Encourage Your Incarcerated Loved Ones to Get Fit
So many people know they need change with their overall health but don’t know how to take the steps to change the trajectory of their life. Well, federal prison will sure change your life and could cause destruction or deliverance. It is up to you to navigate that negative change and turn it into a positive one. Health and fitness goals can be met here with encouragement and the right frame of mind. So if you have a loved one incarcerated or you are on your way to prison here is a little about me and my life as a gym rat in federal prison, I hope it encourages, you and brings you hope.
Working out is my jam. I love it. I feel most alive when I am doing some crazy workout and I especially love talking others into doing these crazy workouts while telling them they are going to love it. While I am explaining what we are going to do, they look at me with loving daggers in their eyes, at least that is what I see.
I can’t say I loved group fitness before prison, but now it has become a passion of mine since I became the class coordinator and an instructor. We are constantly looking for new instructors and new ideas for classes. Being in a camp, there is a revolving door of inmates, and we just must absorb all these people’s creativity and knowledge before they leave. I try and learn as much as possible and then share with everyone all the things I come across. These ladies that come to my classes have become a tribe, my tribe, and I love them all. There are some ladies that come in that thought they would never get fit or have simply given up on the idea of ever being fit but decide to commit to a new lifestyle of fitness. These ladies have a special place in my heart. I love to watch the weight fall off their bodies as a new creature evolves. A happy creature, one that is strong and confident. I find myself in awe of their transformations. So many go from looking like they think they will be eaten alive when they first get here, to walking across the compound headed to the gym, or as some say, “fat camp,” with their head held high and a jug of water in their hand. Their walk becomes one of purpose, pride and determination. Features they may have lost long ago caring for everyone but themselves, they are back, and with a fierce new edge. These ladies have no fear in their eyes anymore. Their lives are no longer scheduled around meals and tasks to keep their families going, because sadly, all that has been taken away, but the good news is they are living for themselves as they once did long ago. You can just see they have a new hunger for healthy new bodies, a new life, their passion has been ignited and they are full of excitement, and it inspires me beyond words. Seeing these ladies emerge as their own champions, that is like a walking trophy for me, I am so proud of them and it pushes me to constantly do better.
People here feed off each other. I try to be as encouraging as I possibly can without scaring people, I get a little excited sometimes. We are pretty good at holding each other accountable because we live in a small area and there really is no escaping each other. If you didn’t get up for class, we know and there are no excuses. I love how eager these ladies are to give each other compliments and kudos. Last night one of my friends saw a lady running backward on treadmill and thought it was the greatest thing she had ever seen. She just had to run over to get a closer look and her excitement almost made the lady on the treadmill fall off. She just couldn’t wait to tell her how cool she was for doing that move. It was great! I am so blessed to be surrounded by these crazy friends of mine. Passions can be so infectious, and it is such a beautiful thing to watch it spread.
Coming here, you are taken away from an environment that possibly hindered change, and now what you have is opportunity to recreate yourself, find your voice, and live for yourself once-again. For me, changing my environment sparked a new desire for will power. For others, I hear some talk about not being able to lounge on the couch and eat whatever they want, because we don’t have couches here, so that trigger is now gone. Or others talk about having a picky kid that doesn’t eat much, and they used to help them clean their plate full of kid food that just doesn’t work with adult metabolism. Then there are the business happy hours full of cocktails and calories. Here you have 3 planned meals and the last one is over way before 5 pm normally. So many people spent so much time in the kitchen around food, and now they don’t have it in their face all the time. The way I see it, now is the chance to reprogram my brain and help others embrace and celebrate their environment change. People either eat their feelings and gain a lot of weight or work them out and get fit. I like to ask people what they want to be, a worrier or a warrior.
The commissary food can be a hurdle for some, and I tell people to not stock their locker with bad choices. The reality is the commissary food is not that great and it’s the same thing every week, nothing new or exciting, so eat it and move on. I wish I could tell you how fabulous my diet is, but I can’t always say that. I do indulge at all the birthday, going away, and holiday parties and get together we have around here, and Christmas time left me a little fluffier than I would like.
I tell people that come in and want to get fit not to make themselves comfortable sitting around eating with people all the time. I do believe in making memories and I do indulge, but then I get it together, immediately, I know I cannot make indulging a habit. On the street, if you hang out with people who are drinking, smoking, or doing drugs, chances are you are doing those things too. Here we don’t have those things in our face, but we sure do have food. I encourage people to find someone that looks like they know what they are doing. Someone that is goal oriented and driven, refuses to be complacent and just won’t settle or sit, and do what they are doing.
Instead of having a friend you have snacks with, find a friend and go walk on the track, play hand ball or racket ball or join in on some classes, anything to stay active and divert your attention away from calories. It’s nice here because at a camp we have a lot of freedom of movement, plus we don’t have to drive to the gym, we just must walk over there. Luckily the gym and water are free so why not have a few workouts if you aren’t doing anything that day.
I encourage people to get a goal, write it down, and review it frequently. Then visualize what that looks like. I must remind myself and others that working out isn’t a license to eat everything you want. I can get extremely carried away with food. I know very well you can’t outrun a bad diet, so I must learn to take it easy, and line up those healthy snacks. The most important part is to remember if I fall its OK, pick myself up and do it again. I like to journal about my failures, and I encourage others to do so. I don’t just write about how I f II off, but how I got there. I won’t just write a word or two, I get down to the details about what derailed me. What led up to the wreck, what pushed me over the edge, what thoughts turned to feelings and then, most importantly, I try to quickly forgive myself. I think it is so important to do this right away and every time. This kind of journaling is my way of writing instructions about myself, to myself. It’s not if you are going to fail, but when, so I must plan for an emergency landing, instead of a crash and burn. This gives me a map out of the jungle of madness where I beat myself up, and provides a path to lead me back to sanity, where I pick myself up and I just get excited about what I am about to accomplish with new goals and ideas. I try to do the same with other people.
Like today, I have a little group from one of my classes that all made goals for April 11th. I’m going to put that date up in the gym to remind us. We know who we are and what we agreed to do, and we are all excited to go for it. I truly cherish moments like these.
If you are into fitness, the gym is like your embassy. When I first got here all I wanted to see and know about was the gym. I hadn’t had a gym for over a year being locked up in federal holding, so this was exciting. My group arrived late in the evening, so we had to wait until morning to take a tour. I was so horribly disappointed at first. I had heard there was a gym with equipment, but in my mind, someone had told me a real big lie. I must say it has improved over time. We have more equipment now as well as encouragement from staff and we are grateful.
I can’t stress enough keep the right frame of mind and stay as positive as possible. You will not be walking into a state-of-the-art gym no matter what prison you go to. The equipment will be outdated, if there is any, and that is OK. What I have found is a little bit of space, body weight exercises, and a good imagination goes a long way. A lot of people struggle with this and jump on the complaining train, I did at first. This is a mistake. Find yourself a fit person and do what they do. Most of those fit people make recreation their second home and even get jobs there. Now I think if I would have had equipment, it would have been a crutch and would have hindered my imagination and my progress. Now I’m grateful for having these creative people around me that can do big things with next to nothing and the possibilities seem endless. I’m also blessed with family that purchase subscriptions to fitness magazines, which I share, but also hoard.
One of my friends showed me this cool pyramid trick before she left and I like to use it for everything, but my favorite is push ups. Women and push ups don’t seem to go together. For a lot of women, push ups were always for the boys to do and I like to think I am changing that. I do push ups every chance I get, and some people will come up to me and tell me they can’t do one. I should probably come with a warning label on my forehead. I believe if you come start this conversation with me it means you are intrigued and interested in push ups. So, the next thing you know I get them to commit to push up. It may be on a wall or elevated in some way, if they are trying and pushing themselves, I am happy. Then we do a pyramid of push ups. Here is how it goes: I do one, then they do one. I do two, then they do two. We do this all the way to 1O and then back down to one. Then I congratulate them on doing 100 push up Now some people fight me the whole way and some go willing, either way they are all shocked at what they were just able to do. The majority will get excited enough to keep doing it and the people that had to start elevated, will progress until they are on the floor doing real push
ups. A lot of people fall in love with this little mind game. It makes me happy to see people teaching other people and showing others the way. I see groups forming and encouraging each other and together they are improving. I use this method in my step classes. I’m not coordinated enough to do fancy moves so I should probably call it rep step because I pretty much just con people into doing more reps with fun music and some peer pressure. I love to see people improve over time and fight through their fear and pain with sheer determination. With each class, they get a little better.
In conclusion, with the right attitude and encouragement, incarceration can be a great opportunity to get yourself in check, change your life, and restore your health. Watching these ladies transform into confident, strong, fearless women is priceless and encourages me to keep going. Looking back and recognizing and appreciating my own transformation so far brings me so much joy. After being stripped of all that is important to me, I still have the power to change my body and improve myself in ways that would never have seemed possible. The pain that I endured on my fall that led to federal prison I used as an opportunity and inspiration to truly transform and learn to respect myself. I no longer have the excuse that I can’t find time to take care of myself. That crazy busy life that so many of us lived no longer contributes to holding us back. There isn’t a lot of meaningful work around here so with plenty of time to work out and rest, I suggest making your transformation a job. I know I have worked hard to get my body and mind to where it is and the best thing for me to do is share my success with others. Now I get to promote the health, fitness, and hope that I truly believe in, and not many people can say that. I can’t wait to get out and give back to society, but for now, I am giving back right where I am.
