Repossess Your Health Why I’m a Gutsy Girl – new Gutsy story for you today.

All dress sizes are welcome here. And I’m serious.

All dress sizes means all dress sizes.

It also means all dress colors, all dress shapes and all the struggles and successes the woman in that dress carries.

The truth is that there is nothing special about me being “Gutsy.” You are all gutsy. You just have to dig deep to figure out why and how, and then how you can take that gutsy-ness and give back to the world. 

Today is day 5 of the 101 days of blogging.

Why I’m a Gutsy Girl

Today I’m also launching my new Friday feature, which is the “Why I’m a Gutsy Girl“ feature.

I’m not just talking about gutsy as it relates to tummy troubles, infertility or laying the holistic concept vs medicated solution on the line. I’m talking about your own, unique sense of gutsy.

• What’s your story?
• Where did you come from?
• How did you get from point a to point b?
• Where are you going?
• How are you bold and brave?
• What are you doing to inspire new thinking?

Repossess Your Health Why I’m a Gutsy Girl: Marci

Health and Fitness Junkie 

I am a self-proclaimed health and fitness junkie. I earn my living as a personal trainer, and if I’m not lifting weights in the gym or practicing yoga, you can often find me pouring over blogs and reading articles about exercise and nutrition.

Training is my one true passion. It makes me feel alive, strong and confident in a way that nothing else can. If you were to look at me right now, you’d think I have it pretty good. At just 5’2, I’m a petite little thing. I maintain a comfortable level of leanness year round.

Yet contrary to what most people assume, I have to work hard for my physique, and I surely can’t get away with eating whatever I want.

Win the genetic lottery I most definitely did not, and it has taken years of sacrifice and dedication to get to where I am today- which ultimately isn’t even where I want to be.

Growing up

I was a chunky kid, with a head full of unruly, frizzy hair.

In middle school I was often teased by the boys. In the beginning of high school I was the sidekick to my prettier, skinner friends. As a result, I had a poor body image, lacking any sense of self confidence.

Despite being active in various sports, my weight continued to rise. So I joined a gym in an attempt to exercise-off the unwanted pounds. At the time, I was unaware of the role that proper nutrition played in creating the change I desired. No amount of activity could override the processed crap that was my diet.
 
The summer going in to my sophomore year my mom joined Weight Watchers in an effort to lose some weight herself. This ultimately served as the catalyst for my own transformation.

Although I wasn’t a part of the program, she taught me how to use the points system to monitor my intake.

Looking back, I know that my food choices were still poor, yet the concept of portion control helped to jumpstart my initial weight loss. Slowly my body began to transform, and by the time high school graduation arrived, I was literally a different person. I had lost twenty pounds, and I felt ready to take on the new challenges and experiences of college.

Freshmen 15

Despite what I had heard about gaining the dreaded Freshmen 15, I was determined not to become part of that statistic.

While my friends were fueling their all-nighters with pizza and candy, I stuck to a diet of nothing but “clean” foods. And when everyone else was nursing their hangovers after a night of drinking, I was at the gym getting my workout it. The results of my hard work showed, as I was leaner than I had ever been in my life.

Yet for some reason, I still was not satisfied. I became obsessed with learning as much as I could about nutrition and exercise, which inspired me to train harder and manipulate my diet even further.

And because I was able to maintain such a regimented lifestyle despite the stress and social pressures I faced, I viewed myself as the epitome of health and fitness.

However, I would soon discover that just because I looked healthy didn’t mean that I necessarily was…

Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow.

Xox,
SKH

Sarah Kay Hoffman

You will heal. I will help.