“My biggest struggle with fitness and health has been the tendency to become obsessive with it, and to use it as a punishment and/or reward after eating. For example, I would think to myself “I binged last night so I need to go on the treadmill for two hours today to make up for this.” I tend to have an all or nothing relationship with exercise, and would go weeks without exercise followed by exercising constantly in order to lose weight. Additionally, in the past, I have used exercise only to make my body look smaller and skinnier, with no focus on feeling better myself or getting stronger. I actually feared gaining muscle as I did not want to look bigger or gain weight.
Working with Bria has allowed me to see a new side to fitness, one where how in shape I am is not defined by how skinny I am or how much weight I can lose. Bria has always encouraged me to focus on the strength I am gaining and my endurance and not how much weight I have lost. She has always recommended setting goals that have nothing to do with my physical appearance, but on feeling and being the best version of myself. For example, prior to Bria my goals were always “lose 10 pounds” and “tone up.” For the first time, I made a fitness goal about something not related to my physical appearance, which is to flip a tire by the summer. Bria always encourages her clients to eat a healthy and full diet, and has never recommended restricting or cutting out whole food groups. As someone who has done these types of fitness programs, and often finds them quite triggering, I really appreciate the type of training and support Bria offers.”
-McKenzie M.