Why I Became a Personal Trainer

So by now you’ve probably read my “About Me” section, and if not, don’t worry this will cover everything in that section and more.

My name is Iona Paterson I live in Glasgow, Scotland. I come from a very sporting background, and became a competitive swimmer at a young age. Growing up I also took part in lots of sports at school, like hockey, netball, wake boarding and water polo.

Unfortunately, the young me was not so motivated and after acquiring a shoulder injury, I quickly called it quits on swimming. From training 7/8 times a week to doing absolutely nothing definitely took a hit on my body, especially considering I was eating exactly the same amount. I gained a significant amount of weight, and for months I kept telling myself: “I’ll start eating healthily tomorrow”, again and again and again.

This Never Worked

I also thought that I hated the gym, and didn’t think I could run, so without swimming I didn’t think I had anything. However, these months of being unhappy with myself built up, and I finally decided to go for a run. This was awful, it highlighted to me how far I’d let myself go, and how unfit I had really become. I got to the end of my street (about a 40 second run), and I was puffed.

So, I started slow. I gradually increased the distance of my run, until I was running 5-10km per day (taking 2-3 breaks per run). I loved it, it gave me a real buzz of adrenalin and I did see changes in time. However, losing weight quickly became an unhealthy obsession, and I would eat ridiculous amounts and sometimes go on two runs a day in an attempt to lose some weight.

Unfortunately this approach got me no where, and meant that when I did go on holiday, or eat more, my body quickly rejected it and I would bloat, or put on weight. I just accepted that that was normal, but little did I know how much I was missing.

Finding the Gym

When I eventually found the gym, I did what everyone does. I ran, I rowed, I went on the bike, I did crunches and planks and russian twists, and again I became obsessed. I discovered HIIT training, and thought the more the better… Again, not right. My weight fluctuated so much if I did not do my normal training, and my weight stayed stagnant. I did not want to lift weights, as like everyone else I did not want to be bulky. One of the many fitness myths.

Once I finally realised that what I was doing did not work, I considered that maybe all these women raving about weight training weren’t lying. I started slowly, I added a leg day and an upper body day to my training, and continued doing my cardio, and built this slowly over time (and trust me it took time).

Every month I trained, I became more and more fascinated by the way the body works and how nutrition fuels us. I have made so many mistakes, and my journey has been a hell of a long one. But I think this has only made me stronger, and I want to help people not make the same mistakes as me, and change peoples bodies, confidence, perspectives and lives.

I am by no means an expert or anywhere near one, but I am constantly looking to learn more and keen to help as many people as I can. If you have any questions, or if you feel like you can relate to my story please do not hesitate to get in touch with me!

ionapatersonfitness@gmail.com