Coach Megan shares her story of setbacks and moving on

I would like to share a bit of my recent personal experience here, because I feel as if many of you can relate to what I have been through. Furthermore, I want to set a positive example not only for the clients I work with, but also for our LBC followers and so on.

Sometimes life happens, and when it does, other things can take priority over our goals, our training, etc. And that is ok. I can think of countless conversations I’ve had with clients who get down, frustrated, and feel defeated because their training, goals, etc. have had to take a back burner, for whatever period of time, due to unforeseen circumstances such as surgeries, health issues, family emergencies, etc. They voice their fears of losing the progress they’ve made, backtracking, and falling into old habits. My advice to them is usually – this will pass. Yes, I understand how incredibly frustrating it can be to feel almost “helpless” at a time when all you want to be doing is training and pursuing your goals, however it’s not a permanent situation, and you will be back at it once again.

And then I had to take my own advice. :)

Due to circumstances beyond my control, I have been unable to consistently exercise/train over the past year (yes, YEAR!), and as a result my training goals have suffered. For the first 6 months or so, my training was exceptionally sporadic and inconsistent (again, not by choice), followed by the past 5 months of being 100% restricted from any training AT ALL! That was really tough for me.

For years, all I’ve known is a consistent gym schedule and a fitness goal to pursue, so to essentially be “on hold” for the better part of a year pushed me WAY out of my comfort zone. I was forced to learn to be accepting of my changing physique, as I lost a lot of hard-earned size, a LOT of strength, and gained some bodyfat in the process. Over the course of this past year, I went from a solid 132 lbs in weight to 123 in a matter of months (NOT fat loss), then back up to 127/128 with some fat gain. So to simplify, less muscle and more body fat. Lol.

One year ago almost to the day, I won my first powerlifting competition – the strongest I have EVER been, and now, today, I am smaller, weaker, and softer than I have been in years. That’s been hard for me to wrap my head around, but I’ve come to accept it.

Fast forward to today (in this photo) – I have been cleared to train again! I am now in my 4th consistent week back in the gym in nearly a YEAR, and it feels damn good! :) I do have a LONG way to go to get back to where I want to be, but I am ok with that. I gladly welcome the challenge!

To wrap this up – know that coaches face challenges just as many of you do! On the outside it may appear as if we never encounter obstacles, but we do! Erik was a great example of this as not too long ago he shared with you his journey through injury, surgery, and rehab. I hope that my story will be of some help to you as well.
We are all in this together as coaches, clients, and LBC followers. We as coaches can empathize with you, because we have been there too!

When you’re finding yourself frustrated because life has briefly taken over your goals, just remember, this will pass!

*By the way, this photo is incredibly deceiving because my arms are not so muscular anymore. I just have a nice pump in the picture. Lol. ;)