Why I became a Personal Trainer.
It dawned on me the other day that I have not made a post about why I became a personal trainer. So, this blog is going to be a short version of how and why I became a Personal Trainer. In this post I talk about my own Battle with weight loss, how I yo-yo dieted for years , how I became more disciplined and how I love changing peoples lives.
I was a fat kid. I was not obese but I was definitely over weight. Throughout most of my early years up into high school people kinda picked on me for being fat. I was not constantly bullied but whenever someone made a joke about me it was always with regards to my weight. Which to be honest really sucked. This really murdered my self confidence. It was sometime around middle school when my weight was at its worse.
Sometime around middle school, I went to the doctor for a check up and they asked me to get some blood work done. The blood work said that I had high cholesterol. Let me tell that you that I was not even a teenager yet and I had high cholesterol. I was not per-say a walking heart attack but if I did not change my eating and exercises habits I would develop High Blood pressure. That was when I first started dieting and exercising with my dad.
My dad is a thin guy. He can pretty much eat anything he wants and not gain a pound. Note: (being thin does not mean your healthy and ultimately being healthy rather than skinny should be your goal) By this point my dad had been dealing with cholesterol issues for years. So, seeing me gain weight and have cholesterol problems really encouraged him to start working out with me. We go a gym membership and started doing basic workouts. By the time I went to high school I was really starting to loose weight.
When I got into high school I was already loosing some weight. I felt much better about myself. People gave me compliments on my progress. I did this by working out regularly and also eating a bit cleaner. The first thing I cut from my diet was Soda. To this day I do not crave Soda. It so sugary and my body does not desire it anymore. I also began cutting back on some processed carbs like potato chips and cookies. I was by no means perfect though. I would yo-yo between sometimes eating right and periodically nearly binge eating. I was an emotional eater.
My mother is an emotional eater. I learned these habits from her but ultimately it has always been up to me to fix that. There were times in my teens when I would eat out of boredom or sadness. I would get bummed about being overweight and then find myself eating because I was sad about my weight, then getting mad that I had eaten because I was sad about my weight. This was a never ending negative feedback loop that needed to change. My relationship with food was not good and it would not improve until after college.
By the end of high school I had trimmed down signifigantly. But going into college my habits would change again. The freshmen 15 was probably more of a freshmen 2o. I gain a lot of weight between my Freshman and Sophomore years. I also, stopped working out consistently. On top of that, I was playing music in a band and when your a musician you sorta drink all the time. It just seems to be what the cool artist types just did. I felt like I had to do it. This was ageing me.
I was only in my early 20’s and I looked like I was signifigantly older. Something needed to change. I started working out with my friend Pete. Pete is my best friend. We spent a lot of time in the gym cutting up and getting in better shape but I was not as committed as he. He eventually got frustrated with me because I was constantly showing up late to lift so we stopped working out together. He went on to loose a tremendous amount of weight. I kept feeling worse and worse.
After College I hit an all time low. I was chronically tiered. I was ageing a lot. Even though I was in my early 20 I looked like I was in my 30’s and felt like I was 130. No, joking. I was not taking care of myself and finally I said enough is enough. I started working out again. I became consistent. I began making lifestyle changes like drinking less frequently and cutting out processed foods. I started learning and reading about programs from personal trainers. Little did I know my whole life would end up revolving around fitness.
In 2012 I moved from Florida to San Antonio, Texas. It was in moving and leaving behind my old social circles that I was really able to grow and develop into a new person. I finally became consistent with my training. This changed everything about me. I felt strong, confident and focused. I finally became committed to taking care of my health. I knew then that I wanted to work in the fitness industry.
I got a job at a gym here in town as a sale representative. I did not particularly love working in sales. I would watch the personal trainer and think hmmm that looks fun. I have a background in teaching ballroom dancing so I felt that I could become a personal Trainer. So, everyday I came into work and watched videos about becoming a personal trainer. So, I got a certification and started training. I loved training but knew that I needed to do things on my own terms. I left the gym to start an outdoor bootcamp company called Outdoor Athletics.
I started personal training in San Pedro Park. I loved being a Personal Trainer. I loved having my own company. My company began to grow and I found my own indoor location. I changed the name to Total Body Training. I love personal training because I get to have a role in changing peoples lives. I get to change how people look and feel about themselves. Thats why my slogan is ” I help people Get Lean, Gain Muscle, and Build Confidence!
Radio Lab Podcast.
http://www.radiolab.org/story/91710-limits-of-the-body/
TED Talk:
TED Talk: Tony Horton
Total Body Training
Instagram: Total Body Training
Visit my Gym:
TOTAL BODY TRAINING
9200 Broadway
San Antonio, Texas
78217
Suite 130