The Secret Behind My Magic Ponytail

After sharing a bit of personal nonsense with my good friend Kristen Seymour yesterday, she encouraged me to share this story with you all too. I’ll start by prefacing this whole thing by telling you that I almost NEVER EVER get nervous. I’m confident with my abilities as a fitness professional, and have done this for so long that nothing seems to stress me out. I can speak on stages, in front of millions on TV and entire arenas without so much as a butterfly. Fitness is what I do. So! You can imagine how off-putting it was when I had a moment of anxiety on the set of my DVD shoot for FLIP FLOP ABS.

My cast and crew had been setting up cameras, lighting, wardrobe, makeup and more all morning, and I was really quite relaxed and enjoying the whole experience. It was a scene of controlled chaos and productivity, which made me excited to be at the helm of this project. All was going great until after three hours of preparation, my talented videographer Matt Marriott, said “Okay Fitzy. We’re all ready to go when you are!” At that moment, I looked across the room, saw my absolutely perfect husband and instantly got that yucky pit in my stomach. You see, he’s a police lieutenant. He’s the hardest working human alive and he goes to the end of the earth for every dollar he makes. I mean … for starters, he wears a bullet-proof vest each day which is never a good job requirement. Sometimes he’s wrestling with a violent crack dealer and sometimes he’s just standing out in the blazing 95 degree Florida sun directing traffic. He’s been to the Emergency Room for work-related injuries more times than I care to mention, and even though I make a fine income as well … I give far more importance and credit to the money he earns.  Since I/we were funding this project, I suddenly had a moment of “Fitz – you better not screw this up! He’s worked too hard for you to blow it”. Ouch.

Look how happy that ponytail makes me!

So … amongst the hustle and bustle of the set, I removed myself from things to get dressed and do my hair (without revealing my moment of internal panic). My beautiful blue Oakley tank top went on with a deep breath. Time to do my hair. Bizarrely, with a few quick sweeps of my brush and a couple of loop-d-loops of my hair band … I suddenly became FITZ again. That ponytail legitimately turned me back in to me, removed any iota of stress I was feeling and set me up for a great shoot. Apparently my ponytail is my game-face, my helmet, my mouthpiece, my confidence! It genuinely flipped my switch from “off” to “on” and for that, I am grateful.

As I was telling Kristen about my ridiculous magical ponytail, she confessed that she too had a secret weapon. Hers? Mascara. I kid you not. If she’s feeling a little shy or nervous about the social situation she’s about to embark on

My Mister
Fitzness.com

… mascara gives her the power to be the charming and charismatic girl I’ve always know her to be. I’ve always known that I couldn’t cut my hair because in my line of work, I’ve believe that a great (not nubby) ponytail is a must. I just never knew the real power that hid inside of mine.

I suppose the moral of the story is that it’s OK to get nervous once in a while. It’s just NOT OK to let that anxiety sink your ship. If I had yielded to mine, I’d be writing a much sadder story right now, and I would have definitely wasted many efforts of my hard-working husband. So what’s YOUR magic trick? What odd or not-so-odd thing helps you prepare for greatness? Use the comment section below to share. I’m listening!

**Check out the video trailer below to see my magic ponytail at work!