“I Trust Myself More Than Anyone”
Meet Kristi Scott. She’s a 30-year-old living in Redondo Beach, CA. She’s a huge fan of connecting with people, working out by the beach, and laughter. In 2016, she started a new job as the Project Manager at DTGS (holla!) and got engaged to a sailor. She believes that fitness should make you happy and feel good.
Some cool things we talk about with Kristi:
- How surrounding yourself with inspiring and confident women impacts your own self-worth.
- Fitness looks different depending on what season of life you’re in (hell depending on what mood you’re in) so adjust accordingly.
- Your feelings and intuition are what matter most. You don’t need prescriptive advice when it comes to any decision, let alone how you workout.
Kristi’s #girlboss and friend Elizabeth “Lizzy” Villa interviewed her. (FYI: DTGS Team Member, Sam, interviews Lizzy here.) Now let’s get into it!
#1 — Surround yourself with confident women who inspire you.
Lizzy: When do you feel most like yourself?
Kristi: When I’m hanging out with a really close friend, family, and/or my fiancé and they just know who I am. Then I feel like I can be at my silliest and most intense. I’m like super weird but also feel so cranky when I know something isn’t right. I’m most myself when I can express that to those I’m closest to and I know they’ll love me, weird or cranky.
L: Who is an influential person in your life?
K: My mom. Full stop. She’s the reason I’ve accomplished anything in my life. She’s why I’ve taken every risk I ever have in my life. She’s one of those fearless women who just does what she needs to do. Whether that’s when she was a single mom early in her life to when she was working full-time and raising three kids. She doesn’t stop believing in herself. She is the queen of self-acceptance and I try to accept myself just how she always showed me.
L: What’s something you learned recently?
K: That I have to be careful who I let in on my innermost feelings. I’ve been a very open person up until the past couple years where friends didn’t turn out to be the people I thought they were. Disappointment happens in every relationship and I never want to stop loving people. I just realize that my time and company are precious and I should give it to those who earn it. It’s not like I want to be unkind, I just want to save my best self for friends who I trust and my family.
L: Where do you turn for inspiration?
K: Aside from my mom, I turn to my friends. Friends who have overcome a lot, friends who have accomplished a lot, and all the friends who are living their best lives.
#2 — Fitness should adjust to your real life.
L: How do you feel about health and fitness?
K: Happy, Worried, and Determined.
I enjoy exercising, for the most part. I focus on workouts that make me happy like yoga and hiking. Plus, I’m sensitive and have intense emotions so I have to stick to the workouts that help me destress. Running is not one of those for a lot of reasons. An occasional run feels good but it’s not a regular practice for me.
I feel worried about health and fitness because of my eating habits. I was a super picky eater as a kid and although now I can eat anything, I tend to stick to the unhealthy stuff like all the carbs and ice cream. I love ice cream. My mom has diabetes so I’m always worried about having the same issue in the future. But I feel determined to get better at taking care of my body.
My yoga routine has become solidly consistent in recent months (Thanks to working for DTGS! Fitness is always in my head.) but my eating habits still struggle. I’m determined to eat what makes me feel genuinely good and gives me more energy so I can live a magical life.
L: How has health and fitness looked at different times or in different seasons of your life?
K: I was a ballet dancer when I was little and did cheer in high school so being physical was always a fun thing that I did to perform and express myself. I didn’t have to consciously plan to workout until college. Even then I had a group of friends who started going to yoga every week. That’s when I made yoga my primary workout jam.
I got into running at the same time and messed up my knee so I stopped running for awhile. Then I picked it up again after college until my knee started hurting again. So now I only run every few months when I really feel like I need a cardio boost.
I never had to workout a lot to feel fit until I turned 29 and I noticed my metabolism was slowing down and had gained 10 pounds in one year. I never used to just gain weight like that and turning 30 this year hasn’t helped. It’s not that weight is a big deal to me I’ve just been the same weight since high school and then that kind of made me realize I have to prioritize my health so things don’t get crazy.
L: What are you thoughts on resolutions? Do you have any? What are they?
K: I don’t do resolutions. I tried every year for awhile but I never stuck to any so now I don’t do it. I always end up feeling guilty when I set up some big resolution (My last one was to do yoga every day.) and I do it for like the first week of January then I’m over it by the second week. I find that setting goals when I’m ready on my terms is what helps.
Plus, I set my resolutions in the midst of holiday magic and that just makes me think I can accomplish all the things and forget the discipline necessary to do so.
L: What’s something you’re looking forward to in 2017?
K: Figuring out my life. Maybe that is my resolution? That’s my resolution every year. I got engaged and my fiancé is overseas so our wedding plans are up in the air until we hear back about a possible promotion he may get in February. So I would love to get married in 2017 but we have a lot to figure out. Which is annoying for a control freak like myself.
#3— Your feelings matter the most in your decision making.
L: What self-talk have you developed to help you?
K: I’m like the most encouraging person in the world…except to myself. Not that I’m not confident in my abilities most of the time but every time I mess up or make a mistake, I’m quick to question all my self-confidence. I tell myself, “You’re enough. You’re not too much,” when things are bad. I want to get into the habit of saying that when I’m at my best emotionally too. Because that’s when I’ll believe it the most.
L: Do you have any guiding principles you use to help you make decisions?
K: If just following my intuition is a guiding principle. I make every decision based on how I feel about it. I’m a very intuitive person and I trust myself more than anyone so it works most of the time. When I can’t decide, I usually ask my fiancé what he thinks because he’s super pragmatic about everything so he helps me figure out pros and cons.
BONUS— A Day In the Life & Fave Workouts
Lizzy: What does a day in your life look like?
Kristi: I wake up around 7:30, eat breakfast and drink coffee, then get ready for the day. I usually work from home which is amazing. (Sometimes I work at a coffee shop but nothing beats my apartment’s reliable WiFi.) I go into the office about twice a week when I need to collaborate with you and the rest of the DTGS team. I get started by 9 and start with checking emails and getting organized with a to-do list for the day. Usually talk to you over Slack about ongoing projects and tasks.
My afternoon looks different everyday depending on how I feel. I have a quick lunch, sometimes longer if I have time. If I’m feeling lethargic and have some flexibility on a project, I take a break for yoga around 3 then get a shower in. Other times, I just power through if there’s a deadline to meet.
By evening, I may still be working or I take a yoga break if I didn’t get one in the afternoon. I always stop for dinner (even if it’s just 15 minutes!) no matter how much work I have to get done. I get hangry if I don’t fit a meal in so that’s always a priority for me. Once I finish up a project or just can’t think anymore, I close up shop and watch an episode of Gilmore Girls, or whatever the latest show I’m watching on Netflix is. Usually talk to my fiancé for an hour or so. (He’s in the Navy, stationed overseas right now.) I’ve become more of a hermit as I’ve gotten older so I usually just chill after I’m done with work. It’s really nice.
L: What’s good about it?
K: Working in the comfort of my own home and not having any distractions. I worked with kids for so long I forgot what it was like to just work without a toddler crying or there being some kind of crisis with a middle school student.
L: What’s hard about it?
K: Most days working solo is more than welcome but sometimes it makes me feel a little cray…like my computer is my dearest friend. My roommate can attest to that; when she comes home I talk her ear off about anything and everything.
L: Are you more of a Night Owl or Early Riser?
K: I’m more of an Early Riser…at least that’s when I have the most energy. I usually don’t wake up until 7:30 unless I have to go into the office. I’m just a fan of sleeping in and it’s hard for me to go to bed early. But I feel at my best in the morning and like to get things done then. I’ll blame my parents (typical, I know) for my bad sleep habits. I never had a strict bedtime as a kid and I’ve yet to change that now as a grown-up.
L: Introvert or Extrovert?
K: I’m a weird hybrid introverted extrovert. Being around other people gives me energy and I love people but I also need my alone time. My best Friday nights are spent all by my lonesome or just with my fiancé, drinking wine and watching a dumb movie like Ride Along.
L: Optimist or Realist? Why?
K: Usually I’m an optimist but it depends on the day and current events. I’m an optimist about my personal life but I’m willing to face reality when life is just not going well, whether my own or something in the news. But I always have hope.
L: Do you have any favorite workouts or activities right now?
K: Yoga like always but I’ve also been hiking more lately. I used to hike a lot when I lived in Pasadena and since moving to Redondo Beach, I’ve done more walks on the beach. Not bad but there’s nothing like the gorgeous trails in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes that I go to about once a month. There are tree-filled hills next to the ocean and I feel so at peace when I hike there. Trees and the ocean are my two favorite things ever.
That’s it for now, friends! You can keep in touch with Kristi by following her @kristipaula If you like this story make sure to recommend it. If have thoughts or questions, add them in the comments below.
