This month I am taking a big leap towards a healthier lifestyle. I am committing to three months of Whole Life Practice at the Practice Studio. Whole life meaning my fitness, nutrients, mental, and physical health. If you follow my blog, you may have seen that I have written about The Practice Studio and their whole life approach before, but before this three month journey begins, I had only tried their incredible classes. I had only scratched the surface of what this program is all about.
Now I am taking the plunge and diving even deeper in order to improve my mental and physical health. I am going to be meeting with a life coach to discuss goals, stress, plans etc. I am going to be planning meals with a nutritionist to make sure that my diet is on track and that I am getting the proper nutrients that I need. Lastly I will be meeting with a personal trainer regularly to focus on my specific fitness goals and areas that I feel I need improvement.
I am feeling a mix of emotions starting this journey. Nervous, scared, excited, curious, but most importantly relieved because this is a team I trust and a step I have been wanting to take for quite some time, I just didn’t seem to have the confidence to do it on my own.
Since I am taking this journey to better myself. To focus on me. To improve my habits. And to create a healthier lifestyle I was inspired to start sharing some of the experience with you on here. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that to get the most out of this experience, I need to be vulnerable, open, and honest. I need to be ok with failing, I need to be happy with small victories, I need to believe in myself. It was this realization that made me want to start a little segment on the blog called “Real Talk”. I know this journey isn’t going to be easy, but it sure as hell is going to be real.
The first Real Talk blog I wanted to touch on something that got me into this situation in the first place; falling off the fitness wagon and losing a sense of self-worth. I feel like everyone can share an experience like this, especially us ladies who are so judgmental and hard on ourselves.
I started playing competitive tennis when I was seven years old. I won my first tournament when I was eight. I made my first national team when I was 11. I moved to Florida when I was 14. I got my first WTA point when I was 17. I received a full tennis scholarship to a division one school in the U.S. when I was 18.
To reach a high level of tennis, I had a very strict regimen. 6 am wake up calls. Four hours of practice a day, one hour of fitness. Protein at every meal, no complex carbs, limited sugar. I grew up fit and that was the only way of life I knew.
After my last year of university tennis, it all changed. I had one semester to go at school, and it was at this point I fell off the wagon. I would eat as if I was still working out six hours a day, but yet I was barely hitting the gym. I packed on 20 pounds. I was always tired. I wasn’t me anymore.
I haven’t been able to get back on the wagon. I would go from one extreme to the next. I would eat healthy for a week and then turn to chocolate and carbs when I was stressed. I would work out every day for a week and then go two weeks without going to the gym because I was “too busy with work”.
This went on for years and years. Yo-yo diets, treadmills traded for elliptical. Or the old “I will just work out tomorrow”. I lost me and couldn’t get me back.
I was overweight, unhappy, unconfident, but yet somehow still unmotivated. I didn’t know what to do. I wouldn’t wear a bathing suit. In fact I wouldn’t even wear jeans. I stopped wanting to go out because I was uncomfortable.
When I was approached by the Practice Studio to take part in their Whole Life Program, I jumped at the opportunity. If I was unable to hold myself accountable, maybe I could get back on track with someone else doing that for me.
I start my Whole Life Program Monday. I am nervous, excited, anxious, scared, but most important relieved. Relieved to finally begin the journey to find myself again.
The three month program will be a journey of life coaching, mindfulness and meditation, nutrition, and fitness. I will work with expertise in all of these fields making concrete goals, working on my overall health, and finding myself again.
I can’t wait to share this experience with you, but in the meantime, I would love to hear if you have had a “fall off the wagon” moment and how you worked through it.
Please share and comment below and join me on this fitness journey.
xo
Mia
