Striving for Quality of Life

After completing high school, I qualified in the profession of social work because I wanted to help people. I know I have been accomplishing this because I can see the positive difference my presence has made in my workplace as I support and interact with adults with intellectual disabilities. Although I really enjoy the work and the individuals I work with, health and quality of life have become more important focal points in my life, and that focus is leading me toward a different career path. A desk job may be comfortable, but it doesn’t help facilitate a healthy, active lifestyle.

Physical activity and healthy eating have always been important to me but even more so in recent years. Fourteen years ago I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. As a result, I began receiving more appropriate medical treatment for the symptoms I experience. I started becoming healthier, which at that time, ironically made me less concerned with my health. Because I was not diagnosed at birth, I was not born into a family who knew more about cystic fibrosis than I did, so my education process took a long time. Ultimately, with a lot of help and encouragement from the medical team that monitors my chronic disease, I realized that if I want to continue to enjoy the quality of life I currently have, I need to make health a significant focus in my life. As I’ve seen my own health improve, I have become passionate about helping other people on the same journey.

In North America, many people are struggling with poor health for various reasons. I want to help change this. Therefore, I have begun the education process to become a certified personal trainer. Some advantages of improved health are more energy, fewer trips to the doctor, fewer or no medications and a healthy stress release. Obesity has been labelled an epidemic in North America and that is largely attributed to poor nutritional education and the convenience of a sedentary lifestyle. Humans were not made to sit around all day eating high-calorie food. We need to move.

Moving to a career as a certified personal trainer will continue to satisfy my passion to help people and improve their lives, but in a different way and in a different setting. For me, personal health isn’t just physical fitness. It is about keeping up with your kids or grandkids, enjoying nature, appreciating the body you have, and having a long, happy, fulfilled life with your loved ones. Being healthy is treating yourself with respect and elevating yourself physically and mentally to be the best person you can be.

Diet and exercise are incredibly important in extending quality of life into old age. It also prevents numerous complications in the cardiovascular system and can alleviate the risk of type 2 diabetes, or lessen symptoms or the need for increased medication if that is a current diagnosis. However, the biggest barrier I have seen people struggle to conquer when wanting to make healthy lifestyle changes is not lifting weights, cardio, or eating healthy options, it is struggling to appreciate themselves.

When a person is in a poor state of health, their self-esteem tends to be near non-existent. They do not focus on self-care and self-appreciation, and their motivation fails rapidly when they do not immediately see results from their efforts. They blame themselves and spiral through disappointment and self-hatred. This is the point where so many people get stuck in their journey to becoming a healthier person. They need to be taught how to appreciate the person they are and to realize that failure is acceptable as long as they get back up and try again.

Without being in a good mental state, improving your physical body is nearly impossible because any failure causes a spiral of self-deprecation. People need encouragement. They need help being raised up before they can raise themselves up. Quality of life is dependent on the ability to live a long, happy, healthy, and independent life, in which one failure doesn’t mean defeat and mistakes mean opportunities for improvement, not areas of self-hatred or disgust.

I want to help people become the best versions of themselves, the person that they idealize themselves to be. For that to happen they need to focus on their mental health as well as their physical health. I want people to achieve their goals for their physical health, but also goals they want to pursue in their family life and at work, so they feel satisfied and comfortable with their lives. I believe that through the implementation of personalized workout plans, guidelines for daily food consumption, and learning how to control self-talk, people can have greater success in reaching their goals. This isn’t only about food and fitness, it is about teaching people how to re-develop themselves to be successful.

Once I am a certified personal trainer I want to work with clients one-on-one as well as in groups. Within the group setting I want to create an environment of support and encouragement, so the group becomes a strong pillar the clients can lean on when they are struggling with life. Focusing on self-care and mental health, I want the people I work with to overcome obstacles and find better, healthier ways to cope with the stresses of life. As they learn what a healthy diet looks like and become stronger physically, I also want to help them to become stronger mentally so they can take on whatever stresses life throws at them.

I am just getting started in the journey and do not yet have followers, but I know people will benefit from what I have to share. Personal Training is a tried and true business, but for me, it is much more than that. My desire is to motivate people to rise above their failures and continue their journey to a fulfilling lifestyle, because if they start loving and believing in themselves, they will be far more likely to succeed. The success of my clients and their improved quality of life are what motivate me and make me passionate about health.