YUP!  This is IT!

I took this gym selfie after a Shoulder workout last week, and it frustrated me. Although I can see the progress in my shoulders, I am still so unbelievably THICK around my middle.  And Yes, I do know that is a tell tale sign of the adrenal problems that I am working on, but I struggle just like many of you with keeping balance in my life.  I know that I am far from where I started, but I am also not where I want to be!  And I don’t want to reach that goal to please the fitness industry, Beachbody Corporate, or even you who follow me on social media, this is ALL FOR ME NOW!

And to lay it on EXTRA THICK, this past week I have been dealing with an injury, which simply ticks me off! I know that sometimes the Universe has its way of reminding me that I just need to pause, but GGGRRRRRR!!!!!  Because until my knee is better(which will likely include draining and an injection on July 28th), my 100% will look quite different from what it does most of the time.  I am never afraid to modify my workouts, but this has taken me down another notch to hopefully prevent it getting any worse.

It is all going to be OK!

My new goal from now on, is that when I have a “bad” day, it will just be part of my journey! I will acknowledge it and move on! I have come too far to be anything BUT proud of myself. A dear friend told me last week, that basically I need to start giving more attention to the successes in my life instead of the small failures and setbacks that are just an inevitable part of life.

I know that not everyone has the same outlook on this subject, but I am truly curious…

Do you want the person you are taking Fitness Classes from to be “perfect”, or does a little more “real” suit you better?

First I will tell you a little bit about why I am asking.  9 years ago this week, I hit the HEAVIEST I have ever seen on a scale.  I was 296#!

I started dabbling in cutting back on different foods over the next few months before I really started my journey to being healthy, but this was the start for me.  And most of you know my weightloss story over the next couple of years.

Which lead me to become a Beachbody Coach, getting certified to teach Zumba, then CIZE, then getting my NASM CPT, Country Heat LIVE certified, coming soon, Core De Force LIVE certified, and even opening my own fitness studio Phoenix Fitness with Body By BrendaT and all because I fell in love with health and fitness and want to help others do the same.

If you know me, I do not believe that being “skinny” has anything to do with healthy, but being overweight can kinda go either way.  Don’t misunderstand, I am all about body acceptance, as long as you are not using it as an outlet to simply not take care of yourself.  Healthy and fit comes in MANY Sizes, but you do have to put in a conscious effort to do healthy things for your body.

So over the past few years, after getting to my best physical shape ever between 2011-2014,

I started to slowly start putting on a few pounds here and there.  And over the last 2 years, despite still working out anywhere from 8-16 hours a week, and still eating pretty clean, at least about 75-80% of the time I have put back on a total of about 30#!  Sure, I am 46, going through menopause, and have elevated cortisol levels, but I am frustrated all the same. Life happens to everyone, RIGHT?

But because of that, I admit, that I often worry that people will no longer see me as a role model for fitness just because I am no longer a size 4!  What is funny, is that I still wear mostly Size 8’s, some 10’s, BOTH of which I would have KILLED to wear back when I was 13 and wearing size 13/14, but I still sometimes feel like I am not quite up to people’s standards when they are looking for a fitness coach.

So, my question to you is, when you look for a fitness coach, motivator, instructor, etc….Do you want someone who has never been anything but a “fitness-type” or do you look for someone who has “been there, done that, bought the damn t-shirt!”?