Motivation

Hey guys, it's Tim.....

It is very interesting that I am writing about motivation, considering I have been talking about writing this for two weeks. So, enough with the stalling already.

Motivation. What is it exactly? In my opinion,  it is that driving force that gets us moving and pushes us to be our best day in and day out. Your source of motivation may be internal or it may be external, or a combination of both. No matter where it comes from, everyone has something that can serve as their motivation. 

I'd like to share a story about where I get my motivation from. About four and a half years ago, I went to the doctor, in Lynchburg, for a check-up. I hadn't been feeling the best and seemed to always be tired. I was working swing shifts as a dispatcher and I had credited my not feeling well with my job, but wanted to get a physical just in case. By this time, I had applied for the fire department and wanted to make sure my health ducks were in a row. So, at age 20, I strolled into the doctor's office for my physical. The nurse checks my vitals, and my blood pressure was through the roof. The doctor came in a little while later and had the nurse check it again....guess what, still high!! The doctor hands me a small notepad and tells me to check my blood pressure for two weeks at home. If my blood pressure stayed high, he wanted me to come back and put me on blood pressure medicine. Yeah...thanks, but no thanks doc. 

This trip to the doctor scared the living crap out of me. Here I was, at 20 years old, wanting to be a professional firefighter for the rest of my life, and I couldn't even keep my blood pressure in check. It was a serious reality check. I started working out at the local gym after work and started seeing some improvement. Then, I got the call for the interview for Henrico Fire. So, I started pushing myself a little harder in the gym to get ready for the recruit school. I wanted to be as ready as I could when I showed up. My blood pressure was a little better at the job physical for the county but still high. So, I lost some weight during the recruit school and was feeling a little bit better. Well, unfortunately I showed up at the fire station and put on my freshman fifteen. For those of you that don't know, fire stations's get a TON of goodies from our citizens. I was starting to feel and look like I use to.... so, I started to work out with a fellow firefighter and got really competitive trying to keep up with him. I got into working out with more intensity and started enjoying it and feeling better. One morning I got off work after a night of no sleep and went for a run. Six miles later, I was back home and feeling great. I had found something that really clicked for me. I coupled this with an incredibly clean diet and the blood pressure and weight went down.

So....I tell you that background story to explain that my health is my biggest motivator. I don't

ever want to go back to where I was. Another motivator is my vanity. I enjoy when I see people that haven't seen me in awhile, telling me how good I look. Not being boastful, just being honest. It would make anyone feel good to hear that, especially if you never heard it before your transformation. Yet another motivator is my career. I feel like when I signed up to be a professional firefighter that my fitness standards needed to change. On any given day, I could be tasked with entering a burning building to save someone's life. I want to be in the best possible condition to make that happen, so that I don't become the one who needs to be saved. My wife is also a source of motivation for me. I want to be able to spend as much time with her as I can. Without a healthy lifestyle, that time spent with her could be greatly shortened.

So, now that you know my motivators, find something that motivates you. Your motivators don't have to be the same as mine, but make sure you have that motivation. Print out representations of what motivates you and put them in places where you will see them everyday. If you still find yourself struggling, please reach out to myself and/or Lindsay, we are here for you! Since my transformation, I have this burning passion to help others achieve their healthy lifestyle goals. I am never going to tell you it is easy and anybody that does is flat out lying to you....but if you work at it, you will see a huge difference. Just look at our pictures on our Facebook page!

This summer I will be attending an American Council of Exercise Peer Fitness Trainer class that will give me the basis for my personal training certification. Fitness and clean eating are two of my biggest passions and I hope to help as many people as possible achieve their fitness goals.

In Health,

Tim