Why I became a Personal Trainer? It was 2016. I was in my uni halls getting ready for a night out. I was excited to go out, get drunk, and end the night with a takeaway. This was a common occurrence for me in my first year of university. I mean that’s what the first year of uni is all about, right? However, little did I know that this big change in lifestyle was slowly doing more harm than good to not just my physical health, but my mental health. Nevertheless, I was feeling good. The vibes were high and I had once again bought a new outfit to celebrate yet another night of drinking, eating, and partying.
Throughout uni, I knew nothing about health and fitness. My diet consisted of leftover pizza, huge portion sizes of cheese and pasta, and lots of alcohol. Exercise? Well, the exercise happened on the dance floor. Surely the amount of dancing I did was enough to burn off all the unhealthy food I was not so much “fuelling” my body with. But I didn’t think of that. Nobody ever told me or educated me enough about fitness.
The ever-growing world of fitness and social media was only just emerging at the time, so what was I to know?
As my first year continued, so did my bad habits. I would sit around all day, snacking consistently in order to get through the boredom of uni assignments. Little did I know that all of these bad habits were not only making me gain weight but also I was having a detrimental effect on my mental health. I didn’t see this, because again, mental health wasn’t talked about enough back then.
I would then go home throughout the year and work at my part-time job, McDonald’s. Here I was given free food on my break, which of course I would eat. Who is going to turn down free McDonald’s? Certainly not me. My parents would tell me I was gaining weight (in a parental-caring kind of way). But I wouldn’t listen, because I didn’t really see it – or at least want to acknowledge it.
These bad habits were consistent.
And continued throughout all of my first year of uni. It’s important that I mention that before uni I would play football 3 times a week for my team, something I did for 10 years prior. However, this stopped and the bad habits crept in.
It wasn’t until I met a boy who was no good for me that my self-reflection began. I would wait up, night after night for him to come to spend the night with me. For me, this was my first real encounter with “feelings”. However, little did I know that he wasn’t good for me. I’m not going to address all of the details. But long story short, he never took me on a date and would just use me throughout the night – after he had been out with other girls. For me, I was always a strong independent person. I never relied on male validation. But as the end of the first year was coming, so was the self-reflection. I realized that I was depressed. I found comfort in a boy who was using me. His validation was something I needed because I had very little self-love at that point. My uni friends would constantly tell me I needed to get my shit together, to get rid of him, and to focus on myself.
Yes, it took time, but I eventually listened.
It wasn’t until the boy I was “in love” with, brought a girl back to his uni room (his room was opposite mine). That was it for me. That was the point I realized I had let myself go, I had lost all of my self-love and respect, and I had totally neglected my self-worth. I then decided I needed to focus on myself. I had to remove the problem. Also, I am not blaming this boy for what I put myself through, but it was a huge factor in my first-year uni experience. After that, I always remember telling him “I’m going to work on myself, and trust me, you will regret this”. I bit dramatic I know, but that’s just what I did. I used his disrespect for me as motivation to get out and focus on myself.
Since that point, I joined the gym and started slimming world. My fitness journey has been a bumpy ride. I had fallen into the trap of trying all the different diets and wasting time on exercises that were not beneficial for me. But I got there. I did my research, I put the work in and it was never handed to me.
It was all me.
Throughout this journey, I realized I had a passion for fitness. The way it not only changed my body but the way it changed my mindset. I realized I loved helping people who asked me “How did you do it”. The more I talked about it, the more uneducated and misinformed I realized people were. I spent a lot of wasted time throughout my journey, falling into the traps of doing stupid diets and starving myself, etc. This is when I realized I wanted to be a personal trainer.
When Covid-19 hit and we were put in lockdown, I used my time wisely. I created my own fitness account to inspire other people and did a personal training course to become a personal trainer. I wanted to be that person for someone who wasn’t there for me when I needed them. If I would have had that person there, I would have surely reached my goals sooner than I did.
As a personal trainer, my experience has separated me from the rest.
I have been through the whole thing. I have struggled with mental health and anxiety. Also, I get it. I can empathize with people. Because in my eyes, fitness is not just about being physically healthy – but it’s about being mentally healthy as well. It isn’t just about looking good, but it’s about feeling good and improving the quality of your day-to-day life. If you don’t feel good in your mind, then you certainly won’t feel good in your body.
I love my job because I inspire and I change people’s lives. This isn’t a job for me, but more so a passion.
