Talk to Cynthia Thorburn about fitness, or exercise, or weight loss and she
might use two words more than others to describe her own journey, frustration and patience.
Talk to most people about their struggles with exercise and weight loss, and they might say their biggest motivator or deterrent to is frustration. Frustrated with the way they feel and look. Frustrated with all the confusing information and programs. Frustrated at how hard maintaining good health seems. Frustrated with putting in hours and hours at the gym, going to countless classes, reading every article and newsfeed post, and questioning every bite of food. Cynthia knows how this feels, and with one word she has the secret to her own success in a fitness and weight-loss journey. Patience.
"I know it sounds cheesy but 'don't give up,' and have patience! I definitely know how frustrating it can be when you put in the time and effort to reach a health or fitness goal and don't see the results right away, but take the time and have the patience to find a diet and exercise program that works for you and then stick with it."
Cynthia just celebrated her 30th birthday. This weekend Cynthia will celebrate her wedding, and when walking down the aisle and spinning on the dance floor, she'll quietly be celebrating to herself the results of all the hard work and effort she has put in over the past year.
She'll take a moment and remember the training sessions, the burpees and battle ropes, the sore hamstrings, and all the times she said no to the weekend social meetings at bars and parties, and she can smile because not only has she put in the hard work to revel in this great day, but she's also lost 30lbs, 6.5% body fat, and down 5 inches!
Those inches have been tough work for her seamstress; she's had her dress altered 8 times. But Cynthia wasn't about to let something like that delay her.
I'd estimate that Cynthia and I have spent about 200 hours training together in the past year. And in that time she's probably done thousands of pushups and squats and jump lunges and mtn. climbers, and always with a smile on her face. She went all in on her diet and found the discipline to control her portions. She cut back on alcohol and even added a weekly yoga practice to her program. She's the first to tell you none of it was easy a year ago, and there were a lot of times she was frustrated, but she has stayed the course and after a year of practicing patience she is a perfect example of the real work it requires to achieve your goals. Consistent. Disciplined. Resilient. Motivated. Patient.
"A year ago, I dreaded going to the gym and found it extremely difficult to stay motivated and therefore never saw any real results...Now, I look forward to working out or doing something active every day. As a result, I have become a much happier and significantly healthier person which is what keeps me motivated to continue this new lifestyle!"
What has been the most important factor in your success? I'd say the most important thing I've learned is that hard work and dedication actually does pay off. This was a tough lesson to learn at first, especially when I felt like I was working really hard but not seeing results, however, I stuck with it and eventually, the results followed! Once I learned this, it was much easier to stay motivated. What changes did you make to your diet and nutrition as you worked through the past year? I started cooking healthy meals at home/eating out a lot less and packing healthy, pre-portioned meals to take to work. However, I would say that the biggest change I made was in how much I was eating...portion control has been really important in my success. I've become a big fan of the 80/20 rule.... I make healthy food choices and am conscious of portion control 80% of the time and the other 20% of the time, I allow myself to indulge! I've found that, for me, it's a good balance that keeps my diet on track. I don't even crave half of the "unhealthy" foods that I used to love anymore! What advice can you offer to others as they begin their own health journeys? Make sure to take pictures along the way... Yeah, I know what you're thinking..."Ew! NO ONE needs to see that” but, guess what? You're actually going to want to see that once you start seeing results! You'll regret it if you don't take that picture. It's really motivating when you look back at the pictures over time and realize that you've come a lot further along than you may realize. (Trust me, my "before" picture was never meant to see daylight, however, that picture has provided so much motivation and reassurance for me over the past year... and at the very least, look how much better it makes the "after" picture look! What’s your favorite exercise? I'm afraid to say because Evan might think I actually like them or something...BUT, for the sake of the blog, I'll admit that I don't mind doing bench presses or a lot of the dumbbell upper body exercises...It's kinda cool when you realize a year ago you didn't even know what to do with the 10lb dumbbells and now you're "man handling" the 30lb dumbbells into a bench press without a second thought. Finally, what's your favorite/go-to music for a workout? Who needs music when you have Evan Giles to motivate your workout?!
Sure I help with some of the motivation, but I couldn't be more proud of all the work Cynthia has put in this past year. And I'm especially proud of the knowledge and confidence she's gained for "working out." If you see Cynthia around town this next week make sure to give her a big high five...and tell her to drink some water. Congratulations Cynthia on all your success, and your big day!