Wow, I am a ball of nervous energy right now. My life feels like it has finally begun and I'm 34 years old!! After a chat with my mom, who along with my dad are the two most supportive and loving parents anyone could ask for (And I was not bribed into saying that haha) we got me signed up for a Zumba certification class in January. And then today...I started on the road to having an AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America) certification in Group Fitness. This is really happening. It's not just a dream anymore. I'm actually going to do it!!
2 1/2 years ago, I was 330+ lbs. 330!! And I was there for a very very long time. If someone had told me that one day I'd be preparing myself to teach fitness classes and to help other people lose weight, I would have laughed in their face...a lot. 2 1/2 years ago, I fought exercise like my life depended on it. I could come up with a million and one excuses why it could wait until "tomorrow". "Eating healthy" wasn't even on my radar. Now as I sit here writing this, I've done 4 workouts in the past 24 hours. Some of my gym friends tell me I'm crazy, but I take it as a compliment!
I still have 50 lbs to lose, but I decided I don't want to wait. I used to be terrified of taking a fitness class. I didn't want to be the fat jiggly girl flapping around the room while everyone laughed. I told myself that when I hit 250 lbs, I would get up the guts to take a class. So I waited...and waited....and I watched the scale go up and down up and down, always staying clear of the 250 mark. And then a friend told me, "Stop waiting and just do it...or you'll never get there." And they were right. Subconsciously, I was avoiding hitting 250 because I was so unbelievably terrified of doing it. So I did it. I "sucked it up, buttercup" and took my very first zumba class. Growing up in a musical family, with a mother who herself taught aerobics classes, I felt like I picked it up fairly quickly and I immediately fell in love. One zumba gold class became 3 a week. 3 a week then became 3 and a regular zumba class on the weekend. Then I added yoga. Then I added an occasional step class...and bosu boot camp...and 6am water aerobics!! See? Crazy. And now that wonderful zumba teacher who took me in for my very first class...is now my personal trainer who I see 5 days a week whether in her own home or for a weight lifting session at the gym or for a fitness class. Taking that one class...meeting this one person...has changed my entire life. I know if I wait to get certified until I'm at my goal weight, I will never get there. The time is NOW!
So now for the first time in my life, I am preparing for an actual career. Not just a job that helped pay the bills, but a real career that I will LOVE and be beyond passionate about doing. And it scares the crap out of me.
There's not much to do in preparation for the zumba certification. The workshop and testing is a 9 hour affair and hopefully I walk away certified to teach it. The real preparation will come in choosing and preparing music, making up my own choreography (and memorizing it!) and then finally finding a place to actually teach. Talk about overwhelming.
But the really tough part in all this will be the AFAA stuff. In order to teach at the gym I attend (and most likely most other gyms), I need to have a certification to teach group fitness. This is a lot more involved. Today I started a pre-requisite course for newbies that will help prepare me for the real test. Then once I'm sent all my study materials, I will spend the next 1-3 months studying everything from anatomy and injury prevention to teaching methods and strength training....and on top of all that I'll have to become CPR/AED certified. Before the test, I'll attend a workshop where I put everything I've studied into practice. If I haven't learned to get over any shyness by then, I'm sure that will do the trick! Then when I'm ready, I take (what I think is) a 2 day test..one written and then a practical exam. I've been told that learning all the science behind it is rather involved and overwhelming, but after being out of school for more than a decade, I have to say I'm excited to get studying again!
I realize that this won't actually become an official career until I get a job and am actually doing what I'm studying to do, but the fact that I'm even on the road to doing so just brings me to very happy tears. I can't thank my family and my friends enough for their help in getting me here. I feel very lucky and so so blessed to have that kind of unconditional love and support in my life. Without it, I know I'd still be that same person I was 2 1/2 years ago both on the inside and the outside. And life is so much better the way it is now!
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