Superwomen Secrets Revealed: Successful Women Talk About Fitting in Fitness and Dare You to Join Them

By Catherine Turley

What do successful women have in common?

And…if you learned their secrets of success, would you feel motivated to reach your personal goals or overwhelmed?

In this inspirational, informative and action-oriented book, Catheri

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fit Armadillo Press
• Release date: Feb 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9780998387802

Catherine Turley

Catherine Basu, M.Ed is an ACE-Certified personal trainer with a secret: she grew up dreaming of ways to get out of gym class. Her grandfather, a physician, never gave in to her requests to write a doctor's note that would get her out of P.E., but she's grateful now for his integrity. Her years of toiling in the gym have made her a passionate ally of those who want to get in shape but feel uncomfortable in the gym environment. Ultimately, it led to the creation of her company, Fit Armadillo®, whose mission is to help busy individuals find fitness they can enjoy at their own place and pace. Armed with her B.S. Degree in Biology from The College of William and Mary, Catherine enjoys debunking fitness and nutrition myths to help her clients achieve lasting results and uncover the many benefits of an active lifestyle. Catherine has been quoted for her expertise in WebMD magazine, on SparkPeople.com, LiveStrong.com, EmpowHER, Fitbie, and WorldLifestyle, and writes as a blogger for the Huffington Post. Catherine has zero tolerance for diets, supplements, and detoxes (and not just because she's a huge fan of gluten-full bread!), but lots of love for those new to fitness. An avid runner, she has competed in races from the 1500m to the full marathon, and loves helping others start a running routine. While no longer a classroom teacher, Catherine enjoys using her Master's in Education from The University of Connecticut to promote literacy as a volunteer tutor in local schools. To learn more please visit FitArmadillo.com or email Catherine: [e-mail].

Book preview

Introduction

It was a hot summer day, and the humidity had brought the cicadas out humming in full force. My mom and my aunt had brought my sister, cousins, and me over to my grandparents’ house so we could cool off in their pool.

I’d just dried off from my last swim and was enjoying a juicy slice of watermelon when I overheard my aunt, who was showing my mom some pictures in a celebrity magazine. Look, Cathy, she pointed to a picture of a famous actress. Back to her pre-pregnancy weight just one month after giving birth! Her tone was half mocking, half awe.

My mom’s reply? Sure! I could look like that, too, if I had a personal chef, personal trainer, and a nanny 24/7!

They both laughed.

Little did I know that this conversation, or a version of it, would be one I’d hear repeated constantly over my childhood, young adult life, and even today. I’m willing to bet you have overheard or been part of a similar one. The context may be different, but the gist is always the same: women and girls comparing themselves to celebrities and writing off a perfect body as unattainable. And exercise? Just a way to lose weight quickly in order to impress peers, partners, and society, instead of a way to enjoy the many other important benefits that science has uncovered. (If you’d like to explore these benefits more deeply, I have a list of resources on my website as part of your bonuses: FitArmadillo.com/BookGifts.)

A New Way of Looking at Exercise

Who can blame us for talking this way to each other and around our children? How can we seek a healthy, active lifestyle, when most of us haven’t exercised since we were forced to and had our first, often embarrassing, experiences with fitness in the form of gym class?

Speaking for myself, if you told me when I was in kindergarten that I would be spending most of my twenties working in gyms, I know I probably would have run away from home! I was and still am horribly uncoordinated (sadly, becoming a personal trainer didn’t change this!), and 90 percent of gym class activities required coordination for success. That meant gym class was never fun for me.

If I hadn’t been introduced to fitness outside of that environment and in a way that made it look fun (thanks, Dad!) and in a form I wasn’t horrible at (running), I never would have been interested. I certainly wouldn’t have tried to exercise after graduating high school.

Now, after working with thousands of adults and children across the country in gyms, schools, workplaces, and as a private personal trainer, I know I’m not alone. Many adults don’t fit in fitness after passing gym class or retiring from high school sports. Fewer of us are moving enough, and a big part of the problem is that we haven’t really found a way to work out that is enjoyable and therefore haven’t been able to experience the benefits.

The other part of the problem?

A focus on diet alone as the key to good health, or really, a good physique. You’ve likely heard phrases like Abs are made in the kitchen or It’s 80 percent diet and 20 percent exercise. All of these keep the focus off movement and on an obsession over what to eat, causing us constant guilt when we fall short. And unfortunately, what we’re supposed to eat is often defined not by professionals with a background in nutrition, but by people who are promoting some fad diet or program.

Now, will walking for thirty minutes a day have you ready to audition for the role of leading lady in a Hollywood film? Admittedly, no. But it will help you have more energy, focus, and creativity, and prevent a slew of health issues even if you break that commitment up into ten-minute segments. When we focus only on what we eat (and more often than not in a food-police way rather than one that builds a healthy relationship with food) and write off exercise as barely useful, we miss out. This is unfortunate, because most of us don’t need to look like Hollywood actresses to achieve our life goals and ambitions, but we could definitely use the positive benefits of exercise to get closer to them!

Why YOU Fitting in Fitness Matters

While my near-decade of work in the fitness industry has centered on the needs and experiences of adult clients, as a classroom teacher, I saw first-hand how our country’s quest for the perfect body and diet culture impacts young girls. As soon as the weather would warm up, I’d overhear my students chatting about the best pre-swimsuit season diets they learned about from none other than their mothers!

I was always very protective of my students, and you can bet I shifted our biology classes that time of year to explain why dieting was scientifically the worst possible thing they could do to their bodies, but children learn a lot more from what we do than from what we tell them to do! As a teacher, I had little personal power to influence our future generation when I solely prescribed what to do. The power I did have as a teacher came from my actions. I have countless stories of students acting healthier based on conversations we had about things they observed me doing. If you work with kids or have children of your own, I’m sure you can relate!

As a trainer, my ability to have an impact on the next generation comes from helping parents, teachers, and others who interact with children incorporate fitness into their busy schedules so they can enjoy the benefits and serve as positive role models. That’s why I’m so passionate about sharing resources for parents and teachers. Visit the blog to find reviews of some of my favorite books and workouts that are kid friendly to get you started: FitArmadillo.com/Blog. Specific resources will also be found in your bonus documents: FitArmadillo.com/BookGifts.

You deserve better

But it’s not just about the children! I want you to find fitness for yourself. Of course, if we don’t show our kids the way, they will continue the cycle we’ve created as a society. But it’s simply not okay for us to treat ourselves this way anymore. You deprive yourself and the world of your talents when you deprive yourself of moving more and when you opt for dieting over treating yourself to healthy choices.

This book is my attempt to help you see why fitness isn’t just 20 percent of a quest to fit into your skinny jeans, but instead something that can have a big positive impact on your daily life whether you choose to lose weight or not.

By sharing the stories of superwomen whose lives have been changed by exercise and their simple, actionable tips for getting started, it is my hope that you’ll find the friendlier side of moving more and a bigger reason to lace up your shoes in the morning or turn up your stereo for a dance break in the middle of the day.

While the Fit Armadillo team of certified personal trainers, private yoga instructors, and Pilates instructors are very talented at motivating in a healthy way and have wonderful stories of their own, I didn’t include them or any women with a fitness-focused career in this book (but you can check out their stories online! Head to your bonuses to find links to blog posts where they share their stories of finding fitness: FitArmadillo.com/BookGifts). That’s because I wanted these stories to be as inspirational and relatable as possible, regardless of your current fitness level or goals.

One of the most common complaints I’d hear from people I’d follow up with after the January rush at the gym was sure, it’s easy for YOU to fit in fitness—you work at the gym! But I don’t have time to get there! The women in this book have packed schedules, but don’t work at the gym, showing you can fit in fitness even if it’s not your career.

Role Models for Fitness and Life

As I created and grew my own business, Fit Armadillo®, I started following the lives and stories of successful female entrepreneurs and found that many of them cited fitness as a key ingredient of their success. I’d experienced many of these same benefits as a business owner and in my past career as a classroom teacher myself, but I had never really thought about them and had taken them for granted. But it was true. I know that being active, and especially being able to literally run away from my problems at times and come back with a newfound focus, has helped me have the energy to push forward in my business.

Once I made the connection, I went on a mission to collect stories of inspiring women—CEOs, entrepreneurs, authors, and others who were benefiting from fitness in multiple ways and finding the time to do so even though they were super busy superwomen.

I want you to see firsthand what these amazing women, role models all, are like, how they fit fitness into their busy lives, and how they—along with their families and businesses—benefit from it.

Are they at the level of Photoshopped celebrities in terms of appearance?

Admittedly, some of them are. But that is not why they were chosen. They are here to inspire you to add movement to your day so you have more energy and creativity to pursue your dreams, whatever those might be! Because fitness really is a secret sauce to making them happen.

My big why

In December of 2012, I found myself about to leave a two-and-a-half-year career as a secondary classroom educator to take the leap into the world of entrepreneurship.

While I’d freelanced in the fitness world before and, prior to becoming