Darcy James came into my life about 7 years ago, I was training a group of 3 ladies at the time. Darcy was a constant at the gym, a gym rat as we would call her. She approached me about training her, noting the variety of workouts, the encouragement, the fun, the yelling, and the spunkiness of those other 3 ladies and myself. We all accepted Darcy with open arms, never imagining what this girl would bring to our lives.
You see, Darcy was broken and searching. What she found that day was another family, a gym family. A group she could trust, love, lean on, admire, and work hard with. A group that believed in her and would never let her down. Seven years later, she continues to be the heart and motivator to all of us.
Darcy continues to work with the same group of ladies on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday’s. She is also in Bootcamp every Tuesday and Thursday morning. She is the definition STRONG. There is no easy day, it is a choice to put your feet on the ground and get to your destination.
She calls me “Teacher” and brings a smile to my heart each and every day. I could not imagine not having her in my life. She brings me joy! I love you Darcy James.
Here is Darcy’s STRONG story.
As a teenager, I was always very active. I played basketball in high school and college and I was always in great shape. Sports were always a very important part of my life and were a great escape for me from the dysfunctional family I grew up in and the depression I dealt with as a result of my family situation.
As an adult, not having sports as part of my life was something I really missed. Not being as active I slowly began to gain weight. Not massive amounts but even just 5 pounds a year added up quickly over a 10 to 15 – year period. I tried many times to get back on the healthy train – I would eat good and exercise a lot for a season, however, I always fell off the train. To be honest, it would usually start with some sort of an emotional challenge that would affect every area of my life. When I would struggle with disappointment or depression – it was very hard to care enough to take care of myself. Sometimes these set-backs would last several weeks or even months. So all the progress I had made – was usually lost and a lot of the times – I was more out of shape than ever and my weight just kept going up and I felt horrible.
My journey with Mitzi as my trainer started about 7 years ago. She was always a great encouragement to me. She would text me when I would disappear from the gym, sometimes for several weeks. She pushed me and always challenged me to be STRONG in the gym which I really liked. Mitzi continued to believe in me through the ups and downs of my journey. I had a major knee injury that required surgery and a long recovery and also went through a time of severe headaches that lasted over a year. During that time, Mitzi continued to challenge me and I always knew that she believed in me – even when I didn’t believe that I could ever stick with a pattern of healthy living.
However, about 6 months ago after losing one of my best friends to cancer, I had an urgency to take care of my body – especially since this is the only body that we have. I got very serious in the gym, started running again and in August I signed up for a Whole30. I began to lose weight and started to feel really good. Not just because of the weight loss but I finally felt like something clicked in my mind and I really had a desire to take care of myself and a confidence that I could do it. Even when tough times have hit – I have basically stayed the course and not given up. I am more determined than ever to keep moving forward to being the best and strongest version of me that I can be. And this goes a lot deeper than just losing weight and being in shape. I have found when I am disciplined and consistent in my workouts – it carries over into so many other vital areas of my life: my diet, my prayer and devotion time with God, the way I serve God and people, my emotional well-being and so many other areas.
Being a part of the gym reminds me of being a part of a church. It becomes almost like a family in a lot of ways. I am part of the early morning crew and the people I work out with during training sessions, bootcamps and on runs have become great friends to me. I am also very, very thankful to have Mitzi as my trainer but also as my friend. She saw something strong in me and continues to work to bring that out. I’m continuing to set goals and keep working toward those goals. My number one goal is to be everything God has called me to be and I believe being strong physically and mentally is a small part of causing me to be everything God created me to be.
I am excited about the future and look forward to hitting more goals. I will be running a full marathon in about a month and one day I am going to do an unassisted pull-up and I can tell you one thing – the entire gym will hear my screams (all the way up to the treadmill deck)! J Thank you Mitzi for all you invest in making pushing people to be all that they can be. You have a gift for motivating people and I am glad that I have been just one (of many) who have benefitted from the gift that God has given you.
