![\"Kendra\"](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/10054431\/Kendra.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThis guest column is written by Kendra Mittermeyer, administrative assistant at DailyBurn. Follow along on her journey towards health, wellness, self-improvement and the perfect push-up.<\/i><\/p>\n
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The first day at any job is well, curious. Walking into any new culture presents not only the challenge of feeling it out and finding your niche, but it also creates a special space for self-awareness. Frankly, as DailyBurn\u2019s new administrative hire, I wasn\u2019t entirely sure I was fitness startup material.<\/p>\n
I knew I could learn the job and the work, but \u2026 truth is: I am not a fitness rock star. I\u2019m actually the heaviest I\u2019ve ever been right now. A string of tough moments preceded my time here, and as a Class-A Emotional Eater, it shows. So working here is either the greatest thing ever, or a gargantuan self-confidence crater to fall into.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take the former route, shall we?<\/p>\n
Day One was fairly typical, filled with the classic new job dilemmas: What\u2019s the wireless password? That nice guy who went out of his way to include me, what\u2019s his name again? Where the heck is the bathroom <\/i>in this place? (I didn\u2019t find out until 3:30 p.m.) Day One was normal. Yes utterly normal, right up until 5 p.m. when my new co-workers began busting through Inferno Intervals<\/a>. Boom. Welcome to a fitness company, huh? Needless to say, I knew then, that life here would be slightly <\/i>more colorful than the average desk job.<\/p>\n The color red to be precise. Huffing, puffing, giggling, sputtering, splotchy red. I was awkward as all get-out at first, so worried about where to stand, if I\u2019d be allowed to take a breather in front of my boss \u2014 and what the heck was \u201cTabata\u201d anyway? Imagine putting on sweats and trying to keep up with a one-minute push-up challenge on Day Two of a new job. Horrifying, clearly. (Unless, of course, you\u2019re Misty May-Treanor.) But there is<\/i> something oddly transformative about a full-body sweat. A few minutes in, all my neuroses had subsided. Or perhaps they had drowned.<\/p>\n There was just no room or time for anyone to stare at me. And OK, even if they were, I was too busy to notice or care about what they might be seeing. As I know now, these people have no interest in judging anybody, especially not if they\u2019re trying. And believe me, try I have. I gasp my way through just about anything those crazy trainers can throw at me \u2014 sometimes with more success than others! But I feel myself getting stronger and the voice in my head whining \u201ctoo hard\u201d getting softer. The more I ignore her wails and the less I hear her.<\/p>\n The proof is in the push-up: I\u2019m getting my nose seriously close to the ground these days and modifying down to my knees less and less. Progress!<\/p>\n Still, I mostly find those \u201croll-ups\u201d to be just a fabulous back<\/a> massage rather than a workout \u2014 I have maybe an ounce of the core strength needed to hop up without using my arms (who does that?!). Similarly, any rapid movements on the exercise balls result in me rolling off and plopping on the gym floor like an underdone pancake. But I love it, and crave it (let\u2019s face it, there are worse things to crave after doing your zillionth expense report!).<\/p>\n![\"Kendra](\"https:\/\/cdn-life.dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/10054334\/Kendra_Childs-Pose_2.jpg\")