I’m (kind of) kidding, but truthfully I want to share with you why this whole ‘Fitness Competition’ thing is so surreal that, even though I am incredibly uncomfortable asking anyone for anything, I feel like I cannot waste this opportunity.
If you haven’t heard my story, you may be questioning why someone who is a fitness professional would be making such a big deal out of doing something in the fitness industry!
Well, the abridged version goes something like this:
Girl’s weight yo-yo’s throughout her teens.
Girl meets boy and girl goes to University.
The combination of those two life events causes girl’s weight to hit an all time high.
Girl’s BMI hits ‘obese’ as the number on the scale exceeds 250lbs.
Girl is horrified.
Girl proceeds to try all the things and finally lands on a solution that worked for her.
Girl loses almost 100lbs and builds a career teaching others to do what she did.
Got it? Ok, good. Now we are all up to speed, here comes to interesting part.
If you’ve ever lost a large amount of weight, you will identify with this greatly – the obese girl still lives inside me, showing up in my reflection on ‘bad’ days, showing up in my relationships on ‘insecure’ days and showing up in my head with her negative self-talk bullshit on most days.
The trouble with losing a lot of weight is that it is the rare person who finds themselves enjoying a new body with zero evidence of their previous rotund status (I’m talking Unicorn rare). Most of us have some scars of the ‘old us’; physical scars like stretch marks and excess skin, and emotional scars like a skewed self-image or self-esteem that lives in the gutter. It’s these things that leave a mark on the perception that some of us have of what is possible for our lives.
It is this perception that had me shocked into inaction when I first received the email inviting me to apply for the Muscle & Fitness Hers, Ms Health and Fitness 2018 competition.
Shock turned into dismissal and even a social media post about how ridiculous a notion this was but ‘it’s nice to be on the spam email list’!
But the people that follow me on my social media accounts obviously see something in me that I struggle to identify in myself because the resounding response was “you tell us to believe in ourselves all the time, now it’s your turn”.
Thanks for calling me out guys!
So, you see, from receiving the invitation, to applying, to being one of the hand-selected women to compete for the opportunity to be featured in the magazine and win a cash prize, I have been taken through quite a journey of realization – that I didn’t walk my talk in all aspects of my life (I’m not ok with that) and that when you are invited to do something, whether or not you feel qualified to do it, you say yes and figure it out as you go (I’m totally ok with the growth opportunity this will provide regardless of the outcome)!
My point?
Do the scary shit!
Say yes first and work out the steps second!
When you challenge those bullshit perceptions, you grow and if you can come out of an experience having learned something about yourself, there really is no failure, even if you don’t technically win!
So here it is – my invitation to you to vote for me as Ms Health and Fitness 2018!
I know it’s scary to commit to doing something for somebody else that serves no purpose to your life whatsoever. I appreciate you!
Accept the invitation and then go figure out your Facebook password. I appreciate you!
What you do now could have a dramatic impact on my life. Challenge that perception that one person doesn’t matter, that one vote won’t make a difference and go vote HERE! I’ll forever appreciate you!
Sabs xxxx
