A Life Time Transformation Story With Becca Rigg

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Transcript: A Life Time Transformation Story With Becca Rigg

Season 2, Episode 9  | October 20, 2020

Jamie Martin 
Welcome to Life Time Talks, the healthy-living podcast that’s aimed at helping you achieve your health, fitness, and life goals. I’m Jamie Martin, editor in chief of Experience Life, Life Time’s whole-life health and fitness magazine.

David Freeman 
And I’m David Freeman, the national program leader for Life Time’s Alpha program. We’re all in different places along our health and fitness journey, but no matter what we’re working toward, there are some essential things we can do to keep moving forward in the direction of a healthy, purpose-driven life.

Jamie Martin 
In each episode of this season, we’ll break down various elements of healthy living, including fitness and nutrition, mindset and community, and health issues. We’ll also share real, inspiring stories of transformation.

David Freeman 
And we’ll be talking to experts from Life Time and beyond who’ll share their insights and knowledge, so you’ll have the tools and information you need to take charge of your next steps. Here we go.

[Music]

Jamie Martin

We want to take a moment to thank Invisalign, the official smile sponsor of Life Time and the Life Time Talks podcast. When it comes to getting the smile you’ve always wanted, Invisalign is all about superior treatment, and that’s exactly what you get with two decades of doctor-driven experience. From small shifts in teeth to big gaps, Invisalign has helped transformed over 8 million smiles worldwide — and mine is one of those smiles.

A few years ago I was feeling really self-conscious about how my bottom teeth had started to shift and overlap. But as an adult, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of braces. So, when I found Invisalign I was so excited. And now I can say, a couple years since finishing my treatment, that I’m still so happy with the results. I’m definitely more confident when I smile really big these days.

Invisalign aligners can change your smile too. Talk to your dental provider today to learn more about your options. For more information, visit Invisalign.com/LifeTime or follow Invisalign on Instagram and Facebook.

[Music]

Jamie Martin

Hey, everyone. I’m Jamie Martin.

David Freeman

And I’m David Freeman.

Jamie Martin

And welcome back to Life Time Talks. We’re super excited to be back with you guys in this episode. It’s the first time ever we’ve brought on a member from Life Time, our parent organization. And we’re talking with Becca Rigg today. She joined Life Time in Plymouth, Minnesota a few years ago now, and through hard work and learning how to prioritize her own health and well-being, she has experienced a pretty remarkable health and fitness transformation that we think is going to be pretty inspiring and relatable for a lot of people as well. David, you’ve actually had a front row seat to Becca’s journey, at least where she is so far, so, do you just want to give us a little preview of how you know her and what you’ve experienced working with her along this journey?

David Freeman

Becca has been such an amazing light. And when I actually met Becca about two years ago, when she walked in, you were just drawn to her energy. So, just knowing who Becca is to a core, being a wife, being a mother to five kids, and just knowing her passion and her pursuit to just be great has been amazing to watch. Knowing her whole transformational play in her life and how that actually transitioned and motivated her to actually be a fitness pro and help others along their journey has been amazing to watch as well. So, in her journey she’s been able to acquire her NASM, her ISSA, and also her USA Weightlifting certification. So, as always, you think about it, mind right body right, she puts her mind to something, she gets it done. So her philosophy, her focus on her habits and behavior to change for her overall long-term health and fitness goals she makes it happen. So, I’m super excited to have her today.

Jamie Martin

Yeah, I mean, to that point, like, she’s inspirational in that she’s applied this in her personal life now it’s part of her profession, and she just has such a relatable story. I think one of the things that really resonated with me is how her mindset has changed about health and wellness and what that looks like. She, like many people, started thinking about health and wellness and getting to a certain point, being fit for a certain event, and to hear her talk about how now fitness is a way of life for her, how it’s a priority, how it’s a glass ball — you’ll hear her talk about that a little bit — was really inspiring. And one of my favorite quotes — and she had many in this episode — she said there is no finish line to fitness, which I thought was just like, you’re right, this is an ongoing journey, it’s going to change as we go, really, really great conversation with her and we can’t wait for you guys to all listen in.

David Freeman

100 percent. Like you just said, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. So let’s get ready to strap on our racing shoes and let’s go.

[Music]

David Freeman

This next guest is very special to me. I met this young lady two years ago and she’s just been a spark in my life, my family’s life, and she’s a spark in so many other people’s lives and to hear her story, she’s going to be a spark in your life when we get done with today’s podcast. So, super excited to bring in Miss Rebecca Rigg, AKA Miss Superstar. How are you doing, Rebecca?

Becca Rigg  

I’m great. With that intro how could I not be great?

Jamie Martin

We’re so excited to have you, and this is really the first time that we’ve done an episode, Becca, that’s kind of about like letting somebody just tell us their story, their own personal health and wellness transformation, so we’re ready to dive in.

Becca Rigg

Awesome. Well, where do you guys want me to start?

David

Well, I will kick off with this. Walk us through who Becca Rigg is, like today versus who Becca Rigg was a few years ago.

Becca Rigg

So, today I’m a personal trainer, I’m very active, I work out you know, five days a week. I’m extremely passionate about fitness and nutrition and health. So I feel like I’m very defined right now by fitness and by health and wellness overall, like both you know, mental health and wellness and balance and physical.

So that’s who I am right now but that is definitely not who I’ve always been and really to understand my transformation I’ll kind of paint a picture for you guys. So, I grew up in a family where, you know, my parents are amazing, but they just didn’t have the knowledge that you know, I have now and they did the best that they could with what they had. But I mean, I didn’t know anything about fitness or nutrition at all, like I didn’t grow up active, I wasn’t in any sports, I didn’t exercise, so that was all very foreign to me and I come from a culture that is very centered around food so food was always a really big deal to me and it was very you know, standard American diet I would say, lots of carbs, lots of sugar, lots of processed food.

Meals were focused around more carbohydrate than protein. Protein wasn’t on the radar for me, none of that was on the radar for me. And I remember you know, for a while my metabolism held on and it was fine, and then about my junior year of high school like it caught up to me that kind of diet and I saw these other girls in my high school that would go to the gym. I was like what is gym, you know what I mean? And they were just like these mystical, magical nymph creatures, they were just so beautiful and so amazing, I’m like what? How do you get to look like that, like how does that happen? And I was like well, it must be in their genes, like it must not be in my genes because I don’t look like that, and I had just no idea.

I kind of struggled a little bit with food and my body image in high school, and then college it got worse. You know, I gained the classic, you know, freshman 15, maybe freshman 20 for me, and so at that point I started thinking gosh, I don’t fit into anything and I thought I got to figure this whole thing out.

And so you know, you look at the infomercials and it’s all like take these two shakes a day and you’ll get you know, get skinny, or take this pill and you’ll get skinny, and so I did all those things you know, I was just chasing skinny. And it worked you know, I would get skinny and yet I could never maintain that for longer than two, three months because it was just the way that I’d gotten to that point was completely unsustainable.

So I just was your classic yo-yo dieter, and it was really frustrating because I would get down to skinny and small and I would be in these tiny clothes that I bought, and then I would just blow up again because I didn’t have sustainable habits and so then I would just hold onto those jeans, like I got to get back to these jeans and it just felt like really defeating to see those pants and be like I don’t know how I’ll ever fit in them again.

And then I got married and I lost a lot of weight before my wedding you know, shedding for the wedding, just doing like online videos and stuff like that. Nothing with any weights at all to this point, so I did some aerobics videos, and I honestly was having pretty restricted diet at that point, so not healthy at all.

I got really tiny for my wedding and then after that you know, you’re in a good relationship, you’re married, you’re happy, and then comfort eating kind of blew up again. So again, this yo-yo. And then I started having babies. Went through eleven years of being pregnant or nursing, so I had five children and so a lot of yo-yoing through that period, too, and that was even harder because then your body gets stretched out in all these ways that, you know, now you feel like this total foreigner in your own body. I’m like whose body is this?

And so I was just . . . there’s a lot of sadness around you know, just how I felt in my own skin and I was just chasing and chasing, chasing, like skinny and what I thought was supposed to be the perfect fit, and just a smaller number on the scale, smaller number on the scale, and it never worked out very well for me until I came to Life Time.

So I walked into the doors of Life Time about three years ago and at that point again, walked into Life Time and now here I am a grown woman, a mother of five children, I was about seven months postpartum from my last child and I was like I’m done having kids so I was like now I can like, now it’s time to really focus on my body and I was like I’m tired of playing the rookie game, like I want to know like how these professional people do it, like how do these people, how do these magical, mystical nymph creatures become this way, right?

And so you know, I walk into Life Time and of course feel like such a fish out of water you know, just all these like super shiny, beautiful fit people all around me and I’m looking at them like, you know, it was very intimidating but I just, I had reached that point where I’m like I don’t care what it takes, like I’m in this for the long game and I’m going to invest in myself. And so I decided to hire a personal trainer and that was game changing for me.

So I started out with a nutritionist and then hired a personal trainer to go with, so I had a nutritionist coaching me on food and she taught me to eat protein and then I was like . . . she said you should be getting 100 grams of protein a day and I was like OK. And she’s like well, tell me what you eat and how much protein do you get in a day. So we wrote it all out, she’s like yeah, you’re eating about 20 grams a day and I was like whoa. So that was a little bit eye opening.

And what was really cool about working with Carrie is she never said OK, I want you to cut out this stuff and restrict this. She said, I want you to add protein to your diet. And so I was like cool, I can add stuff, like I can add. You’re not taking anything away from me, I just have to get — she told me try to shoot for 24 or 25 grams of protein a meal. So all of a sudden now when I’m looking at a meal, I’m like well, I don’t want that bagel because it doesn’t have protein. And I don’t want that donut because it doesn’t have protein. So it wasn’t like I couldn’t have those things, I just chose not to have them because they didn’t fit the assignment I was given by my professional teacher lady.

So that was really cool. So I started eating better and then I started working with my trainer, Clark, and he started giving me resistance, weights. The heaviest weight I picked up before this was a five-pound dumbbell for my aerobics video . . .

Jamie Martin

Or your children I would say. You picked up your kids, they are heavy, right? Like, do they count a little bit?

Becca Rigg

Yes, that’s true, that’s true. I did have my mommy muscles from lifting my kids, for sure. But yeah, so all of a sudden you know, he starts giving me these bigger weights and heavier weights. I decided like when I started, I was like I’m not . . . because before I would see oh, the scale’s not moving so this doesn’t work so I’d quit. I decided, I’m like we’re not going to look at the scale, we’re not going to attach this to the scale, we’re going to do what the trainer says and what the nutritionist says and we’re just going to, you know, work on building these habits. Because I figured like if I can’t —  I just have never been consistent with something. I’ve never like seen it through and I always been like hurry up and get to the finish line and then quit everything that I had done to get there and that’s what always set me back.

So this time I was like no, I’m not going to just rush this, I’m not going to you know, hurry, hurry, hurry and if I don’t see results, I’m quitting. I’m just going to do it for the long game, so I started doing that. About three months into it, people were like hey, are you doing something different? Like you look different, and so that was kind of cool, and I started noticing I had more energy and I noticed my clothes fit better.

Anyway, so then my trainer encouraged me to sign up for the 60day Challenge through Life Time. I was like cool, like I’m kind of competitive person. And so I went into that and I sat down with the trainer and they give you like an onboarding session and they’re like what’s your goal for the 60day? I was like my goal is to win it. And he laughed at me, and he’s like OK. I was like but no, seriously, I’m going to win it. So it was nice to have like a target to shoot for and the 60day kind of gave me that, gave me a lot of community support, made me kind of level up my game.

So, I’d been training like once or twice a week with my trainer, so then I moved into taking Alpha classes and those classes were now three days a week plus you know, a day a week with my trainer, so now I was four days a week putting in the grind. And you know, David has said this to me before, he said you know, if you want to learn a language and if you just go to class once a week your progress is going to be pretty slow. He said but if you immerse yourself in the language, you’re going to get fluent pretty fast.

And so that’s what happened to me when I joined the 60day, I was like I was immersed, like I was all in, and all of a sudden you’re around these people that have similar goals and similar habits, it just keeps pushing you towards that lifestyle and I tell you what, like being in, and that’s kind of where I met David is through that Alpha class, and it was really cool because I had never seen myself as an athlete, I had never seen myself as a fit person, and like from day one David was just like, I know who you are. He’s like I know what’s inside there and he was just like you’re incredible, you’re an athlete, you’re a powerhouse, you’ve got this. He’s like it’s all in there we just got to bring it out.

So that was like, I don’t know, having somebody believe in you, believe things about you that you’ve never believed about yourself is incredibly empowering, incredibly empowering, and so it just gave me this courage to like dare to believe in myself, like maybe I am that person, you know?

David Freeman

Let’s pause for that passion. Hold on, B, let’s pause for that passion. Guys, right now you are witnessing passion 101 and that’s why I said let’s pause for the passion because from when we did the introduction to who is Becca Rigg to who is Becca Rigg before and all this, listen to all the passion that just came out. I didn’t mean to cut you off, Becca, but it’s just the passion that lives within you that is the spark of what I was talking about when I did your introduction and when we go back, and I want to recap a little bit about all that you were saying.

This is an individual, this is a special human being that recognized something early on in her life and she did not allow that to defeat her. She continued to evolve year after year after year and she went on this roller coaster, and granted on this ride, this roller coaster that we can call it, she had her ups and downs but the experience that she gained from these ups and downs is what molded her into this beast mode of a mom right now. Five kids, a wife, managing all the different things that we call in life, life, but still was able to find time for self to create a goal, an objective, and stay consistent to arriving at what it is that she is today.

So I wanted to make the pause for passion because I know Becca can go all day with her passion and I know Jamie, Jamie was writing down some things over there, so I mean Jamie, you being a mom as well, what are you thinking right now?

Jamie Martin

Well, I’m sitting here thinking you know, as moms we often put others before ourselves, right? And you know, you said for 11 years you were in that. You know, you were having babies, you were nursing babies, you were doing all these things, so we put ourselves second and you know, I think there’s something so important when we realize like when we take care of us first we can take care of others better and I feel like that’s such an important thing, and I also want to touch on, I think you just highlighted something throughout your story, the whole difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and I think what you’re talking about here is you found your own intrinsic motivation for why you did this and I don’t know if you want to speak to that at all, Becca, but I do feel like it became about something other than I’m hitting the goal for the wedding, I’m hitting the goal for this, and yes, you used the 60day, that’s a great motivator, too, but you had some other things that were happening internally for you and I’m sure tied to your own values.

Becca Rigg

Yeah, I think I, for sure. So first about what you said about being a mom, 100 percent, like I felt guilty investing in myself like financially, I felt guilty investing in myself time, you know, because I’m like gosh, I shouldn’t be spending some money on me when I could on them, I shouldn’t be spending this time away from them, I should be, and yet I am such a better mom. I have so much more energy, I have so much more to give because I’m putting in to myself. And so that was really cool to see that, I was like I had just been so afraid to invest in me and when I finally did I had so much more to give, like the dividends, the payout was just so huge.

So if any moms are out there listening to this and you feel that mom guilt for time away, I am telling you it is the best investment that you can make for your family, not just yourself.

Jamie Martin

I completely agree. That is such an important message because again, we too often put everyone before ourselves and I felt that pain as well myself, but it’s like when you do that everybody feels the difference when you take care of you.

Becca Rigg

Yes. Oh, yeah. I mean, to this day my husband will still be like if I am cranky or tired or something he’s like you go to the gym, you just go. He’s like don’t fix dinner, go fill your cup. And then you’re going to be a nicer, happier person. So he knows.

David Freeman

Yeah. On the flip side, too, because I know that it is that nurturing, is that I don’t want to call it the stereotype, but we always say the mom is doing so much. Dads, step up. You got to do the same thing, too. So I don’t want this to be a one way show like we got to be able to provide, protect, and also make sure we have a nurturing side, too, so we can break that mold or that stereotype. There’s nothing wrong with being vulnerable, there’s nothing wrong with showing emotion, and there’s nothing wrong with being there for your kids beyond working 24/7 at work.

Jamie Martin

One thing I want to tap on, too, when you’re talking about your kids, one thing I told Becca this before we started recording the episode today, like I’ve been following her on social media and I have seen you do some amazing role modeling with your kids and I can see like what, your kids are getting a little older now and they’re part of your health and wellness lifestyle. How are you modeling that in your household on a day to day basis, what’s it like for you guys?

Becca Rigg

That ties right into your question about what’s your intrinsic motivation you know, because before it was like oh, I want to fit into this pair of pants and now it’s like I want to be a role model to my kids. I want them to have that role model that I didn’t have and that knowledge that I don’t want this to be a mystery to them or to be like this unsolved mystery, how do I crack this code. Like, I want it to be fluent you know, I want it to be like intrinsic, I want it to be like immersion, right?

And so just little things like you know, me and my girls when they want to have one on one time with me I’m like alright, let’s go for a run and they love that because when you have four siblings you know, there’s five of them and you get one on one time with mom, like I’ll go on a 20-minute, 30-minute run you know, to get that time, and so they love that. I take them you know, with me and we’ll just do you know, little 20-minute circuits with weights, I’ve taught them just kind of you know, the basic fundamental movements that we use, our just functional fitness moves, it’s the squat, the hinge, that kind of thing.

But it’s really cool to watch them. They get excited and instead of them being like you know, I want to be skinny or I want to be tight, they’re like I want to have muscles like mommy you know, and it’s just like . . . actually my little guy the other day he was like you know, he was about to bring something for my husband to open, he’s like actually mom, can you open this with your muscles? I said oh, like, they look at me as I’m strong you know, and I can do things and I don’t know, and I love being able to be that example to them and show them that when you do hard things that there’s this amazing reward that comes from it, there’s this feeling of empowerment and satisfaction and I’ve seen it in them.

Actually I put my kids in Alpha Kids and David was the coach in the beginning and it was super funny because he had my kindergartner, he said, he’s like we’re going to do a two-minute plank and so you know, of course all the kids drop out like after 30 seconds but my kindergartner, she’s like the most determined little thing you ever seen. So she’s in there shaking and she’s going like 60 seconds in and I’m like it’s OK, honey, if you want to quit and David’s like no, you keep going, you keep going. And so anyways she gets through the full two-minute plank and I’m like ready to swoop in and be like oh, honey, are you OK? And she was just like yes, I feel so strong and so amazing.

And it was just like, that taught me something. I’m like I don’t need to protect them from like hard things, like it’s OK to let them go through that and feel that conquering spirit and that empowerment from doing something that challenged them.

David Freeman

But when you say that remember, Jaimie, we actually had that conversation with Hightower as far as when he was watching his daughter walk up the steps and like he could just go down there and help her or she can figure it out, so it’s like I said earlier, experience is the best teacher.

I want to hit on something that you just said, though, Becca. When we go back to when you were in high school and you saw this image of what we thought or what you thought a female should look like or what we view as skinny or attractive, aesthetically pleasing, nowadays social media and knowing that you have your daughters now and I mean, even your son eventually once he gets his social media account, the role that social media plays and the image that is put out there what we view as beautiful or accepted, like how has that been not only for you, I’m asking you as well, but also for your young girls?

Becca Rigg

Yeah, so that’s really important for me. So the F word in my house is “fat.” I don’t say this is going to make me fat, I look fat, like I don’t use that word as a negative adjective, I use it to describe, you know, a macronutrient, you know, but I’m not going to use that as like this negative thing and so, you know, my body has changed, my kids will comment on it, and I just say yeah, because I want to be strong. I never say it’s because I was fat and I wanted to be skinny, I never say that because I want them to understand that the body that they have, they can’t compare it to other people’s because like I always wanted to have like tiny, skinny bird legs and I just like it’s beautiful on the people that have that genetically, on me that’s like there’s no way. I could eat like 100 calories a day and never have those legs, it’s not genetically possible for me, and I was honestly so embarrassed by my legs in high school because they are thick, like I got some good, thick legs, and when I finally just embraced how amazingly strong they are and what they can do, like now it’s one of my proudest features and I’ve literally had people come up to me in the gym and say girl, your quads are goals, and I’m just like yes!

So that’s been a big change for me, when I stopped trying to take up less space. I decided that I’m going to do the best with what I’ve been genetically given and not try to fit in somebody else’s mold or somebody else’s body. Actually David gave me a headband that says “You Versus You” and that’s kind of become my calling card, that’s become my mantra, because I’m like yeah, I’m not competing with any of these people here, like every time one of us succeeds we all succeed. Their success doesn’t diminish mine and my progress, because my progress is incredible, even though it can’t touch hat David can do, what it is for me is incredible.

And so that was really helpful, that mindset of changing of like comparing myself to other, you know, ideals of beauty and just saying I’m going to take what I have been given and make it the healthiest, fittest, strongest version that it can be and not worry about does it look like X, Y, and Z person I saw on Instagram.

Jamie Martin

And I think you put that message out there to the world. I mean, you have been very, very honest in your own journey with your social media following about that and I think that’s super refreshing in a world where — and still we’re seeing a lot of examples of what things “should” be, right? And if you could see me right now, I’m putting air quotes around the word should because should is one of my least favorite words in the English language, but there is no thing as should.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw — actually it was a cover of Experience Life, I was an intern and I saw it and was like that is a strong, healthy woman and I remember it being like the first example that I had really seen of that out in the media and I was like, it like transformed my mind. I was like that is super inspiring, I want more of that, and I think you are an example of that in this world and I think there are some really good examples of that and you’re one of them.

Becca Rigg

Wow, thank you, and I agree, like seeing that, like other body types represented, all of a sudden you feel like there is a space for me and it is, it’s so transformative and life changing, you’re like I don’t have to look a certain way you know, and it is, it’s really powerful and so I’ve tried to teach that to my girls and honestly like, you know, I also am really good about showing them hey, look at this filter, look at this angle, let’s talk about what’s real and what’s not real that you’re looking at, and so I really want to reveal that there’s a little square that you see on social media and there’s a whole world outside that square.

Because a lot of times, especially teenagers, they get fixated on these yeah, these perfect images and it creates a lot of you know, just depression and sadness or dissatisfaction with themselves and so I really, really push that to my girls and show them like hey, that’s just one tiny square that shows one moment in time and it does not you know, it doesn’t show the whole picture at all.

Jamie Martin

I want to take a step back a little bit because you know, we talked a lot about your successes along the way but there’s no doubt there’s been struggles, so what have been some of the biggest struggles that you’ve faced and how have you overcome them? Are there any tools, strategies, things that you’ve turn to that you know help keep you on track?

Becca Rigg

So, I would say one of the biggest struggles is letting go of perfection and I think you know, something’s always got to give. When I decided to really invest in myself like fitness-wise, you know what? My house wasn’t always clean, it just wasn’t. And like the laundry, it got washed but it didn’t get folded. And you know, little things like that used to, I would get down on myself and feel like gosh, I’m not doing enough, and I realized I have to prioritize the most important things.

And so the way I think about, you know, when you’re juggling all these balls in the air, there’s glass balls and there’s rubber balls and I decided sometimes it’s OK to let the rubber balls fall. They’ll bounce back, you know, but like the glass balls I kept, I kept going. And I turned fitness into a glass ball for myself. It hadn’t been before, it hadn’t been, so that’s why it always got dropped. I decided to make it a glass ball because I realized that, again, it wasn’t about looking a certain way, it was about my quality of life, my mood, it was about my confidence, and just my ability to function in the world. And so I turned that into a glass ball.

Obviously, family, glass ball. That’s got to be a priority. Cleaning my house turned into a rubber ball and you know, sometimes it’s clean and sometimes it’s not. Right now if I showed you a tour of the house you guys would just be like well, it looks like seven people live there.

Jamie Martin

That’s real life.

Becca Rigg

Yeah. So that was one challenge, just like letting go of perfection and realizing I can’t do everything, like that’s a myth. You can’t do everything, it’s a myth.

The other thing, too, is I think even though I really push and really focus on like don’t compare yourself to others, that’s still something I have to work on all the time. All the time. It’s not just like something that you decide I am not going to compare myself to others anymore and then you just don’t, like it’s going to be something that it’s going to creep into your mind and you’re going to have to have talks with yourself and so I do. I do. And you know, at the end of the 60day, I went a little further than I needed to. I wanted to win, and it was cool to see that I could get to that physique, but it wasn’t sustainable at that point.

So now that I’ve put on from my lowest, now I’ve put on another 10 pounds, and my body loves to be right where it’s at, like this extra 10 pounds, my body loves it and it’s really easy to maintain and it’s good. But there’s still sometimes moments where I’ll look at the pictures of me at the very end of the 60day and I’m like, oh, should I look like that still, or maybe I need to get to that again, and I have to talk myself back and be like you know, there’s always more you can do. You have to get it to a point where you’re satisfied and happy and the reality is if you’re not happy like in this moment wherever you’re at in your journey, then you won’t be happy there 10 pounds less, you’ll always find something else to chase.

So that’s another thing, a challenge that has been for me that I’m always working on is just being present in the moment, being satisfied and happy and proud of where I am right now and not putting these really intense expectations on myself.

Jamie Martin

One thing I love about what you’re saying, it sounds like this is also very sustainable for you where you’re at . . .

Becca Rigg

Oh, yes.

Jamie Martin

. . . and I think you’re afraid, like you’re kind of this place where it feels good for you. There’s a concept known as the set point, right? Like a weight set point where we often like our bodies kind of naturally do pretty well there and can fluctuate, but it’s also more sustainable versus some of those, like, I want to get back to the weight what I weighed at my wedding, right? This is not the real thing or it is real, it’s a real thing, I shouldn’t say it that way, but it’s not a sustainable thing with the way life is.

Becca Rigg

Yes, exactly, and that’s where I love like how you said, right now I can be at this point and I can have days where we have to go do takeout, I don’t have to track every single bite that I eat. I can miss a workout and my body will stay here. And so that’s why I’m like, you know what? This is a great place to be, you know? I like my body right now, it doesn’t have to be magazine ready all the time. I feel good in my skin, I feel good.

David Freeman

I love it, I love it. I got a saying for you, maintain what you can sustain. I like to rhyme or I like to create acronyms, so maintain what you can sustain. So let’s go into like these different mantras we have. I know that I say “Mind Right Body Right,” you got the headband that said “You Versus You,” and just now when we were talking about the struggles you said letting go of perfection. Like what is the mantra that you carry throughout your house as far as the leader that you are to remind you to stay on track?

Becca Rigg

Well, you kind of hinted towards it. It’s actually another shirt that I have that says “Progress Not Perfection.” I mean, that one is something that has been, it’s changed my life. Because before I was all or nothing girl. It was like if it couldn’t be perfect then forget about it, I can’t do it. And so I’ve really you know, progress not perfection, like maybe I didn’t get a hour workout in but I walked for 20 minutes, so it’s like can’t I celebrate that? That’s a win, that’s a victory, and so I’ve started you know, that progress not perfection has been really help for me as a mother because my kids are just like me. I mean, they’re perfectionists and so you know, they don’t get something right and they get really mad and they get upset.

And so I’m able to really bring it back and be like but look what you did do? Sure, you didn’t get exactly what you wanted or to the goal that you wanted but look how much progress you have made. And then you know, the other mantra that I have is that there’s no finish line to fitness. It’s a lifelong pursuit and it’s a lifestyle. And so like I said, I was always going for the finish line, the wedding or the beach vacation or whatever it was, and then quit and now I’ve changed my mindset to there’s no finish line. This is who I am, like this is what I do. I brush my teeth every day, I take care of my body every day. I move my body every day. Like those are things that I’ve now turned into you know, non-negotiable habits that I know are going to be best for, you know, just like we have dental hygiene, we’ve got mental hygiene, now we got physical hygiene and so that’s just part of my routine now.

Jamie Martin

So I think we’d be a little bit remiss not to talk about the challenges of 2020 so far and, you know, how have the challenges of the pandemic affected you and how have you adapted both at home and just in life in general to that because it has presented a lot of new challenges for different people across the board and we’re all facing them in unique ways.

Becca Rigg

So when the gyms closed down you know, I’ve just talked to you guys about how much that was such a huge driving piece of my life to the point where I became a personal trainer and it became my identity and then it got pulled out from under me. And I just felt like a boat without a rudder, I felt so lost and I was just like who am I now? I’m not training people, I don’t have a facility to work out in, I didn’t have equipment at home because why would I need that, I had the gym, right?

And so I went through a really rough patch in the beginning of quarantine where I struggled with my identity and then I thought well, I guess if I’m not a trainer all of a sudden like old habits started coming back in. I’m just going to eat all my feelings and you know, I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t go anywhere, everything was shut down. I’m an extremely extroverted person so I felt like all this isolation from not being able to connect with my clients and my athletes and everybody, and so I went through a really rough patch and I actually reached out to David and I was like I don’t know what to do, I just don’t know who I am right now and he was like you’re still Becca, like you’re still that beast you know, that leader, that coach.

And so you know, he’s good, he knows how to direct me. He gave me homework, he’s like I want you to write down your mission statement, I want you to write down your objective, you know, and I was like OK, all of a sudden I had that purpose again and I was like that’s right, I’m still Becca, I’ve just got to adapt, I got to adapt. And so I did. I started teaching a Zoom class and I made it free and available to anybody that wanted to do it and I would get 25, 30 people that were joining me to work out in the mornings and it got me out of bed, and also I’m like I’m going to be on camera, I got to like actually take care of myself. You know, we spent the first month of quarantine like no makeup and like no shower and I was like oh, I’m going to put on some makeup, I’m going to put on my cute pants.

So all of a sudden it gave me that purpose again to, you know, and everyone was so grateful and they’re like thanks for doing this for free and I was like no, thank you guys, like you guys are helping pull me out of this really dark spot, and I guess that’s what I really learned from quarantine is that to get yourself higher you have to give away, like the more I give away the more I get back. And that was, that kind of got me back on my feet and reminded me that that’s who I am, you know.

And so from there you know, I just kind of decided OK, now my kids are going to be my clients and I’m going to train my kids and so I started putting them through little workouts and I just started finding that purpose again in whatever way that I could.

David Freeman

This is a reciprocity of life, just give the best of who you are and it’ll come back to you, and it might not necessarily always be monetary, but it’s just the feeling of helping people as a true value within itself.

Jamie Martin

I think that’s you know, a lot of people had that moment and we talked about this, where we thought we knew who we were, this thing happened, we’re all like who am I? What do I want to do, and like this has given us this period, this pause has helped a lot of people kind of answer that question or explore that question at the very least and so thank you for sharing that with us because it is, it’s super challenging when many of the things that help identify or help make up your identity are gone and like OK, now what?

Becca Rigg

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

David Freeman

To play on that, just to play on that, I know we’re about to go into our power minute, Becca, so get ready for that. But guys, real quick, what’s perfect vision?

Becca Rigg

What’s perfect vision?

David Freeman

Yeah, like what’s the numbers.

Becca Rigg

Oh, 2020, 2020.

David

2020, so what year, what year, what year is it right now, and that’s what you just said, and pause and reflect and then you have a true understanding of who you are. It’s clear, it should be very clear and I think in this pause, in this quarantine or whatever we want to call it, we came into our own. We might have thought we knew who we were, but it really was a humbling experience. It was an emotional breakdown for many, but it should have become clear to a lot of folks during this time to reflect, to do more for yourself, to understand who you are, and that’s why when I look at this year and a lot of people are saying this is probably the worst year they ever experienced, and in a lot of ways I understand the pandemic piece of it but in a lot of ways I feel like a lot of people discovered who they truly were during this time. So 2020 is going to be a standout year for a lot of positive things as well.

So shifting into the power minute, drum roll, please. [Drumroll noise] Here we go, Becca, our power minute.

Becca Rigg

OK, power minute.

David Freeman

If there is one key takeaway you want to leave our listeners with, what would that be?

Becca Rigg

Believe in yourself. Believe in your potential and your ability to do hard things. I think there’s so much negative self-talk that creeps into our minds that wants to talk us out of our potential and so I would say believe in yourself, and if you’re having a hard time with that, like go get help, go get support, you know, whoever that person is. You know, for me it’s been coaches, trainers, obviously my husband. You know, find somebody that’s going to help you believe in yourself because it’s amazing what can happen when you do believe in your potential to do hard things.

Jamie Martin

I love that. So before we sign off, Becca, where can people follow you or learn more about what you’re doing?

Becca Rigg

Yeah. They can follow me on Instagram, my handle is @beccakrigg. Connect with me there, I would love to have you guys be part of my journey.

Jamie Martin

You do so many inspirational posts and just are so great at sharing and being really open and honest in that sharing, so thank you, and thanks for coming on Life Time Talks.

Becca Rigg

Thanks so much for having me.

[Music]

David Freeman 
Thanks for joining us for this episode. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on our conversation today and how you approach this aspect of healthy living in your own life. What works for you? Where do you run into challenges? Where do you need help?

Jamie Martin 
And if you have topics for future episodes, you can share those with us, too. Email us at lttalks@lt.life, or reach out to us on Instagram at @lifetime.life, @jamiemartinel, or @freezy30 and use the hashtag #LifeTimeTalks. You can also learn more about the podcast at thesource.lifetime.life/podcasts.

David Freeman 
And if you’re enjoying Life Time Talks, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Feel free to write a review and also let others know about it, too. Take a screenshot of the episode and share it on social, share it with your friends, family, work buddies, life coach. You get the gist.

Jamie Martin 
Thanks for listening. We’ll talk to you next time on Life Time Talks.

[Music]

Jamie Martin

Life Time Talks is a production of Life Time — Healthy Way of Life. It is produced by Molly Schelper, with audio engineering by Peter Perkins and sound consulting by Coy Larson. A big thank you to the team who pulls each episode together and everyone who provided feedback.