Athletes gone wrong....
Anyone else out there used to be a champ? Anyone else out there discouraged with their current state after knowing what your body can already do? Anyone else let past victories be excuses to let yourself go?
I was the undefeated female fighter of the year three years running in the Pacific Northwest from ages 15-18, I was the head of my tournament team and next in line to be Head Black Belt of my father's school, I was the starting prop on my high school's Rugby team for two years, and I was constantly trying to physically out do every man, woman , and child who walked through our school's doors. Then I turned 18....
Got a little too big for my britches. Thought I knew everything and rebelled against my father and decided Martial Arts wasn't for me at the moment, then school ended, so did Rugby, and eventually working out all together became less and less prominent in my day. I ballooned up to 300lbs. (I'm 5'9). I managed at two years ago to get back down to 200lbs, but over the last two years I've gained 50lbs back.
I'm 24years old now and I'm discouraged. I want to be the formed fit self I used to be. I want to be that girl all the little girls wanted to be and looked up to again. I just don't know how to go back in this state. I'm almost too afraid to go back in the ring and take my title back, because I feel like I'm not a great as I once was. How do other former athletes cope and deal with this as they are trying to turn it all around? Discuss?
I was the undefeated female fighter of the year three years running in the Pacific Northwest from ages 15-18, I was the head of my tournament team and next in line to be Head Black Belt of my father's school, I was the starting prop on my high school's Rugby team for two years, and I was constantly trying to physically out do every man, woman , and child who walked through our school's doors. Then I turned 18....
Got a little too big for my britches. Thought I knew everything and rebelled against my father and decided Martial Arts wasn't for me at the moment, then school ended, so did Rugby, and eventually working out all together became less and less prominent in my day. I ballooned up to 300lbs. (I'm 5'9). I managed at two years ago to get back down to 200lbs, but over the last two years I've gained 50lbs back.
I'm 24years old now and I'm discouraged. I want to be the formed fit self I used to be. I want to be that girl all the little girls wanted to be and looked up to again. I just don't know how to go back in this state. I'm almost too afraid to go back in the ring and take my title back, because I feel like I'm not a great as I once was. How do other former athletes cope and deal with this as they are trying to turn it all around? Discuss?
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Replies
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Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.0
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Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.0 -
No thanks. I get bored after running for 30+ minutes.Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.0 -
No thanks. I get bored after running for 30+ minutes.Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.
YOU JUST SCARED0 -
NO, JUST FAT.
No thanks. I get bored after running for 30+ minutes.Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.
YOU JUST SCARED0 -
NO, JUST FAT.
No thanks. I get bored after running for 30+ minutes.Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.
YOU JUST SCARED
TRU DAT
*FIST BUMP*0 -
CAN WE BUMP STOMACHS INSTEAD?0
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CAN WE BUMP STOMACHS INSTEAD?
DUH!0 -
How do you change from athlete, to fattie, back to athlete again? Its more of a mental question instead of a physical one I suppose.0
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Impossible.How do you change from athlete, to fattie, back to athlete again? Its more of a mental question instead of a physical one I suppose.0 -
It can't be impossible....0
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Not quite sure...
I used to swim 3 miles and bike 8-10 miles every Saturday until I broke my wrist and had muscle blown out of my thigh in a car accident.
I miss the days before the accident...
I guess I don't think of the "how did I get this way" as much as I think of..."I want to do those things again. Lets do ittttttttt." Finding Nemo and Nike had it right... Just keep swimming and Just do it.0 -
Not quite sure...
I used to swim 3 miles and bike 8-10 miles every Saturday until I broke my wrist and had muscle blown out of my thigh in a car accident.
I miss the days before the accident...
I guess I don't think of the "how did I get this way" as much as I think of..."I want to do those things again. Lets do ittttttttt." Finding Nemo and Nike had it right... Just keep swimming and Just do it.
Just keep swimming. lol Yeah I suppose that could work. I know what you mean tho. I miss how it felt to be me before all then. I ended up straining my ACL in Rugby as well that gives me a few problems every now and then, but I really just want to roll into a ring and knock it outta the park again. Even if its just one more time.0 -
I miss how awesome I looked. I could swim like a fish and now I'd probably die after a mile.
Kids kind of killed it for me too... There's only so many hours in the day and I have 3 kids and a fulltime job. It's a bummer how sometimes life gets in the way.
Off to the gym tonight!0 -
The good news is you have a lot of positives on your side:
- Time. You're still young.
- Experience. You've been a top athlete before so you are familiar with the hard work and sacrifice necessary to get there.
- Learned from mistakes. You've recognized that some youthful ideas maybe weren't the best ones for you.
- Motivated. Hit rock bottom and now you want to change things.
So now is the time to get going. There are lots of people on this site who have undertaken a similar journey on this site and made it happen. Now it's your turn. You need a plan of attack so if you can afford it get a professional trainer/health care professional to create a program for you. Then it's just a matter of executing and being patient.
Life is a journey, it's about getting back your health and developing a sustainable life style that allows you to do the things you want to accomplish in life...0 -
You have a big advantage as you were at one time fit and strong. Get into a routine and you will return to fitness quite quickly. Some of us were never in shape until relatively late in life. I only started when I was around 34 or so. I feel it's been a big handicap for strength gains, but certainly doable.
The sooner you start the better. But it's never too late.0 -
Went from a very fit Marine to a very fat couch potato. Now I'm back to being a weapon. It's a day at a time. Set some high goals and push yourself beyond it. You still have what it takes because you proved it in the past. That never dies, it's buried under doubt. It's you against you.0
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I was a competitive swimmer and lacrosse player in high school. Got up to 200 lbs in college, I've lost 50 and I only have maybe 10-20 more to go. Good thing I banked all that muscle mass while I was still growing!0
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You know what's awesome is that you probably have a butt-load of lean body mass... you probably burn calories like crazy. Don't screw it up by crash dieting to try and get them off quickly.
You are primed to be in even better shape than you ever were in your teens if you go about this the right way.
You want to eat as much as you can eat while still losing in a healthy way. You can do this. BTW, can you go back to martial arts?! Killer workout... I did 10 years of kickboxing training. Soooo gooood...0 -
Nationally ranked in both Track and wrestling. Then life and more life and here I am0
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former basketball player who never learned to eat right dated and married a woman who can cook her butt off and my gut on lol. came to mfp lost 40 lbs hit a plateau had two small kids changed shifts at work gained it all back.. but never giving up0
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I feel like Steve Troutman's pimp today, but he writes some pretty good stuff about motivation here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/545631-feminine-fat-motivationMotivation can be tough for some people. If you're not uncomfortable enough or dissatisfied enough, no motivation in the world is likely to carry you towards your goal. I mean, in a way, motivation is a temporary phenomenon and the motions that build and maintain a goal physique are forever. Those two variables don't exactly mesh.
In addition, if you don't believe in the possibility of attaining your goal or if it's really not as meaningful as you like to think it is... you're likely not going to attain it.
We're products of our daily choices and those choices are predicated, by and large, on the ideas of avoiding pain and gaining pleasure. What that means is, if you don't have things framed right in your mind.... if staying where you are isn't painful enough.... if missing out on the body you want isn't painful enough.... if attaining your goal isn't pleasurable enough.... and if leaving your current body in the dust isn't pleasurable enough....
Well, you're going to do a lot of wheel-spinning more than likely.0 -
In all honestly it maybe fear that's just getting in the way. A lot of what you all have said make sense. I've done it before. (Though before it wasn't as much work it felt like. lol) But one day at a time seems to be the only way to do it. XD I just seem to get discourage so easily.0
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My husband used to be one of the best long distance runners in the province. Thirty years later (no exercise) he is running with me just to be supportive and well, he's a natural. He easily laps me on the track and beats my time by 50% in a ten km race. Once an athlete always an athlete I say.0
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How do you change from athlete, to fattie, back to athlete again? Its more of a mental question instead of a physical one I suppose.
Get yourself back in that zone. Whatever it was, find it. I simply execute the same intensity as I had done back then, before I got FAT and out of control. The only difference now is, I want it for me. If I was able to make the Olympics Standard Automatic Time qualifier once, when I did not want to (attended trials to prove a point), then I can do it again, for me. Now, my times automatically qualified me for 100m Freestyle and 400m Individual Medley. Did I go? No. Why? Too much drama from the organising committee, to curtail my dad/mum from attending as my coach/manager.
Now, years later we(my sister and I) have been asked again to train for trials towards Rio 2016. Why? Her(my sister) automatic qualifying time for 100m has not been beaten to date. Our times now are still faster than the younger women 17 -up who'd like to participate for the nation. She clocked 11 sec flat on the grass and 10.87 to 10.89 on the tracks. Oh and we were both Vegans Eat Clean too then. lol. Today, we have been slowly building up towards prepping for this possibility and a previous posters comment (Mandywe)about 'her man' is true for most athletes ... "Once an athlete always an athlete." We both clock 11.00secs to 11.2 secs for 100m right now. We have yet to seriously attack any speed work etc. So our times can only improve from here towards 2016.
My suggestion is to find that 'fire' towards a purpose. If the nation had not asked us to try out and declared us as pre-qualifiers for 100m, 200m and 400m, to garner interest from prospective competitors, we would just have lost the weight for work and then settled at a normal weight suited to our active lifestyles. What is hilarious is that the fastest runners in country now, are running @12.48 secs for the 100m and 28 secs for the 200m. Too slow. My point to you is, it's NEVER TOO LATE for us to find our grooves again. Find that line that has held you back, and step over it. Youth does not necessarily mean or translate to them being better or faster than you.
Do it for YOU!
Your best competitor is YOU. Compete with the clock or the technique, never people.
Good luck!!
ETA: Mandywe0 -
You have a big advantage as you were at one time fit and strong. Get into a routine and you will return to fitness quite quickly. Some of us were never in shape until relatively late in life. I only started when I was around 34 or so. I feel it's been a big handicap for strength gains, but certainly doable.
The sooner you start the better. But it's never too late.
This.
I was a gymnast and college cheerleader then wasted my 20's and the early part of my 30's. It took a long time to find a new sport I was passionate about again. I ran for a while and that helped me lose weight, but I didn't have the body or strength I wanted. Once I found Crossfit everything changed crazy fast. It is shocking how fast your body wants to return to the prime condition it was once in. You have a huge advantage. Once you find your groove and start to remember how good it felt to be on top it'll all fall into place. I wish wish wish I had started when I was 25 instead of 35. You can! Just start!0 -
No thanks. I get bored after running for 30+ minutes.Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.
30+ minutes? run faster...haha just kidding, man. good for you.
in regards to the original post, i was a collegiate wrestler after being fairly successful in high school wrestling, football, and powerlifting. got done wrestling and just got back into the lifestyle of eating whatever i wanted like it was the off season and i was still training hard. i'm better now, but have developed this "never be satisfied" attitude, and just want to make myself the best that i can be. best of luck to you!0 -
No thanks. I get bored after running for 30+ minutes.Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.
30+ minutes? run faster...haha just kidding, man. good for you.
in regards to the original post, i was a collegiate wrestler after being fairly successful in high school wrestling, football, and powerlifting. got done wrestling and just got back into the lifestyle of eating whatever i wanted like it was the off season and i was still training hard. i'm better now, but have developed this "never be satisfied" attitude, and just want to make myself the best that i can be. best of luck to you!
Never be satisfied. Sounds like a new motto. XD0 -
NO, JUST FAT.
No thanks. I get bored after running for 30+ minutes.Used to play hockey. Shattered ankle. Pins. Told me I could never skate/run long distances. I now run 5ks. Holler.
5k's?
Run farther.
YOU JUST SCARED
I ran my first marathon weighing 320 pounds I was the fatest person at the race. So screw gravity! Have you tried running longer races with obsticals like the Warrior dashes or the Spartin runs?0 -
I was once super athletic, then just fit and then I started having kids (again) or trying (again) and that just puts me in a state of well "starting over".
My husband told me today that I always bounce back quick. It's true, your body remembers. It took me 3weeks to reach half my strength potential from before. I was lazy for 11months. Not because I didn't want to workout, but because I was scared to exacerbate a really sore groin post CSEC. I got over that fear and that nagging groin pain is nonexistent. I wonder if my mind was making it hurt all along?! Weird.
Anyway, you most certainly get back into it. Be patient. You don't just stop being you. It's there. Dig deep.0
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