Our November Client of the Month – Meredith!

1.How do you feel to be crowned Ocean Fit’s Client of the Month?

 Super pleased about it!  Makes me feel proud of how far I’ve come in a few short months, and it makes me feel like I’m really a part of the Ocean Fit community now.

 This is easy – the prowler.  Especially the “heavy prowler.”  That thing is my nemesis.  Every time I see it on the chalkboard, part of me dies inside.  Throw the prowler in the bin!  A really big bin.

The boring answer is – because it’s a 5 minute walk from my house.  But the truth is, there is also a gym in town, which I thought about joining, but after pregnancy, postpartum, and lockdown, I’d been out of the gym for about 2 years.  I was doing some cardio and very light weights at home, but hadn’t done proper strength workouts in a very long time.  It felt intimidating to walk into a gym, with nobody to help me or give me ideas or check my form.  I had seen Ocean Fit when I walked through town, and thought it might be a place where I could get my confidence back, learn some new moves, and have good trainers make sure I was doing everything correctly and motivate me to be better.  And that’s just what happened!

 It’s the consistency of it.  Every day that I’m there, I will see familiar faces.  I know I will get a solid workout with the opportunity to push myself harder.  No matter what else is going on in my life that week, Ocean Fit is there for me.  I know that three times a week I will get a proper, full-body workout.

I usually go to the morning sessions, so my post-workout meal is usually breakfast.  I often work up quite an appetite after exercise, so I might make a scramble of 2 eggs, a splash of milk, a handful of shredded cheddar, some baby spinach, and any fresh herbs I have lying around.  I love a thick slice of sourdough toast with good butter alongside, and a piece of fruit like a plum or a big handful of berries.  And my morning Nespresso!

 A place for everyone, of all fitness levels, to come together to gain strength and confidence.

 Honestly, I just feel the fact that I am doing it and showing up is an achievement.  I have two little kids, and I work full time.  I hadn’t been in a gym or lifted anything heavy in years, and I just didn’t see how I could fit it into my life.  But I really feel that using my body in a strong, functional way like this is so liberating and crucial to my mental health, so I just decided to take the plunge.  Sometimes I am there at 720 am after being up at night with a poorly baby.  When life is so busy and full, following through on a commitment to show up feels like an achievement in itself.  I feel like I every time I walk through that door ready to give it my all, it’s an achievement.  

 This is a hard one for me to answer, because for me, the process of fitness is more important than a particular destination.  I don’t know whether my body will ever look like it did pre-child, or whether I’ll ever be as strong or fast as I was, but I know that my physical and mental health are improving every day and that’s most important to me.  But I suppose one goal is that every month, I want to look at my log sheet and see an improvement.  I want the weights I lift on week 4 to be heavier than those on week 1.  I don’t ever want to be complacent, I always want to try something a little bit harder than last week.

 When I was doing pull-ups one evening, with my knees in the band for extra support.  When I was finished, I was just like “I have no idea how to get down.”  Lucy was running the session, and we’re both short, so we were struggling a bit to get me back on the ground.  I was just terrified I was going to snap the band in my face.  This was the first time we did pull-ups, and all the people in my session were in the same boat, struggling to get out – sort of stuck in the band, swinging around.  We did the most awkward dismounts from that band, usually with a little shriek, and I remember one time the band snapped back up and nearly took Lucy’s nose off.  Not that gym equipment mishaps are funny, but fortunately nobody was hurt and it was just the awkwardness of it that really made me laugh.

Absolutely!  I tell friends and neighbours about it all the time.