Stone's Gym Member of the Month

Recently I was nominated as the member of the month. They asked me to create a write up for them. This is it.

About Me

2015 was a powerful year for me. It was a year I realized I needed to stop doing what I was doing. I was watching TV, playing video games till 1-2 in the morning. I wasn't showing up for my family or work mentally, I was depressed.

To combat depression, I turned to food. Guess what, pretty quickly I became depressed and obese. Mid 2015, I discovered I was over 300 pounds. My clothes didn't fit. I had no energy. I struggled showing love to who mattered most because I couldn't find love for myself.

I didn't know what to do but I knew what I was doing wasn't working. But I didn't have the time... Or did I?

Desperate to find time to fix my life, I recorded what I was doing for a week. I was completely inefficient with the time I had. What's more, I spent half the time scrolling Facebook and Instagram drooling at the latest cake recipes or drink cocktails because that's a super healthy expense of my personal time. #sarcasm

I even prioritized shows I didn't enjoy over sleep. I was as efficient as a zombie on The Walking Dead.

So I shifted my schedule slightly and re-prioritized things I thought should matter to me. What's more, I did the same at work. Instead of smoking for my smoke break, which I quit in 2014, I began walking up and down the stair well. I could only get to the 3rd floor before I had to stop, out of breath. But after a while i made 4, 5, 6 and 7 floors without stopping.

Once I improved my stamina, I started going on walks at lunch. As you may guess with the weather in Houston, I came back a sweaty, stinky mess. It was only a matter of time before my noxious fumes drove my coworkers mad. That's when I remembered a few of them go to Stones to work out. Gyms had showers and I needed showers. Done deal.

But then I visited Stones and you guys had to be all awesome and cool. Curious, interested, and not pushy like so many other places I know. I got to know so many great people with so many great stories, both staff and members alike. It's hard not to love the place.

The coolest part is I'm just beginning. I've only recently started classes and my goodness, there are some exceptional trainers upstairs at noon. And they will serve you a fat slice of humble pie with a smile.

I get it, joining a gym, finding a new gym is scary. You don't know anyone, you think everyone's staring at you, judging your form, expecting to hear snickers when you fall to your knees 5th push up. That was me. But all I've received was love, some times tough love (Estella on Tuesdays [she's awesome]).

Anyway, I found it's okay to look silly at the gym. I still do. And yeah, some of my gym brothers do crazy intimidating stuff I don't understand. But we got to stop comparing or chapter 1s with their chapter 10s. It's a journey, start walking. And if you fall off the wagon on this epic adventure toward fitness, it's cool, don't get disgruntled, get back up on the wagon.

The only ones who don't fail daily reside in cemeteries.