**NEW** Just some thoughts...
May 1st, 2025
What I Wish More Women Knew About Fitness…
I used to think fitness was only for athletes—the kind who had hours to spend sweating in a gym every day. I didn’t have two or three hours to spare, and I definitely wasn’t interested in spending that time in some smelly, musty weight room. Besides, I had other things to do with my life—and getting huge, bulky “gym bro” muscles? No thanks.
Back then, I rarely saw women lifting weights. And when I did, they looked… well, kind of bulky and “manly,” at least from the outside. So I told myself, “That’s not for me.”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard women say, “I don’t want to lift heavy—I just want to look toned and lean.” If you’ve ever thought that, I want to tell you something important:
Lifting heavy doesn’t make you bulky.
Training with weights—even heavier than 10 pounds—isn’t going to magically turn you into a bodybuilder. That kind of physique takes years of intense, intentional work, a specific diet, and often more than just hard effort.
Fitness is About Gaining—Not Just Losing
This is honestly the part of fitness that I love the most. Getting active and strength training isn’t just about building muscles or losing fat—it’s about gaining mental strength. It’s about developing the mental fortitude to push yourself when you’re tired, adding a 2.5-lb plate to a squat or bench press, or pushing through two extra reps just to see if you can. Fitness teaches you so much about yourself. It’s about learning how strong you are now—mentally and physically—and applying that strength to your life outside of the gym.
Fitness is about gaining mental resilience, self-love, self-confidence, and the belief in your own strength.
You Don’t Have to Punish Your Body to Love It
When I first started working out, I thought I had to be so sore the next day for it to “count.” I’d brag about how much it hurt, thinking that pain was the only sign of a good workout. But, over time, I realized just how wrong I was. Exercise is not supposed to hurt you! Yes, soreness can be a sign of progress, but it’s not the only measure.
Exercise—whether it’s lifting weights, playing pickleball, or going for a long walk—is all about loving your body enough to keep your joints moving, your muscles strong, and your body healthy for as long as possible. It’s an exercise in self-love.
Progress is Personal—and It’s Not Always Visible
Progress is not linear. The scale will fluctuate, it will drive you crazy, and you’ll have moments where you want to give up when you don’t see results. Trust me, I’ve been there. The human body is amazing, but sometimes it’s also hard to understand. How can I be consistent with healthy eating and workouts, but the scale hasn’t budged in weeks?
Here’s the truth: It’s a mental game.
But there are other signs of progress. How do you feel? Are you sleeping better? Do you have more energy? Do your clothes fit differently, or are they looser? Do you have more mental clarity in the morning, or even when that 3 p.m. fog hits?
I’ve heard it said:
“It takes 4 weeks for you to see changes, 8 weeks for your friends and family to notice, and 12 weeks for everyone else to notice.”
Just remember: one day at a time—one meal, one workout. Change is a roller coaster, but it comes.
You’re Allowed to Take Up Space
Lately, I’ve been noticing something amazing. More and more women are taking up space at the squat rack—not at the bar down the street, but the squat bar in the gym! Women are showing up, doing squats, deadlifts, heavy leg presses, and owning the free weights with dumbbells and kettlebells. And they’re doing it because they know they deserve that space.
You deserve to take up space. You deserve to do things that light you up, to feel that post-workout glow, and to love your body for what it can do, not just what it looks like.
You are worthy of time and space in the gym. You are worthy of loving yourself enough to move in ways that impress you, not anyone else.
You don’t need to ‘fix’ yourself—you just need a space that reminds you how strong you already are.
If no one’s told you lately: You deserve to feel proud of your body, not ashamed of it.
Final Note
If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you. You’re not alone in this journey—whether you’re just starting or have been at it for years, we’re in this together. You are strong, you are worthy, and you deserve to take up space in this world and in your fitness journey.