As a busy mother of three children under the age of 10, I definitely didn’t have the time, money or energy to join GRIT. Those factors, combined with me being anti-military should have meant that our paths would never cross.
But it was the summer of 2022. A massive heatwave. And another year had passed when I was miserable about my weight, how I looked and how I felt about life. It was yet another summer of not feeling comfortable or happy wearing what I actually wanted to wear. My 45th birthday was fast approaching and I felt I couldn’t continue how I was. So, I started investigating surgical options to shift the ever-growing weight as I had given up all hope of being able to turn things around through diet and exercise alone…
Around the same time, I started seeing social media posts from GRIT and I was intrigued so, I booked a consultation. And, then, I cancelled it. I convinced myself there was no point going as GRIT would be for other people. Not people like me.
I left things a few months, gained a bit more weight, felt even more overwhelmed and fed up and, then, after seeing another social media post decided to book another consultation. That was nine months ago. And what a nine months it has been.
Chris and Carrie, the husband and wife co-owners of GRIT, are a phenomenal team with exceptional and unrivalled knowledge about all things, well, human. They’ve been there every step of the way for me with my endless questions, my quirks, my need to know ‘why?’ and my tendency to sabotage all my hard work and effort.
The sessions themselves with fellow crew members are deliberately challenging. It’s military training after all. Expectations are exceptionally high. But the camaraderie and satisfaction of achieving far more than I thought possible in every single session wins every time.
As I approach my 46th birthday, I feel like a totally different person. My body and mind have both completely changed thanks to GRIT. It’s the first summer in years I feel OK about wearing what I want to wear. I said at my initial consultation that I didn’t want to be the fat woman in a swimming costume anymore. Well, I’m not. It’s not just the scales and centimetres lost from my body that prove it – I’ve just returned two swimming costumes I bought online thinking they would most likely be too small. In fact, they’re far too big so, much to my surprise, I’m opting for a bikini instead for a waterpark-based summer holiday!
GRIT isn’t just a gym. For me it’s a place where I can be myself no matter how I’m feeling on a particular day. There’s a space for it all. Highs, lows and everything in between. GRIT’s members are a welcoming, supportive and diverse community of military and non-military individuals all with a common purpose of transforming their minds and bodies through discipline, desire and determination.
There is no ‘other’ at GRIT. We’re a team all on our own individual missions.
I’ve still got work to do, my body is far from perfect but I am so grateful to Chris, Carrie and the rest of the GRIT family for being there for, and with, me along the way.