be exhausted from the double day workouts.

“Get rid of all negativity,” he insisted, urging me to push harder and lift heavier than I thought possible.

“Do NOT quit,” he would shout as I lay exhausted on the floor.

Do you know how many times I cried after leaving training? At times I would wear my hat low to hide the tears of an alligator. For some reason training brought up memories; the day my daughter was born, the day my mother died... Training also brings up my fears. My fear that life was moving quickly, and I needed to get back on board.

At that time, everything seemed so overwhelming. But, I knew that God was in control of my endeavors. After all he had brought me to this coach, and this coach lit the fire in me to compete again. 

When I looked around me in the gym, I saw others struggling too. A guy who had just filtered thru major betrayal of friends, another who was living thru a rocky marriage, and a woman who was fighting for her life free of cancer. I also noticed that with every squat, push up, and step up I could tell their strength was increased, and so was their happiness. Just as mine had been.

As I have stayed strong and consistent in my training, my stress level has melted away. With each training session I learn more about me, and I feel stronger, healthier and happier. By getting back to the gym and training vigorously for my competition, I have a renewed sense of strength and purpose. I’m able to adapt more easily to my ever changing circumstances. Most importantly, I’m a better mother, sister and friend.

In essence, make time for regular physical exercise. If you’re anything like me you’re time deprived, right? Shoot we all are. Treat your training like an appointment. Write it on your calendar, type it into your phone, and you’ll be more likely to accomplish your health and wellness goals. Find a team to train with. It’s priceless to have the support from a team.

So what’s on the agenda for 2012? We’ll I’m excited to hit the stage as a WBFF fitness competitor and model. I’m thankful for the balance that I’ve learned along the way. There are a lot of things that I’m working thru in my training both physically and spiritually. But, for now let’s keep my vision for 2012 simple.  I’ll start with accomplishing my Diva Fitness Pro card on April 28th, and then I’ll focus on becoming the Diva Fitness Model World Champ. BOOM.