About my fitness transformation: “Being part of the Genesis Gym team is great because we work as a team. We lean on each other to help clients improve. And through this, I’ve learnt to appreciate each person as an individual with unique personality traits, learning styles and goals.”
(Ida, 23, Genesis Gym Eunos coach)
Hi, I’m Ida and I’m a coach with Genesis Gym Eunos since October 2016.
Before becoming part of the Genesis team, I didn’t really feel very comfortable in my own skin. Although I have been doing strength training for a while, I didn’t really have the best nutrition habits and I too, was guilty of bad sleeping habits.
A few months before joining the team, I was also suffering from an injured left hip from squatting.
You might be wondering, how this is possible, since I’m coach, I should be mindful of good nutrition and lifestyle habits. The truth is, many personal training coaches worldwide, may know the best training tips and lifestyle advice, but these are seldom applied to themselves.
Things have definitely changed since I’ve joined Genesis Gym.
My personal goals then were to get leaner, gain more strength and recover from my hip injury while learning good lifestyle habits, like better sleep and nutrition, that I can pass on to clients and those around me.
Seeing how fitness transformed my life for the better inspired me to be a coach. It helped me gain deeper confidence in myself, and taught me about patience and discipline. Good things should be shared, and I want to empower others through fitness. I want to help people integrate fitness into their lifestyles, step-by-step, and help them discover their physical and inner strength.
Being with Genesis Gym has helped me to take a more serious look at general health and not just the physical aspects of the fitness training.
In fact, what I’ve learned through the Genesis Academy has inspired me to go deeper on my personal training advancement. So in April this year, I’ve also engaged an online coach to help me with my own training and diet. As a result, I’ve also become motivated to impart what I’ve learned to the Genesis Gym clients.
I’ve learned that a fitness journey is often filled with little peaks and plateaus and it is important to look at long-term trends and not be too concerned with the day-to-day fluctuations. The weight will inevitably fluctuate weekly or even daily, but instead of being disappointed and giving up, I’ve learned to be more patient with myself and continue to persevere on.
Previously, I was too impatient. I cut too much calories when I was not ready to be so restricted. I was squatting even though my hip was painful. In the end, I made lesser overall progress because I set myself back by aiming too high, for something unsustainable. After realizing that I’m better off going the slow and steady route, I started seeing more results in time to come.
My relationship with my food has also improved. And the beauty of this is, I’ve also learned to love my body for what it is. I’ve learned how to track my food intake properly while 
eating at maintenance before putting myself in a caloric deficit. This also meant avoiding painful movements and finding exercises that didn’t cause my hip to hurt. As well as not being greedy and increasing the weight too fast.
My sleeping habits have improved during this period. I used to have nighttime anxiety and tend to try to get a lot of things done before bed. But now, with the better understanding of my body, I’ve managed to change some habits and work towards better time management. Also, having a bedtime routine helped with the rest and recovery.
Today, I’m at 17% body fat and weigh 63kilos. I am able to squat without any nagging pains in my hip anymore. I’ve become much happier with my body, much more confident of who I am and what I am capable of. My eating habits have improved tremendously, having more self-control over my daily nutrition. My overall mindset towards fitness has also improved positively. I’m now less emotionally attached to the little failures along the way but to fix my eyes upon the overall improvements throughout my fitness journey.
In fact, I just competed in my first Power Meet in August this year. And I manage to break all my personal records, coming in first place in the Under 67.5kg category.
The next phase of my transformation involves allowing myself to slow down and recover from the grueling competition prep, both mentally and physically. I want to achieve greater balance in my life and to build a better overall physique, with more proportion and symmetry. I feel really happy with my progress and how I’ve transformed so far. But more than anything, I’ve really enjoyed the process.
Being part of the Genesis Gym personal training team is great because we work as a team. We lean on each other to help clients improve. And through this, I’ve learnt to appreciate each person as an individual with unique personality traits, learning styles and goals.
Lastly, my advice to those with similar struggles as me, is to be patient and consistent. Your transformation is a long-term journey, and not just a 12-week project. Results may only manifest themselves many months or even years later. If you are putting in the groundwork, in time, the results will show.
To find out more about the transformation journeys of Coach Ida and others, visit: bit.ly/transformations2017.
Sign up for your own fitness transformation journey with Genesis Gym here.