If I Can Do It, You Can Too!

This is me in 2003 at 220 lbs. This picture is kinda ratty because I carry it around in my gym bag as a motivator to keep working out. I also pull it out and show other women in the locker room to help inspire them. It works.

I started my fitness journey in 2005. I weighed 220 pounds!  If I wasn’t depressed enough when I visited my family doctor I sure was when I left. When she looked at the scale her response was “Oh, Emma this isn’t good”. I felt like she cared and I had disappointed her. My life was a mess and my physical health was no different. It seamed like no one cared or had the courage to say anything to me. It hurt hearing it but I needed a change and was ready to commit to a healthy life again. My sister sent me some money for my birthday and I took it and bought a crappy mountain bike from Walmart. Where I lived in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia there were bike paths and a trail system that started on my street near Shearwater Airport and went all the way to Lawrencetown Beach. This was the beginning of my new healthy life. It’s interesting now that I think of it that I was on the Salt Marsh Trail one Saturday when I met Bob from Velo Halifax and he offered me some organic chocolate as he pointed out the 3 gray herrings fishing in the water. He was so enthusiastic about cycling he invited me to join Velo Halifax. I mentioned that my girlfriend was a member. Well, we had just recently started dating but I felt comfortable calling her my girlfriend. His response was “I know Jennifer, she’s really strong!”. It was a good thing because she soon became my personal trainer and I needed all the help I could get. Oh, by the way, here in Nova Scotia we joke that there is only 2 degrees of separation. I guess that would be considered one degree.