Before you learn how on earth this Chicago girl ended up a personal trainer and wellness director in Fort Worth,
let me take you on brief journey through the years leading up to this point. And let me say, if I knew in college what I know now about myself, maybe I would have ended up where I am now a whole lot sooner and with a lot less debt.
I’ve always been someone interested in nutrition but fitness was never my thing. I stopped playing sports by high school and never knew where to go from there. In college I developed food intolerances and had to make adjustments to my diet, constantly. It was a hard thing to process. I did not take it well when my doctor told me to stop eating gluten and dairy, among other things. I am a pasta, carb loving girl and I was also having my cheese curds taken away from me ha. Big food girl here if you didn’t know that already. However, this heartbreak over food, turned into an amazing eye opening experience. I began to try foods I always passed over, tried brands I had never heard of before and found a new love for good food. Food that tasted good and was good for me. I learned so much more than I ever knew before about nutrition.
Switching gears a little, I studied Speech and Language Pathology and didn’t get into Graduate School, I was devastated. I think it is something I still have a hard time processing today. I felt defeated, lost and had no idea what I was going to do once I graduated. All I knew was that I wanted to connect and work with people with disabilities. All of these changes caused a lot of stress and it began to show on the inside and outside. I gained weight, which was something I never really experienced before. But I also felt exhausted all the time and never quite like myself.
In the middle of all these changes and struggles, I found an online community called Tone It Up. This community helped bring me back to life. I realized I could take passion advocating for others into another field. It also introduced me to one of my best friends who has always kept me accountable and inspired. The motivation I found within the community and within myself brought me back to life. I made a huge decision to put SLP to the side and become a certified personal trainer through NASM. Along this journey, I have met some amazing people both in trainers and clients. I had begun to understand my body more every day. I found my own ways to connect with
different types of people. I learned that I just wanted to connect, advocate and interact with like-minded individuals.
Through this journey, I’ve tried a lot of different things. I’ve tried different style work outs, new studios, different nutrition plans and constantly tried to adjust my diet. I’ve learned a lot about my body; what it can handle, what it likes, what it dislikes and what it wanted. I listened and learned my body doesn’t like A LOT. My body doesn’t tolerate a strict healthy diet as much as it doesn’t tolerate eating whatever I please. I fought this struggle to find what was right. And I realized that what works for me, might not work for everyone else. Just as what works for someone, might not work for me. With both fitness and nutrition. I needed balance.
When I say balance, I am referring to every aspect of life in relation to health and wellness, but particularly exercise fitness and nutrition. I learned my limits, began to understand my true cravings and learned to live. I don’t believe in fad diets, I choose to not designate one cheat day/meal, I choose to not physically measure my food and I choose to enjoy a glass of wine when I please. I have very good self-control, I listen to my body and I also enjoy foods I’m craving, sometimes. Now this may not be what you hear from a typical Personal Trainer, but that is why I emphasize what works for me, might not work for you. Getting in tune with your own body is the only way you will ever learn what’s best for you.
Life can easily consume us and control us. I make my decisions so that I can control how my body feels. I am not perfect nor am I striving to be. I strive to be happy. If happiness gives me an extra glass of wine here and there, I accept! I have always had a love, hate relationship with my body. Who hasn’t? I am human, I am real, and we need to strive for what is achievable not just desirable. Sometimes it takes working on yourself from the inside before achieving what you want on the outside.
In the last year or so, I came to this realization. I changed and opened up on the inside, which allowed me to love the outside that much more. I learned the happier I was mentally and emotionally; the better off I was physically. Life is precious and our health is just a part of it. I now take what I have learned, and use that with my clients. I love that my job allows me to connect with different people and build off of it. I get to be me every day I go to work and create new personable connections.
This past May I made the big move to Texas. As scary as it seemed, I knew it would bring more happiness and remove stress from my life. I felt lucky to have found a place in PT Fitness in the process. I found a brand different than most, with trainers unlike most. Everyone here is unique in their own way but at the end of the day we all have similar goals and values. I value the relationships we form with each other, among trainers and clients. I value learning how to be a better trainer. I value my mentors, inside and outside of this field. I value my clients who show up every day for their workout and motivate me to stay on top of my own. And I look forward to creating more connections in the industry as a whole, while I continue to create my purpose here.
Brittany Bechtold – Certified Personal Trainer
