The Journey to be ‘MotivatedbyMatt’

But I don’t fit the profile! That’s the self doubt that keeps rolling through my mind today. I put myself out there, state my intentions and could make a laughing stock of myself, but to who, more than myself!

I can’t remember when the idea first crossed my mind but I do remember it was long before it was actually plausible. Whether or not I have what it takes will be the journey I embark on stating my intentions today. I can, however, remember the first time the idea to be a personal trainer seemed like more than just a passing thought. I was being trained with a group of people but we were left with little to no supervision. And instead of just concentrating on my own workout I also started showing a friend the correct form to do the workout as well, and I thought to myself “Damn, you could really do this!” And an idea was born. The interesting thing was that the more I thought about it the more I compounded on it, trying to figure out how to make it a reality and what that would actually look like.

So you don’t know that much about me but here’s the basics of what you should know. On the scale of busy and free I’m almost always maxing out on busy. Pretty busy working full time and by full time I mean I’m always on call. And besides working, when I do get free time I use it up traveling or feeding into other obligations. Basically being a personal trainer isn’t a career switch for me. It’s  not a need but more goal oriented if i may!

For the past few years I’ve been going to the gym pretty consistent and thinking I was taking it seriously. I grew up skinny with a fast metabolism always trying to pack on enough size. When I got a little size and muscle I don’t think it occurred to me how much further I could possibly go. Call it self doubt, complacency or just a lack of pushing, but I felt that I kind of plateaued and although I wasn’t  (am not) where I wanted to be I don’t know that I thought I ever could be. I get the feeling there are more people like me than not.

There’s an interesting thing about growing up underweight and feeling skinny. I’m not sure if fat people feel this way but even when I was no longer “skinny” I still hung on to that complex. I had put on size I wanted and I thought I looked decent so I didn’t even realize that in gaining muscle I had been gaining body fat the entire time! About a year and a half ago when starting back a gym I insisted on getting my percentages done. The owner who was doing the testing asked me to guess my body fat percentage which I thought was around 12-14 percent. I nearly dropped over and had a heart attack when he told me it was 20 percent. Truthfully his measurements were off and I was closer to 16, but that was still a number that I had never associated myself with. Was I skinny fat? I didn’t feel like 16! And worst it came with a certain amount of shame like the fact that they put me in the green group (fat loss) instead of blue (strength training)! And I was reminded to stay away from carbs and alcohol! It was laughable between me and my friends because I honestly don’t fit a fat profile. But it gave me a bigger appreciation for even just a small percentage of what fat shaming could feel like!

What’s worse is that I didn’t particularly know how to change it! For someone who was going to the gym and understanding quiet a bit about it,I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know. Over the summer I launched a competition at work called ‘summer body competition’ which was in the vain of The Biggest Loser lasting the entire three months of summer and the kick being whoever lost the most body fat won the competition. I didn’t think I could realistically win but I thought it would give me a serious push to get below my 16% which hadn’t really been moving!

Picture me halfway through summer working out longer and eating healthier and still not budging! So many things I read said I HAD to eat at a deficit because that’s the only way to lose body fat and yet I refused to. Was more afraid to, is more like it. Who wants to eat at a deficit and start to lose muscle you worked so hard your whole life to gain! But nothing else was working and I had to give it a shot. And I did, and it worked! Body fat started to drop off and by the end of the competition I was down about a percent. Nothing to gloat about considering I came about 10th in the competition, but it was a spark that ignited a fire in me. You can’t invent the wheel, that’s already been done, you just need to be dedicated and focused enough to follow it.

Since then I’ve taken the last few months to do trial and error. It’s been mostly about trimming the fat right now and it’s had it’s ups and downs but ultimately it’s working.

I set a goal that once I dropped below 14 percent I would officially throw in my claim to put one more skill set behind my name. I officially hit that goal on January 15th, about two weeks too late thanks to Christmas dinners and parties. But here I am, at the very start of my journey, inviting you to join me @motivatedbymatt . I mean why not? There isn’t any other personal trainers out there who aren’t already professional models with six pack abs, bulging biceps and under 10% body fat! And their is always the strong chance that you get to see me fail and fall flat on my face which should be entertaining enough! Lets do this!

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