Posts Tagged ‘Fort Collins personal trainer’
The Athlete of the Week series was created to spotlight the amazing people around us who are not only moms, dads, workers and friends but they are superstar athletes as well. Being an athlete does not always mean that they are Olympic level in their sport. It doesn’t even mean that they compete, or that they would beat anyone else if they tried. It means that they have made a commitment to their health by staying active and changing their lifestyle to do so. They inspire me every day, and I hope they inspire you as well.
Every Friday, look for a new installment and a new athlete spotlight. If you’d like to be featured, just email me at curvyandfit@gmail.com!
This week’s Athlete of the Week is Lacy Fuller, a swimmer, yogini, new bride and computer magician in Fort Collins. She is one of my favorite people to work out with because she is always thinking about how much farther she can go, but always knowing her own body. She lives to exercise because she has fun doing it. Lacy is an adult athlete extraordinaire, and not just because of her performance in the water, but because of her ability to treat her body right and balance her life.
Age (optional):
32
Personal Mantra (optional):
Don’t waste your time feeling guilty. I read once (on the blog of Olympic swimmer Ian Crocker) that feeling guilty actually slows down your metabolism, so it’s better to just eat that donut you’re craving and not feel bad about it, than to agonize over it.
There’s also the guilt of skipping a workout. I’m terrible about feeling bad about missing a swim practice or planned workout session, but feeling bad about it doesn’t help anyone. We are all human, and some days we just need that extra sleep, or to rest an injury, and realizing that skipping a day at the gym isn’t the end of the world is important to keep you from overdoing it (again, I’m very guilty of this), or burning yourself out. This is a mantra that I keep up to try and remind myself that I’m not a professional athlete, and that I’m allowed to take a day off if I need it.
What’s your absolute favorite activity/exercise?
Swimming. I spent a lot of years trying to get excited for just going to a gym and lifting weights, run on a treadmill, or go to aerobics classes, but I could never make myself stick with those things. It was just too easy to blow them off, or put them off, especially when my parents were footing the bill for the gym membership.
A few years ago I got really excited watching the summer Olympics in Beijing, particularly the swimming competition. That spurred me into taking swimming lessons (I hadn’t had any instruction since I was a little kid) and then, eventually, to start swimming with a Masters team. I found that swimming with Masters was way more motivating than swimming on my own. Having a coach there to dictate a workout keeps you from just doing easy sets and not pushing yourself. It’s also a great way to keep yourself going, having a coach and teammates who expect to see you, and question your whereabouts when you skip a practice. Not to mention all the camaraderie of being on a team, having people to help you when you’re struggling, or share your victories.
Swimming is such a great workout; probably the best I’ve ever done. Another thing I really like about it is the lack of impact. I have issue with my ankles and knees (including one that I just had surgery on for a torn meniscus), and I can still swim (and fast!) with little pain or irritation.
What makes you committed to staying active?
The way it makes me feel. Days when I don’t get to do something active, I tend to get anxious, or have trouble focusing. I feel better when I can slip off at lunch and swim, or even just ride my bicycle to work.
I also like that it keeps me healthy. Doing endurance sports has helped my asthma, and improved my overall health (more muscle, less fat, lower resting heart rate, etc.). And that helps buoy my self confidence, makes me feel better about who I am and what I can accomplish.
How do you work exercise into your busy life?
I work for a company that is very committed to keeping a good work/life balance. They encourage people to be active, and allow for flexible schedules to allow employees to get out of their chairs and do something. Because of that, I’m able to swim almost every practice my team offers, and I can easily ride my bike to work.
I also tend to make a schedule and stick to it. I decide what days I want to do which activity: softball on Tuesday, swimming M/W/F morning, running on Wednesday nights, something like that. Then I keep track of what I’ve done on my US Masters Swimming Fitness Log (FLOG) so I can keep myself accountable. I try not to skip my workouts or change my schedule unless it’s something unavoidable. Having a schedule enables me to keep up with my plan, and try to avoid the inevitable decision to blow a workout off because I’m not feeling like doing it.
Who inspires you?
My swim teammates. I swim with a lot of really ambitious people (including Ms. Sara Jelley) who go off and do things like swim 10Ks or do Iron Man triathlons or swim across the English Channel. I’m not sure those are things I’ll ever do myself, but I figure if they can do that, then I should be able to do an Olympic distance triathlon, or swim a mile in competition. The people I train with inspire me to go faster (to keep up!) and work on my technique.
Being on a team is so encouraging. I can’t stress that enough. My teammates lift me up when I’m feeling down, and cheer me on when I’m racing. They’re there when I climb out of the pool to give me high fives and hugs of congratulations. There’s really no better feeling than knowing you’ve got people on your side. It makes you want to do the best you can, so you don’t let them down.
Do you have any words of advice for new fitness enthusiasts, regarding sports, exercise, and/or life?
Listen to your body, and do what’s right for you. There’s no need to push yourself past your limits, and trying to keep up with someone who has more experience or ability than yourself can be extremely discouraging, and potentially harmful to yourself. There’s nothing wrong with competition, but the only person you need to measure yourself against is you.
I’ve recently hit a rough patch in my active life by sustaining a sports related injury. I’ve been knocked off my feet a couple of times in the last two months, and it’s so hard for me to sit back and wait to heal. I spend a lot of time thinking about the hours of work I’ve put in – in the pool, on the treadmill, in the gym – and wondering where I’ll be when I’m finally back on my feet again.
The challenge for me is to listen to my body and not rush myself back into my normal exercise routine. All I want is to be back to normal, but that’s going to take time. The thing is, it will happen. I just need to be patient, and to take it easy when I’m able to return to activity.
We are all different, have different levels of ability and skill. Don’t let the feeling that you’re “bad” at something discourage you from doing it. If it’s something you truly love, don’t give up on it! Who cares if you’re the slowest person on your swim team? You’re still swimming, and taking that step toward a more active life. And that’s never a bad thing.
Favorite vegetable and why?
Okay this is a tough one for me. My first thought was avocado, but that’s not a vegetable. 
Being a vegetarian, I eat a lot of vegetables – and love a lot of them, too – so choosing one favorite is quite a challenge! I think I will go with green bell pepper. I love them cooked and incorporated in things like veggie chili and stir fry, but I also love to eat them raw, dipped in a little ranch dressing. They have such a unique flavor and pleasing texture, I just really enjoy eating them!
Thank you Lacy! I love what she has to say.
Subscribe up there –>^ to get in on this inspiration weekly! Thanks, friends!
Click to view our past Athletes of the Week:
Dee Wanger
Love,
Sara
Hello All!
The following is a copy of my first ever Curvy Fitness Newsletter!
This email list will receive updates about Curvy Fitness, my new business endeavor as a Personal Trainer/Yoga Teacher in Fort Collins!
If you would like to be on my newsletter email list, please email me at curvyandfit@gmail.com!
Here’s the good stuff:
*The Website: http://thefitnesscurve.com/ I have a blog that you can subscribe to to get even more updates as they come, and sometimes I write some pretty interesting insights and happenings up there. I know some of you are web experts, so I am open to any and all feedback on my site! Its looking better all the time though, so check it out!
*The Meetup group: http://www.meetup.com/Curvy-Fit/ The place to find out about group classes- I’m teaching a class at City Park every other Thursday at 6pm! I’ll be alternating these fitness classes with yoga classes in the park. The yoga classes are free, since they are through the free school (http://focofreeschool.wordpress.com/) until it gets too cold to practice outside!
*Personal Training: I am accepting new clients and would love to talk with you about beginning a personal training program. Fitness and body fat testing is important because knowing your body can prevent illness and disease. Affordable one-hour sessions come in packages discounted the more you buy in advance. It’s your time to treat yourself! If you know of a friend who is interested and could benefit from training, please feel free to pass on my information. Email me directly at curvyandfit@gmail.com or give me a call!
*Yoga Shala: http://atriumyoga.com The wonderful studio/school where I completed my training, run by Krista and Kristin, yoginis of my heart.
I am teaching classes there Monday mornings at 7am! (Meditation at 7am, Yoga at 7:30am)
Photo credit: Susan Searle
I will most likely be subbing a lot of classes there throughout the fall, so check out the weekly schedule: http://yogashala.schoolyogainstitute.net/weekly-classes/ and stay tuned!
*Free School http://focofreeschool.wordpress.com/
This is an incredible organization that is trying to get off the ground in Fort Collins. If you’ve been to larger cities and seen Free Schools in action, you know that it is a treasure to have one in our town. There are so many great teachers and opportunities to teach your own skills and knowledge to others!
Please consider teaching a class (the deadline for submission is September 23rd for the October and November calendar) and fill out this form: http://focofreeschool.wordpress.com/hostaclass/
Or just come take a class from our fantastic instructors. My yoga class through the free school will be every other Thursday evening at City Park at 6pm.
*Race for the Cure- October 2nd! My friend Jesper and I are starting a team!
We’re called ‘Peanut Butter and Jessy’ (http://www.komendenver.org/site/TR/Race/General?pg=team&fr_id=1110&team_id=51647) at the moment, but we could use suggestions for other team names.
We also need participants! If you’ve never done the Race for the Cure, you’re in for a great time! There is a 5k run, a 5k walk and a program called ‘Sleep in for the Cure’, depending on your athletic ability and how much you want to get yourself into. We will be dressing up and wearing lots of pink and supporting both survivors and families affected by breast cancer. It is a great cause and a lot of fun!
If you are not interested in participating in either the Race or the Sleep in event, please consider donating to the cause. All money raised goes to the Komen Foundation and to breast cancer research.
*FAST Master’s Swim team events:
If I haven’t told you already, I am a part of a fantastic master’s swim team called FAST( http://swimfastmasters.com/)
We have practice 6 days a week (you can go to as many as you like), with very knowledgeable coaches and a great community of swimmers. We have optional competitive meets a few times a year and many of us participate in outside events like open water swims during the summer season. There are swimmers of all levels, from beginning swimmers to triathletes, and from sprinters to English Channel swimmers. It’s a great time and we have a meet coming up in October called the Pumpkin Plunge. If you’ve ever been interested in swimming, now’s the time to get in the water and swim the stress of the new school year away!
*Vega products: In my opinion, the best supplement product out there. They are all over the place because people are discovering their everyday nutritional value and convenience. Vega products are all vegan and invented by a Canadian endurance triathlete specifically to enhance the body’s performance in every day life as well as recover from exercise. The best part is that if you buy them from my website, I get a small profit to help get my new baby business get off the ground! See what you think:
http://www.anrdoezrs.net/3566biroiq5B9B767F576CCC97B
*Testimonials needed!
If you’ve come to any of my yoga classes or group fitness classes recently or if you are a personal training client, I would deeply appreciate a few words in written testimonial that I can post on my website. I also love constructive criticism, and am always learning and changing so if you have any feedback for me I absolutely welcome it. I would love for you to visit my Facebook page as well and ‘like’ it for me! It really helps get the word out! Thank you! http://www.facebook.com/CurvyFitness
Thank you all for reading and listening and supporting my big endeavor!
Love, love, love and light!
Sara Jelley
Personal Trainer, Yoga Instructor
Curvy Fitness
970-310-1903
http://www.facebook.com/CurvyFitness
curvyandfit@gmail.com
Thankful
Posted on: September 7, 2011
There is not much else to feel but gratitude at this time in my life.
I have felt anxiety, depression, helplessness, confusion, restlessness, anger, resentment and self-doubt many times in the last year. It was a process of growth, shedding layers and breaking through a hard shell of fear getting to this point. I lived with all of these negative feelings daily for a long time. I was not alone either. Working at a coffee shop full time with a bunch of other post-college lost-but-living-the-dream twenty-somethings was comforting. We all commiserated together about how we were “probably never going to use our useless ______ degree”, and how we “loved working here but couldn’t do it forever”. That feeling pervaded my consciousness daily and I finally decided that I had to do something. Finally things shifted and I got pushed out of that routine at the right time. I found another meaningless service job for two months, and it was there that I reconnected with the spark inside me, the driven student that wanted to be cultivated.
Now, I am so thankful. For getting fired and for being underpaid. For being in a place in my life where nothing was comfortable, although many in the same position tell themselves they are. For the universe shifting me into a place where everything became clear. It was like sitting in traffic behind a semi. Then the semi changed lanes and I saw miles of open road ahead.
Now, being out of the food service industry, I am still not comfortable. I am more in debt than I have been in my entire life. But I am thankful. Thankful and content. I am my own boss, and I am working my way out of a financial hole slowly, but doing something I love. And I am so thankful that I got myself here. With quite a bit of help, of course.
Becoming a personal trainer in Fort Collins is a challenge. Becoming a yoga teacher in Fort Collins is even more of a challenge. There are so many of us fighting for the same clients- the ones who have enough motivation to pick up the phone and call and say “I want to change my life”. There are not a lot of you out there – you must know that you are rare. We are blessed to have been picked by such courageous clients, and even more blessed to be able to see the transformation physically and emotionally. We are blessed to help along the healing process. You must see something in me that you trust, and I am thankful for you.
I am more than thankful to my amazing family and friends: my sangha (spiritual community), for being my support and keeping me on the path in the last year. You all are by my side at every step, giving me feedback, ideas for marketing and for content, advice for both business and personal issues, and inspiration for finding my true self. There are too many names to list, but know that without you I would be taking two steps back with every step forward, not vice versa. In Buddhism, the sangha is one of the three jewels the Buddha reminds us to hold dear- the Buddha within oneself, the Dharma path we travel on, and the Sangha community support system. They are all three absolutely vital to getting anything done in this world, physically, spiritually or otherwise. I have such an amazing Sangha. It’s big, too. Its not only spiritual companions like meditation buddies or fellow yogis – if I’ve ever met you, you are a part of my Sangha. And I thank you.
Love and so much light,
Sara
Thank you to a wonderful client who reminded me about this informative and effective program, run by the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).
A new 21-Day Vegan Kickstart program starts this Monday, September 5th! This plan is so easy to follow, and includes nutrition advice from world-renowned doctors and experts on plant-based living, as well as some celebrity appearances!
It is completely free, and entirely entertaining! You’ll get amazing recipes that are all doctor-approved to improve your health.
Register here:
Enjoy it, and tell me how you like it along the way!
Sara
curvyandfit@gmail.com
Apologies for no athlete of the week
last week!
Swamped in yoga teacher training and worrying about my 10k swim that happened this morning. More on that later.
All you need to know is that this training is seriously inspiring. A peaceful escape inside an intense physical and mental (and spiritual) challenge course.
We’re learning about the yoga sutras, yogic diet, yoga anatomy, earth medicine and energy work. We are having philosophical and personal discussions and making best friends within days of coming together. This experience will affect change in my life for years to come. Thank you to those relationships I’m putting on hold in order to be a part of this. Thank you to the universe for bringing me here at this specific time and place and with these amazing people. Thank you.
Love, light, and om,
Sara
