While most may start a blog while in the middle of their weight loss journey, I'm starting this blog after successfully losing weight. So this is a reflective journey as I am still trying to win the mental changes that come with weight loss.
Yep - This officially makes me a Nike Girl for life! Here's my story that was profiled on Nike Women.
In this photo:
Amy Hamm: We don’t buy into the notion that you have to be brainy or a jock. You can be a superstar athlete with a master’s degree or a rocket scientist with rock-hard abs. But in Amy’s case, she really did identify more with intellectual pursuits instead of physical ones. Growing up, she never played a sport. She never took PE in high school. She even failed water aerobics in college because of poor attendance.
Then she saw a picture of herself at 256 pounds. That’s when she decided to get fit and lose weight. First, she had to get her body to agree to this strange new world of sweat, sore muscles, and bruises (to her body and ego). Then she had to convince her brain that being an athlete was the best thing ever.
She stuck to the machines she was comfortable on. Intellectually, she watched her body fat decrease and knew she was becoming physically fit. Still, her thoughts and behaviors were self-limiting. The gym was an intimidating place and she’d second-guess her clothes, her choice of exercises, and whether she was doing things right. She was spending too much time in her head. She decided to hire a trainer to help take the fear out of working out.
Amy told us, “Each personal training session pushed me and made me uncomfortable. Why? My head kept getting in the way. It kept telling me all the things I couldn’t do or shouldn’t do. Mentally, I couldn’t bring myself to do certain exercises because I had defined the exercise as something an overweight person wouldn’t do. But I also was afraid of being a failure or not meeting my trainer’s expectations.” Fortunately, her trainer didn’t let her get away with self-defeating thoughts or excuses.
And that’s when she developed her mantra: “Don’t think. Just do it!” (Yes. You know everyone at Nike loved that one.)
Today, she’s successfully completed two half-marathons and is eyeing triathlons and a full marathon. She spends her workout time spinning, running, swimming, and doing functional training like Nike Fit Boot Camp classes. Before every workout, she powers up with a protein drink, a banana, and oatmeal.
“Confronting the uncomfortable somehow made my irrational fears disappear, transformed the way I thought about myself, and ultimately carried into other areas of my life,” said Amy. “I am now addicted to pushing my limits on a daily basis. . .[and] that includes athletic events.”
Amy is proof that there’s an athlete in all of us. Don’t be afraid to let her out.
Then she saw a picture of herself at 256 pounds. That’s when she decided to get fit and lose weight. First, she had to get her body to agree to this strange new world of sweat, sore muscles, and bruises (to her body and ego). Then she had to convince her brain that being an athlete was the best thing ever.
She stuck to the machines she was comfortable on. Intellectually, she watched her body fat decrease and knew she was becoming physically fit. Still, her thoughts and behaviors were self-limiting. The gym was an intimidating place and she’d second-guess her clothes, her choice of exercises, and whether she was doing things right. She was spending too much time in her head. She decided to hire a trainer to help take the fear out of working out.
Amy told us, “Each personal training session pushed me and made me uncomfortable. Why? My head kept getting in the way. It kept telling me all the things I couldn’t do or shouldn’t do. Mentally, I couldn’t bring myself to do certain exercises because I had defined the exercise as something an overweight person wouldn’t do. But I also was afraid of being a failure or not meeting my trainer’s expectations.” Fortunately, her trainer didn’t let her get away with self-defeating thoughts or excuses.
And that’s when she developed her mantra: “Don’t think. Just do it!” (Yes. You know everyone at Nike loved that one.)
Today, she’s successfully completed two half-marathons and is eyeing triathlons and a full marathon. She spends her workout time spinning, running, swimming, and doing functional training like Nike Fit Boot Camp classes. Before every workout, she powers up with a protein drink, a banana, and oatmeal.
“Confronting the uncomfortable somehow made my irrational fears disappear, transformed the way I thought about myself, and ultimately carried into other areas of my life,” said Amy. “I am now addicted to pushing my limits on a daily basis. . .[and] that includes athletic events.”
Amy is proof that there’s an athlete in all of us. Don’t be afraid to let her out.