Do you know how my journey to this point in life began?

With 10 minutes on a treadmill…

That’s it.

We all have such lofty goals in mind, but often we fall short of achieving them because we simply don’t start. Whether it’s due to a lack of knowledge, too much fear, or an overabundance of excuses…we fail to take that first step.

But one day not all that ago, a health and fitness coach told me to step onto a treadmill and walk for 10 minutes – no more, no less – and I took that first step.  Now, a dozen or so years later, it may not seem like a big deal from the outside looking in. I must admit, it had been a long time since that thought crossed my mind. But on that day, and every day after that on my journey to losing 75 pounds, it was a monumental accomplishment, life-changing really. Still is. Because everything else that has happened since happened because of that first step. It set my life in motion, for the first time in a long time.

Health and fitness coach…a business owner…a published author…a writer for Cape Fear Voices…living in the beautiful Cape Fear region.

I wouldn’t hold any of those labels, I wouldn’t be who I am today, if I hadn’t been the person who stepped onto a treadmill and put one foot in front of the other.  The old me – the unhealthy, unfit and unhappy version of me – would be the current version of me…or worse. I was tipping the scales at 250 pounds back then, and looking back I have every reason to believe I would hit 300, and 350.  At the time, I hadn’t made change of any kind to alter that unfortunate upward trend. Bad habits were firmly ingrained in my life, and I lacked the confidence to do anything about that.

Ultimately, it simply took taking a step in the direction – or specifically, a handful of steps on that treadmill. Little did I know momentum would build from there.

Change is scary. It’s easy to be overly resistant to change because we become very comfortable to our current place in life, especially if the changes that need to be made require consistently hard work day after day after day. But if we remain in our comfort zone for too long, we stop growing. Instead, our lives grow stagnant. If we implement one small change, then another, and another, we begin to stack up wins and make significant change in our lives.

We all have goals in mind. But too often, that’s where they remain. We deserve better if we do the work to pursue those goals. If they truly are important to us, we will do what it takes to make them happen.

Starting with that first step.

If you would like to learn more about how to take that first step, and then build upon it, contact me at 814.504.7774 or by email at [email protected]. You can also get more information on my website at fernandesfit.com.