Camela L. Douglass, M.S. ED

A quick fix always seems like the best resolve when it comes to feeling good and looking better. There are 1,161,685,127 overweight people in the U.S. This number is growing by the second. Statistics show that on any given day half of the women in the U.S. and 1 in 4 men are on a diet. Weight loss surgery, liposuction, pills, and starvation are amongst the quick fixes that are dominating the weight loss industry with no guaranteed lifestyle changes.

Anything worth having something doesn’t come easy. Ask the individuals who choose to fight obesity the natural, healthy way. People are choosing to get healthier one meal at a time-one exercise at a time. Many more are taking it to the next level by inquiring the help of a personal trainer; especially women. I have been a personal trainer for 12 years and I have watched the gym evolve from a place of barking and bragging “hard legs” into a co-ed, competitive space for toning, sculpting, and getting it in. Women are pressing, pumping, and repping it up just as much as the fellas.

As the wave of interest in weight training grows, so does the desire to look like somebody else. Some of my prospective clients adamantly tell me they want to start weight training but they don’t want to look “like a man.” They desire to look like Angela Bassett or Michelle Obama. Then my question to them is “are you willing to do what Angela and the First Lady did to get what they have?”

When you look at someone like Angela Bassett you know (without asking) that her training regimen is top notch. I can guarantee that she not only exercises and eats healthy but she is disciplined and committed to the process. It’s easy to look at what someone else has and want it for yourself. The hard part is actually taking the proper steps to make it happen for you.

Testimonies are just that—a test that an individual had to go through to get to where they are. If it was easy or a quick fix anybody could do it. Going “hard” means giving 110%, practicing discipline, and totally committing to the process of doing better. It does not mean cheating, quitting or making excuses as to why you can’t do something. If you desire Angela Bassett or Michelle Obama arms you are going to have to do what they did to get them. Work hard, go harder. Stay focused, go hard or stay soft. Someone is depending on your testimony.