Blog: The Great Fitness Experiment
Tracking: Charlotte
Niche: Fitness for FUN & healing. Weight loss is incidental.
Health goal: To live a healthy life full of joy and help others find the same. One specific goal is to climb a 5.11 rock
wall:)
Charlotte's story:
It started with running, as in running away emotionally.
Five years previous I had been sexually assaulted and between the nighttime
panic attacks and the daytime nausea-inducing rounds of guilt roulette, I
simply couldn't run fast or far enough to escape my nightmares. To make
matters worse (better?), my attacker had finally been arrested after assaulting
several other women and I was called to testify in the court case against
him.
During the nine months that the case dragged on, every morning I'd lace up and
run as fast as it took to stop my mind from thinking and, for that one hour a
day, I was happy. Running became my escape. The night I was
attacked, I couldn't run away. But now I could. And oh how I did!
The running continued even after the court case concluded (he plea-bargained to
one year in prison). Never much of an athlete, that was my introduction
into the many benefits of exercise. I loved the runner's high and the new
muscles in my legs. But it wasn't enough...
...I discovered an inner strength to compliment my outer strength ...
I'll be honest: a year of therapy, mandatory restitution, and endless journaling weren't enough either so I don't know how I expected running to heal me. All I know was that it brought me relief. So I added weight lifting a couple of times a week, and then an indoor class or two when the weather got bad. Then, finally, I discovered kickboxing and found out what I was missing.
It was self-confidence. I didn't trust myself to take care of myself. Through kicking, punching and a-bit-too-enthusiastic screaming, I discovered an inner strength to compliment my outer strength. So now when I walk down the street, I hold my head high.
What one thing has helped you the most in
working towards your health & fitness goal:
My gym friends!! They are better than 100 therapists. I don't know what I'd do without them.
What one thing you would like more help with:
How to design a fitness program I can stick to the rest of my life
without become crazy obsessive about it. I'm kind of a compulsive
person and I don't want to step over into eating disorder land, you
know. Any tips?
Visit Charlotte's blog: The Great Fitness Experiment
