Girl Hero Brandi
Never forget you will go as far as you believe you can so make your goals big! – Brandi
Brandi understands the challenge of overcoming bad habits and finding balance. A few years ago Brandi decided to make a healthy lifestyle change and is now a personal trainer training people out of her home. She lives in Colorado with her husband and two kids, border collie (her running buddy!), and two scaredy cat kitties. She enjoys spending time with family and they have started spending more time traveling. They are looking forward to seeing more of the country. You can find her on Facebook at Iron Logic Fitness.
Read on to find out about how lifting weights changed Brandi’s life and set her on the course to become who she is today!
1. Was there an event that sparked your lifestyle change?
As a kid growing up I was not athletic at all! I was drinking sodas all day long I didn’t play sports. After high school and a very short lived college experience, I went to work in jobs which were very active and my weight took care of itself. I was able to get away with eating fast food lunches and hamburger helper dinners. While I wasn’t skinny or heavy and I was pretty comfortable with my body. I was a smoker and was definitely not the picture of health.
2. Tell us a little about the process?
In my early 20s I went to work in a very sedentary job as a 911 dispatcher. Between stress and ordering in food and not working in a physical setting I put on 15 pounds my first year. At 25 I had my first kiddo and luckily the weight came off fairly quickly. I was not so lucky with the second child at age 28. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during my pregnancy and after my daughter was born the weight did not come off nearly as quickly. I went back to work at the end of my maternity leave at 185 pounds which is far too much for my 5’5 1/2″ inch frame. After trying weight watchers I realized I was not getting the results I wanted. I started exercising and began lifting weights along with utilizing the Body For Life Program which I learned about from a coworker. My love of weight lifting was born and the weight started falling off at a rapid rate with the changes in my nutrition and workouts.
3. When did you decide you wanted to pursue a career in fitness? Are you glad you made that decision?
After doing 4 figure competitions my drive to learn grew and I read everything I could get my hands on to learn about nutrition and fitness. I had learned if I really wanted my body to change it couldn’t happen with a gimmick or a get skinny quick temporary diet. I learned how hard I had to push and what good nutrition meant. I went from believing I couldn’t change where I was to KNOWING I could change and I wanted to share that knowledge with others. There were a lot of steps in between my first certification and where I am today in fitness and my fitness drive and beliefs. I am always glad I have had the experience of getting to help others to not make the same mistakes I have made and there is nothing better than watching someone push through a stall to succeed.
4. What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Many people come to me to lose weight. I want to ensure everyone can see their progress in more than just the scale. It is easy to see the scale get stuck and to become demotivated. I constantly track and evaluate workouts to ensure my personal training clients and measurements in my nutrition clients to ensure we are getting forward progress. We complete testing routinely to ensure the workouts we do are creating the results in strength and endurance that each personal training client wants. I love to see someone killing a skill they once couldn’t do and I love to see bodies changing before my eyes when someone is nailing their diet.
5. How do you find balance with family/work, nourishing/splurging, etc? Is that hard for you?
I am working on finding balance and it can definitely be hard. Let’s face it.. working and raising a family can be a great challenge. I work 40 hours a week in my 911 dispatcher job and another 20-30 personal training and creating nutrition plans for clients. I also teach group fitness classes 1-2 hours a week at a local recreation center in addition to the full time job of being a wife and parent. I am guilty of taking on “just one more client” when I should say no which then puts the needs of my client’s schedules ahead of my own. I love it so much it is hard to hold back when I feel like I can help someone to get where they want to go. As far as nourishing/splurging I am constantly checking myself and most of the time I eat very well. I definitely have my moments where old habits want to sneak back in and I eat more than I should or I have a sweet treat when I shouldn’t. Old habits die hard and I am far from perfect. I think that is also one of the things that makes me approachable to my clients. I truly get it when they “go off the rails”. I have lived it and may live it again. The difference between the me of 10 years ago and the current version of me is I know have a really clear understanding of nutrition and what it means to eat well and how truly important it is for your long term health to surround yourself with nourishing foods. You are unquestionably a product of your dietary habits.
6. You competed in figure completions? What was that experience like? Did you enjoy it? Regrets?
I completed 4 competitions and while I didn’t win I certainly learned a lot about myself. I learned I am no happier at 125 pounds than 140 and I am a heck of a lot stronger and more resilient at 140. Competing can be a rush and it can be a huge blow to your self esteem. It is hard to see yourself as lean enough after you have pushed to your body to levels it hasn’t seen before. I am happy to have a more balanced and healthy focused approach now in my fitness instead of being focused on a look or a number on a scale.
7. Any goals you are working towards now?
I am running a 200 mile team relay race in August and I am working on sharpening my skills in Olympic Lifts. Personally I am trying to create more work and life balance so I can spend some quality time chasing around my tween and teen as they are growing.
8. Any advice for people just beginning their fitness/health journey?
Surround yourself with people who believe in you and lean on them when you feel weak. I have had a lot of great support friends over the years in helping me to reach new goals. Never forget you will go as far as you believe you can so make your goals big!
Don’t do things that suck! If you don’t like to run, find another way to work out. Don’t be afraid of trying new things until you find your niche.
Finally, please let your focus be on eating well and moving more and creating long term health. In 30 years will you care that you were the skinniest or the fastest? Will you be in your own home because you practiced balance or in a nursing home with multiple health issues and injuries because you refused to change your bad habits today. The only person who can protect your future is you.
Thank you Brandi for sharing your story, you are a Girl Hero!
If you want to find Brandi check out her page Iron Logic Fitness.
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
Check out our family’s adventures at Newschool Nomads as we travel in our RV through the United States!
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
Brandi your story is very inspiring. Your desire to help other people is wonderful. Your hard work has paid off !!!
I love what you put in your last paragraph. Looking at life long health inspires me. Thanks for you openness.
Thank you everyone for your kind words of enerouagemcnt and feedback I’m so chuffed that a few of you are also taking this ball and running with it I would love to be kept up to date with how your books look before you start, as well as a few catch up posts throughout the year!!Be sure to enjoy the little moments as they pass us by the years fly and to capture a few of them in this special way will be so many people pleasure for years to come!Have a great festive season and I look forward to seeing (and posting) some updates in 2011!!!!xxxxx Vicki xxxxx
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