When I hit 140 pounds, I was back to my more ideal weight, but was completely unhappy with the way I looked. I had lost a lot of body fat, but I was still wobbly—I was, as some people call it, “skinny fat.”
My husband, who works out religiously, convinced me to go to the gym with him. I had never been to a gym before in my life, but I agreed to go and just test a few of the weight machines. I was so nervous. I felt very intimidated and thought everyone was going to be looking at me, judging me for not knowing what I was doing.
But when I got in there, I realized that everyone was doing their own thing and didn’t really take much notice of me. I tried a few machines and, to my surprise, liked it. I liked feeling sore, I wanted to tone up and get stronger, and I liked lifting more than I liked doing cardio—so I signed up and soon started going to the gym on my own.
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Soon, I got the bug and was heading to the gym four times a week, but I was still pretty unsure of how to do most exercises. I would spend my evenings when the kids were in bed looking through YouTube and Instagram videos for workout ideas, and then I’d copy those routines at the gym. To my luck, I made a friend in the gym who knew a lot more than me, so I started training with her. She taught me a lot about proper form and, over time, it helped me become knowledgeable about what to do on my own.