Confessions of a Fitness Blogger & Personal Trainer

There's been a trend for these sorts of posts on the blogs I read of late, so I thought I'd jump on the band wagon. It's a nice way of showing that those of us in the fitness world are just as human as anyone else.

I don't always eat well

This is a biggie. I adore my food. I love cakes, baking and cooking in general and as such I am easily swayed by a sweet treat and struggle with recognising when I'm full. If I find something tasty I want to keep on eating. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and eat very little processed food, track my diet occasionally and of course workout a lot but I could be much better, more disciplined. It's a constant battle.

I also have a jar of coconut oil in the cupboard that I'm not really sure what to do with. I'm not always on board with the latest "clean eating" trends...

I'm not always enthused about my workouts

There are days when I just can't be bothered. Sometimes it's because I missed my optimum training time, is something out of my comfort zone, or I've just become bored with it all. It happens. It's one of the reasons I had a coach this year, to be accountable to someone and to help get me through those times when I just wanted to sit on the sofa and eat cake (see above).

I enter too many events

I love entering events. The atmosphere, being part of something, just seeing if I can do something. There's always something being suggested to me by friends or a race report that makes something sound oh-so appealing. And suddenly my plan of only doing 8 events in a year turns into 16 and I'm struggling to juggle my life. It's lead me to over train in the past so I have to accept that I just can't do everything.

I can't do all the things I ask of the people I train

There's a misconception that Personal Trainers are super fit. Most of us are, in one way or another, I suppose long slow running is my forte (although there's still scope for improvement there too) but I have a long way to go to match many of the people I train in terms of strength. That doesn't make me less of a trainer, it just means I concentrate on different things. I'm planning on changing the balance of my training in October though so I'm looking forward to that.

I do not have a runner's build

Or a rower's build. Or a build suited to any kind of sport it would seem. I've certainly not found the thing I have a natural affinity for. Everything I do I have to work at. I cannot go faster just because I look a bit taller and ganglier than some and I sometimes get a bit annoyed of people declaring that I should be able to. I'm judged on my appearance, as we all are to some extent I suppose, and I do feel the pressure to maintain a certain look.

Sometimes I just want to wear nice clothes

I now spend most of my time in workout gear. It comes with the territory. It is for just this reason that I own a lovely range of lycra but sometimes I'd like to wear a dress, or something sparkly, or heels. Or even something that isn't a t-shirt and a hoodie will do. I paint my nails more now I'm a PT.

So those are a few confessions from me. Are there any there that ring true to you too? I don't think there's anything surprising there but I could be wrong.