Photo above: LifeFit Wellness Coach motivates others to keep trying.
By Molly Ingram
As many of you know, I decided to try the Body Makeover program that is provided by LifeFit and Beaufort Memorial in an attempt to begin to live a healthier lifestyle. And so far, so good. The program participants are divided into groups that have a set three days where they meet at the same time. My group is led by a stellar trainer and team captain named Amy Mulnix who is just an amazing young woman and mother of two youngsters.
Amy is originally from Wilkesboro, NC and graduated with a degree in Exercise Science from UNC Wilmington. Her formative years were very sports centric with a family who supported her involvement in basketball (Division I), swimming, soccer and track. By now you have figured out Amy is an excellent athlete.
Tall and lanky, she has the physique of a swimmer but her long red hair gives you a hint about the competitiveness that simmers just below her surface. So how do you take all that competitiveness and channel it into encouraging, mentoring, coaching and pushing a bunch of little old ladies, of which I am one, to become better and healthier individuals? That, my friends, is where the real talent lies.
As I look back on all of the failed times I have attempted to make the transition to “healthier” I can finally see why those times didn’t work and this time I think it will. It is simply a matter of getting the right person in the right job at the right time.
“I have always had a passion for the health and wellness world and enjoy sharing that passion with others through coaching, mentoring and training. Once I moved to Beaufort, an opportunity to work at LifeFit came up and I was greatly blessed to get the job. I’ve always been geared more towards working with children in a sport related sense, so this opportunity was a huge challenge for me but one I was very excited to accept. I grew up with coaches and personal trainers all my life, went to school to learn the science of it all, and really wanted to give back to others in the same way I had been rewarded. The game of sports taught me incredible life lessons; the value of a hard work ethic, team work, time management, loyalty, integrity, commitment, perseverance and compassion. With the Body Makeover Program, these were areas in which I could use my strengths and passion to share with and motivate others in hopes to impress upon them the importance and advantages of leading a healthy lifestyle.”
Amy created a “team” of us old ladies that provided multiple benefits for each of us. We became friends besides teammates. We shared each other’s successes and when we fell off of the “healthy eating” wagon (which was more often than Amy probably hoped for) we encouraged each other to “get back on track”, and we all got bitten by the fitness bug.
Amy’s ability to encourage each of us in different ways is amazing to watch. It shows her ability to lead, and we all followed with a smile on our faces except between 12-1 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday’s when we might have been seen calling her every name we could think of until our hour of class was over.
Amy was selected to participate in Leadership Beaufort which she is enjoying immensely. “I decided to take the ultimate step and apply for the program when I realized I wanted more from living in Beaufort. I have always had a passion for serving and volunteering, but how was I going to do this when all I did was work all day and then come home to take care of my little ones? I’m not the most out-going individual in new environments, so seeking these opportunities and getting involved wasn’t going to be easy for me. So I took the leap and was accepted into the program.”
“Growing up a mountain girl, I never really saw myself living on the coast. Even though I graduated college from a coastal community, it was always my dream to live in a cabin in the mountains and have true winters every year. Coming to Beaufort, I think everyone’s first reaction is to see how beautiful the community truly is from an aesthetic sense. Water, everywhere! Boats, sailboats, sunsets and sunrises as vivid as the eye could imagine, a natural, commercial-less coast line, the best local seafood around, beautiful plantations, and a diverse ecosystem unlike any other. But what I love most about Beaufort is not just the visual presentation. It’s the diversity in the people who live here. The ancient cultures that still thrive here and the influence they bring to the community. The history of Beaufort and how it came to be. And lastly, how we truly seek to be one united community that provides a framework to make Beaufort like no other place in the world. There is love here amongst individuals and a shared respect for our beautiful surroundings. We are truly in God’s country here and you can feel everyone embrace that responsibility.”
Amy has an old nursery rhyme that she grew up by and it certainly provides the mantra that she lives by:
Good. Better. Best.
Never let it Rest.
Until your Good is your Better
And your Better is your Best!
This little ditty now lives on my refrigerator as a reminder that life really is a journey and not a competition. It’s not something you win or lose, but how much you enjoyed life as you move through it. Amy has become a friend, coach, tormentor, slave driver, therapist, and sometimes masseuse. She has pointed me in the right direction and continues to nudge me forward. Thanks Amy for all you do for me and for all of us lucky enough to know and work with you.
