Consistency is key in all seasons…If you are like the Noel of 5-6 years ago, you just rolled your eyes and murmured some explicative words…Because I thought consistency meant putting in 45 gym hours’ weekly and only eating green beans – NO THANK YOU! But now years, yes years, later I can say that dreaded phrase and whole heartedly agree. Let me rewind time to try to fill in that gap and help explain the change of heart.
Consistency is key in all seasons…
The Melting Season:
Several years back I found myself in a dark place, I had let life (you know – kids, building a house, work, society needs, family drama, etc.) take over. I looked in the mirror one day and seriously did not recognize or like the person looking back at me. With some encouragement of girlfriends I stuck my big toe back in the gym after years of being “on the bench” and began to return to my original, younger version of myself that loved of running. That spring, I did my first 5k and thought I was going to die, ok maybe not die, but definitely pass out and wither away behind the dumpster I was contemplating throwing up behind (a nice eye opening reality check that treadmill miles and outdoor humidity miles are not the same). In that very moment I knew I needed a different workout plan, I needed someone or something that would help push me and guide me so that my knee did not end up back in a brace. Suddenly there it was, right in front of me. My new love was found in a grungy, smelly kickboxing gym in a back alley of Millington, TN. Kickboxing was the cardio and therapeutic push I needed, the pounds started to melt away. I was very lucky to have a trainer whom was also my friend and as the gym underwent changes he encouraged me to keep searching for new ways to challenge myself and keep consistent, particularly in the weight lifting category. Following my friend’s advice I searched for something strength related that I could add to the kickboxing regime to keep me motivated and moving in the right direction.
With some encouragement of girlfriends I stuck my big toe back in the gym after years of ‘being on the bench”
The Crying Season:
After trying a few different places I found my way to the Fusion Fitness site and after only one phone call I decided to try it. I committed to just 4 weeks in a church gym, with a small lady – how bad could it be right? WRONG! Yet Erica turned out to be exactly what I needed at the time, I just did not know it. I cried when I left there every Tuesday and Thursday morning for 6 weeks. She pushed us, in a friendly but fierce way. She expected the best of me and everyone in that gym.She believed in me in ways I had forgotten how to. Slowly the tears faded and each week things felt more normal. The early morning consistency was paying off. The two days of boot camp mixed with kickboxing, running, and Fusion & Core were all starting to make an impact in the all the parts of Noel that had been buried by life.
Slowly the tears faded and each week felt normal.
The Transformation Season:
One day it dawned me on, I had not cried after a boot camp session in months – I was actually enjoying them. The consistency had paid itself forward. I had slowly moved from the back corner of the gym to a place more up front closer to Erica. I no longer hid in the back of the line for sprints or behind a heavy kickboxing bag. I attended a nutrition seminar and magic…the transformation continued. As my physical transformation bloomed, my light that had been blurred underneath all that worldly weight began to shine again. I can truly say I have never left a session with Mike or Erica that I did not feel a little better about myself and a little more calm about the world around me. As life would have it my personal world had, as life often does, started shifting again. A new position at work put me on the road more often and made it much more difficult to get to that 5:15 am work out call, but luckily the consistent blessing of good leadership over the years once again proved to be beneficial, allowing me the chance to work out on the road and make good food choices when I was not able to make boot camps.
The Season of Growth:
In April 2018 I will be celebrating my fifth anniversary of Fusion Bootcamp and as life would have it this year I am staring down the barrel of a new decade and more life changes heading my way. For the first time in a long time I am proud of who I am, and I have found the strength I did not know I had both internally and externally. Five years later I still mutter those curse words and still struggle with the balance of life versus me time. Yet, I truly believe the best is yet to come as I now know and understand that real consistency actually is the key. Consistent leadership, consistent support, and a consistent push to be the best version of you, consistently evolving. Above all I have been blessed with the revelation that no matter what season life is putting you through, being consistent with yourself is the ultimate training and offers the best reward.
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