Who Am I and Why Do I Coach?
Who am I and why am I a coach?
I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania in a lovely rural community. It was a wonderful place to grow up! I was the oldest of eight children, so there was always something going on. My father was a physician and my mother stayed home and took care of us until the youngest was in second grade when she returned to her career as a nurse and later became a nurse-midwife.
As the oldest child, I spent a lot of time helping my mother around the house and with the younger children. Several of the younger siblings saw me as sort of a mother figure in some ways, which turned out just fine with me as I later discovered I was unable to have children of my own.
I went to a nearby city for college and initially found the hustle and bustle of city life to be overwhelming, but eventually adjusted. I majored in Psychology but did not go on to graduate school at that time as I did not qualify for grants, had no credit history of my own and my parents had two more children in college when I graduated. So, I went to work!
Initially I worked as a manager in a restaurant I had worked in part-time while in college and did that for several years. However, this was not something I wanted to do long term and decided to return to school for a paralegal certificate. I found the field of law intriguing and thoroughly enjoyed my years as a paralegal. However, an attorney I worked for later offered me a job working at a university in the advancement (fundraising) division, a field I have been in now for about 18 years and am still doing on a full-time basis.
The fundraising field has afforded me the opportunity to meet and get to know many new people on a regular basis and get to know them quite well. My emphasis in fundraising is in the planned giving area and I work with prospective donors to identify what their passions are and what type of impact or legacy they want to leave behind and how that could benefit the university. I find it very rewarding to work with these people and help them make a mark with their generosity.
Personally, I have had many life struggles along the way as everyone does. (But we often think our own problems are sometimes greater or more important than those of other people, don’t we?) One of my biggest challenges, however, was one of my own making. Over many years, I put on a tremendous amount of weight which interfered with my ability to be comfortable and move around with ease. I initially joined a nutrition program with weekly meetings and had good success – so much so that I actually became a franchisee for that program after about a year. Unfortunately, that program ceased operations shortly after I started my franchise and I had to walk away.
I did well for a while on my own with managing my weight, but then met my husband, got married and started eating out much more than I was used to, and the pounds came right back. It got to the point where it was a struggle to go up and down stairs and I was having a lot of joint problems. I was eventually diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an auto-immune disorder with one of the symptoms being early onset osteoarthritis. Now I really needed to lose the excess weight. In fact, my doctor told me that every pound of weight lost means the loss of four pounds of pressure on my knees. What a revelation!
My next attempt was with Weight Watchers and I had some great success with that over a period of about two years. However, I also developed rheumatoid arthritis in that same period and became concerned about loss of mobility as I age as the disease progressed. I have obtained great medical treatment which has slowed the disease progression significantly, but there is no cure and I want to remain as mobile as I possibly can for as long as possible. I had some friends and relatives who had done some strength training with an online program, and I decided to give it a try. To my great surprise, I found that I enjoyed lifting weights and gaining strength. (Although I don’t know if I will ever enjoy the recommended mix of cardio activity along with it!!) I have continued with this program through the present time.
About a year ago, I decided that I had reached the maximum number of weights I could store under my bed (the most convenient location for them!) and had reached the limit of how far I could push myself at home. So, believe it or not, at the age of 63 I joined CrossFit! I don’t do the classes, but opted for the personal training option they offer and have found it to be wonderful. I go three times each week early in the morning and really enjoy it.
Recently, however, I have noticed that my physical progress, both in weight and muscle gain, seems to have gotten stuck at a plateau. Just a few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet with a nutritionist and learned that I was not taking in enough calories for the physical activity I was getting in each week and that had slowed down my metabolism. He designed a nutrition plan for me that affords me enough fuel to continue developing muscle strength and lose weight at the same time. So far, the results are good!
So, that is my history. Tune in for the next installment to find out why I coach and how I was drawn to coaching in the first place!!
