Confessions of a Wilmington NC personal trainer and boot camp instructor
As a personal trainer, everywhere I go people I see and meet are always asking me questions related to weight loss, fitness, nutrition-you name it. I am fortunate enough to work in a field that people like to talk about.
I really enjoy it and love to help people even if it is just answering a question about a topic that I really take for granted.
Other things that happen to me on a fairly frequent basis is that when I run into someone I know in the grocery store, they will look in my cart to see what I am shopping for. When in a restaurant they will carefully look at my plate to see what I ordered. If in the break room at work people carefully observe what I might purchase from a vending machine. The list goes on…….
Let this fitness trainer make a few confessions that may shock you but will hopefully liberate you.
1.) I like ice cream, I believe that Almighty God did a great service to human kind when he gave us the ingenuity to invent it. PS-favorite flavor is chocolate chip cookie dough.
2.) I like chocolate, see number 1 for my belief system on this food. I never was to crazy about it before I met my wife. However, now I can enjoy it with the best of them. Peanut M & Ms are the choc of choice.
3.) I don’t always feel super enthusiastic about exercise. Sometimes I don’t want to do it, so I don’t. Other times I make myself. The point is that exercising is a discipline and I am just like you in that I struggle to make myself do it sometimes.
4.) I sometimes struggle mentally about how I look too. Yes, although I have been personal training for many years I still have “fat days”-you know what I mean?
I have times when body image is factor-good days and bad.
Does any of this surprise you? I am just trying to keep it real and let you into my world a little bit.
I don’t tell you these things to give you license to blatantly make bad food choices on a regular basis. Or to tell you to not exercise. Or to give into those thoughts of inadequacy that you might have.
- I tell you these things so that you will know that these are normal thoughts and feelings
- It is ok to eat some foods t you enjoy in moderation and not deprive yourself
- You don’t have to feel condemned if you skip exercise on a day
- To let you know I am a regular person just like you and have the same struggles that you do at times-I understand.
I hope that this post will encourage you and give you hope that it is quite normal to be imperfect.
Monty
Personal trainer Wilmington NC
Boot Camp is like having a personal trainer, but a lot less expensive. Monty presents so much material in a relatively short period of time, in a very enjoyable atmosphere. For many of us, who like to workout, Monty showed us the way to make our workouts more effective by taking it a lot more seriously. I have been participating in Monty’s boot camp since January of 2008 and it has truly changed the way I feel about myself. I have lost weight, body fat (I am now ONLY 16.5%) and overall feel healthier!
Over the last year and a-half my routine of exercising at least 3 times a week was interrupted by time I needed to devote to my aging parents. Mom (92) fell and broke her hip last Sept. and Dad died 2 weeks later. So I slowly found myself unable to participate in my step workout that I loved, started eating on the run and finally started seeing the lbs slowly inching up. I knew I had to do something but did not want to start a diet that I knew I could not stay with.....too many other things to keep up with. I talked with a co-worker that looked terrific and asked her what she was doing to have lost so much weight. She indicated that she was on "Weight Watchers" but she felt the real reason she was loosing was the "Boot Camp" she was going to.....I wondered how she was doing that since I knew she had had knee surgery.....it sounded interesting so I looked on line and found "Monty's Boot Camp"......I tried it for week.....and it was such fun and challenging and in close proximity to my Mom's assisted living facility making it convenient to swing by after working out.....my goal was to loose 20 lbs.......well it's been 3 months and I have lost 18 lbs, and dropped 2 sizes (I did not expect that!).....I am eating smart but not dieting and really eat what I want on week-ends. I love the people, workouts (which are different each day), facility and the way my body is responding to the workouts. I have really learned how important it is to be strong as you grow older watching my mom struggle to gain upper and core body strength just to walk with a walker. I'm so glad I gave this new way of keeping fit a chance.....my metabolism needed a bump and it sure got one!....I look forward to each workout and consider it the best part of my day. Boot Camp sounds scary but it's fun and Monty is such an encourager regardless of your size, goals or personality..... he makes the workout work for you. Try it you'll like it!
Comments on Confessions of a Wilmington NC personal trainer and boot camp instructor
Wow-it is such a relief to hear that a personal trainer has the same, normal problems that I have! I try so hard to be good with exercising and eating well but it can so so hard at times. The most difficult part is telling yourself that it is okay to make mistakes. Thanks for sharing Monty!
Thanks for the inspiration. I think so many women (myself included) strive for perfection, when we really need to strive for balance.
I am a vegetarian and have the worst eating habits. Even though I don’t eat meat, I eat a lot of junk food and fast food because I hate cooking. I want to change my habits before I turn 30, so I’m working in a short time frame.
It’s good to know that you struggle with chocolate because we have a problem with chocolate in the office.
I do have a question though. What helps motivate you on the days that you don’t exercise but do so anyway?
Thanks Monty for your comment and support. It’s nice to know that you represent what a “true” individual deals with while still being compassionate about helping others in getting healthy.
Thanks for letting us know that you are human, Monty! This is a struggle for all of us, but it’s about choices. Thanks for pushing us and supporting us as we transform!
I confess to my visit to Cold Stone last night for a small sized scoop of mint chocolate chip goodness. And, I enjoyed every bit of it, guilt free.
Craving satisfied.
Thank you for your candidness. I agree with Jennifer W. – it’s all about balance, and moderation. It’s about making a commitment to yourself to make changes in your life and develop a sense of stick-to-it-ness and it’s about making choices, and becoming informed about those choices.
Thanks for sharing! And thank you for keepin it real
Hey ladies,
Thanks for all of your comments. I hope this type of interaction will help keep us all accountable and help
support one another.
@Shaina-answering your question-Having a vision of where I want to be, base your goals around them and write them down. This way you can refer back to them when your mind is telling you to stay on the couch. I also often have to remind myself how much better I will feel after the workout.
Remember, that the first step out the door is always the hardest.
Having the support of the boot camp group will be a big help to you!
Jen,
Absolutely hilarious! Nice choice of flavors.
I thought it was cute, real and informative. I am really enjoying the bootcamp, Im seeing results maybe not as fast as I would like ofcourse but Im getting there. I was wondering if you have any nutition ideas I stopped drinking soda which is really hard and I try to goes days at a time without a diet soda as well. I shoot for splenda over aspartame do you have an opinion on these sweeteners? thanks see ya later !
Treca
Great to hear you are doing well! Artificial sweeteners have pros and cons for sure. I would definitely do Splenda over aspartame. Like anything else, don’t go overboard with it. Keep it up!
Monty,
I always thought that trainers were these super human perfect specimens that lived by the strict creed of exercise and nutrition. I’m so relieved to know that you are human and face the same issues most of us face. Thank you for your honesty and sharing your story.
-Robin Bennett-
Okay it’s been 3 months now with Monty’s Bootcamp and I am absolutely HOOKED! I love it! And most of all it WORKS!! I started out at 182 and am now down to 165. I’m almost down 20lbs and the great thing is I can actually see results and the “fruits of my labor”. I want to say thank you Monty for all of your support and continuing encouragement and to my new lady friends who I must say are looking good too, THANK YOU for encouraging me to never give up. This is an awesome program Monty has for all women. I encourage anyone who is trying to find a fun, challenging and true method of weight loss to try his program. I’m pretty sure you will become “Hooked” too.