Kirsten’s Corner: The One About People-Pleasing and Super Heroes

Once upon a time there was a recovering chunky-butt named Kirsten who decided she wanted to work in a gym-o-awesomeness and surround herself with healthy, fit-minded peeps. As part of her indoctrination into the land of IFAST-dom, she was awarded an assessment that verified her strengths and weaknesses as a dormant athlete. She quickly proved herself to have the dexterity of a Weeble-Wobble. They sent their noble and optimistic warrior, Sir Jae, to feverishly train Kirsten in the art of Anti-Humpty-Dump-tery. This is her story…

WEEK 3:

I whole-heartedly believe that most of us are people-pleasers. We make others happy and then, abracadabra, their smiles leapfrog across the room and land on our faces. Joy is contagious like that. It’s why my husband brings me flowers more than any woman deserves. It’s why my daughter makes me cards filled with crayons and creativity.  And it’s why everyone deserves to exercise with a personal trainer.

I have a lot of respect for Jae. He is wickedly smart, committed, and radiates a love for helping others. As my trainer, I appreciate Jae’s patient corrections and his thoughtful responses to my plethora of questions. More than anything, however, I’m grateful that he pushes me more than I would ever push myself.  When he says I’m ready for a heavier weight on my kettlebell deadlift, I trust his judgement, get the beefier cast-iron nemesis, and waddle it back for my next set of reps.  And when I hear him cheer me on, I buckle down and make it happen.

I’m learning to be my own super hero.  In the meantime, Jae will do just fine.

Living happily ever after,
Kirsten

LAST WEEK’S GOALS:

• Measure and track every bite. No, seriously. I mean it this time. Just ask me. GRADE: B-
• Remember the order and quantities for every element of my warm up without needing to look at my program. GRADE: B

THIS WEEK’S GOALS:

• Get BEFORE picture taken for IFAST Skinny Jeans Contest & throw private Going Away party to my size 18’s.
• Lose some weight!!!

LESSONS LEARNED:

• The lines I get on my forehead during Crocodile Breathing are really just tribal marking for the BeastAmongUs tribe.
• I make a particularly unflattering face while foam rolling.  It’s kind of like a frozen angry wink. I’ve named it “the pirate face.” Shiver me timbers!

Kirsten’s Corner is a weekly blog post written by Kirsten Shaw to document her health-fit journey. It is intended to offer humor and inspiration and should not be misconstrued as medical advice or the opinions of IFAST.