Hey, first and foremost we would love to welcome you to our blog! UnhappyBanana was created by Chanelle Kitz and Eros Maves. We have been fitness blogging since late 2016.We are here to help enrich your lives by making fitness fun and less confusing. We are so excited to have you here!
Our Story.
Hey, Chanelle here!
LET’S START THIS OFF WITH A STORY ABOUT ME GROWING UP AND HOW I GOT HERE (BLOGGING).
As kids, we learn our self-confidence from those around us. My surroundings were not made to encourage self-love. I grew up with women that believed in breaking someone down was right to keep them modest. A girl that loved herself too much was worse than being one that did not love herself at all.
“I HATED MY BODY HONESTLY UNTIL ONE VERY DEFINING MOMENT.”
I was dating this guy, and he was a wrestler. So being the supportive girlfriend I was, I gave up something I liked to do (wrestling cheerleader, yes it’s a thing). You sit on a pillow and do clap crap with your hands while chanting.
We had to travel for one of the meets and were staying in a hotel. Everyone was going to the pool, so naturally, I met my boyfriend (now ex-husband) there.
“I FELT WEIRD AND GROSS AS I WALKED AROUND IN MY PINK BIKINI (YES ACTUALLY THE VERY SAME ONE I AM WEARING YEARS LATER IN THE PICTURE ON OUR WEBSITE. STILL FITS!”
I thought I was crazy, but it seemed like everyone was staring. So as we left, I asked my boyfriend at the time why it looked like there were a lot of eyes on me.
He said, “Because no one realized you had abs or a body like that.” That was the first time I realized that maybe I wasn’t gross.
“MAYBE I WASN’T FAT OR GROSS AT ALL. COULD IT BE THAT I WAS FOCUSING ON THE WRONGS THINGS ABOUT MYSELF?”
I spent years hiding in my room watching stupid shows while reading fitness magazines I could find laying around or for free. I would cut out exercises, and tape or glue them in a notebook. I would use those as guides and sometimes create my own.
I noticed how long the advertisements were on t.v and started using that as my timer.
I had to do my work out during that. I could rest during the show and start during the ads again. I worked myself till I thought I could watch the show and exercise then break during the commercials.
“IT WAS STUPID, BUT IT WAS MY WORLD BECAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE VERY MANY FRIENDS AND I HAD A POOR SELF-IMAGE.”
Once out of school, I joined the Army.
Again doubting myself. Until one day my drill sergeant decided to pull me to the front of the formations and point out that this one guy and I had the top PT scores in the platoon!
“ALL OF A SUDDEN PEOPLE STARTED RESPECTING ME. ASKING ME FOR ADVICE OR HELP TO GET THERE SCORES UP.” FOR THE FIRST TIME, I REALIZED I WAS STRONG.
At this point, I figured out two things.
I looked decent in a bikini.
I was reasonably strong.
“Life dumped my next test right in my lap… I was now pregnant!” Could I handle a child and the things it would do to my body?!
When I was pregnant, I developed Preeclampsia. My weight to reach over 200 pounds! I was petrified I could never get my body back to what it was. That’s where I started extreme diets and at home exercising.
I’m not saying it didn’t work because it did but I wasn’t satisfied. I reached the weight I was before the pregnancy, but my body looked different.
I was no girl anymore; I was a woman. Talk about a shock to the system. Who was I now? Why did it appear that I would figure one thing out about myself then crap would suddenly change?
“I wound up divorced after the military.”
I soon ended up in a relationship with someone that just needed me to make them look normal around their friends which didn’t last. We broke up, and I eventually wound up at this party. I meet this bright blue-eyed guy that I could not stop staring at.
“I USUALLY LOOK AWAY OFTEN WHILE TALKING TO PEOPLE BUT WITH HIM, I COULDN’T HELP BUT STARE.” I KNOW I WAS BEING A STALKER LOL.
I flirted and flirted, and he wouldn’t take the hint. So eventually I took (eh ok more like ripped) his Halloween mask off (yes it was a dress-up party during Halloween) and kissed him.
NOT a typical move for me but the soul wants what it wants when it wants it. Why wait for him to make the first move? The best part is I finally found someone that not only understood me but believed in integrity, honesty, loyalty, AND FITNESS.
We came to love each other very fast. It was amazing and exciting. I was deep in love. I found my swole-mate.
No matter what Eros was always there for me from that day on and our love for fitness grew. Growth and priorities and ambitions change, but my passion for bettering myself in and out of the gym didn’t. With Eros, that desire became stronger.
“WHO WE SEE IN THE MIRROR CHANGES, THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S OK TO GIVE UP.”
We start with both nurture and environmental factors and are left to find ourselves both physically and mentally. It’s the battle of the age’s within that none of us will escape.
There is no right answer for one person and one body type.
Fitness is entirely a journey that you have to explore and find what exactly works for you while you fight emotional battles that have nothing to do with fitness yet wholly affect your ability to be fit.
People would at times see things in me that I did not see in myself. It was the boost in self-confidence and self-love I needed. I want and hope to be that for someone else.
Sincerely,
CHANELLE
“Hey everyone, My name is Eros!”
I grew up in Neenah Wisconsin in a broken home raised by alcoholic/drug addict parents. It was a terrible situation, and very early on I started to get into trouble. By the time I was 11 years old, I had regular run-ins with the law.
“I SLOWLY BECAME WHAT I DESPISED, AND THAT WAS MY MOTHER AND MY STEPFATHER.”
Alcohol and drugs had taken complete control of my life by the time I was 15 years old! I was doing speed and opiates and other hard illicit substances on a daily basis.
My dreams were to do something with fitness, but I surrounded myself with nothing but negative influences. I felt caged in by the people I surrounded myself with.
“Many kids picked on me because I was scrawny, I had always been scrawny my entire life. By the time I was 18 years old, I was only 120 lbs.”
Yes, I have worked out, but my lifestyle always kept me back from being the best version of myself.
Between the ages of 18 and 23 years old I was in and out of jail constantly. I worked out consistently when I was in prison.
“WHY WAS IT THAT I WAS ABLE TO STAY FOCUSED THERE?”
It was all very confusing to me. I wasn’t sure what to make of the situation. I had TONS of ambition, but I didn’t know to be able to pursue those hopes and dreams of getting into the fitness game.
I had phases where I would do well for a few months; then things would get stressful.
“I would deal with it the same way that I always had, and that was by taking drugs and alcohol.”
The one thing that helped me get the focus I strongly yearned for came when I fantastic to one of the HARDEST cognitive intervention programs in the state of Wisconsin.
That place taught me how to manage my thoughts and how to manage who I am as a human being.
“They taught me how to come to terms with who I was, and deal with my emotions.”
What started out as a negative setback for me slowly turned into one of the best blessings in disguise that I’ve ever had.
“After that program, I was able to focus on what I needed to do.”
Shortly after I had graduated from the program I was in I became a certified personal trainer and started to train clients on the side. Still working my nine-to-five job well actually was like at 4 p.m. till 2 a.m. job lol.
“I WILL ALWAYS BE A NIGHT OWL AT HEART LOL.”
Soon After that, I got involved with powerlifting and bodybuilding. My abilities as a trainer advanced much quicker by engaging in these sports. I was set up with the right people;they were a group of motivated kids and adults. Life has become astronomically better for me.
During this time I met the love of my life at the celebration party after winning my first powerlifting meet! She was and is incredibly intelligent, beautiful on the inside and outside, and man was she strong! Plus she had a nice butt lol. I had met my soul mate or should I say SWOLE-MATE!
Lets fast track to 2 1/2 years later and I was still at my 4 p.m. till 2 a.m. job as a journeyman metal tradesman. I was slowly getting worn down.
“I had been working 5 to seven days a week for the last five years. Something had to change and soon!”
Then another blessing fell right in my lap. I had finally gotten laid off! Let’s say I was more than ready to start my unemployment vacation.
I spent a month or two after that thinking, “should I go back to work?” To be honest, I was terrified of not having the financial support but since I left my crappy job life had dramatically improved.
Chanelle had bought me an audiobook buy a gentleman named Grant Cardone. It was funny I remember the first time I listened to his voice on tape and I became inspired to make that leap of faith, and quit my job!
One of the things that stuck with me from the audiobook was that if you wanted to have a successful business, then you had to burn every bridge that could lead me back to my 4 p.m. till 2 a.m. Worthless paycheck to paycheck job.
“I was already training clients for money why can’t I do that full-time?”
That is exactly what I did I burned every bridge that I could. It was sink or swim do or die! Oh boy, I can tell you it was one hell of a rough start, but I had to start somewhere.
During this time Chanelle and I were watching youtube, and we came across this channel called “Create And Go.” Her and I thought those videos were amazing!
“If I could start my training business why couldn’t Chanelle and I become fitness bloggers?”
The possibilities seem endless. Chanelle and I were more than willing to do the work.
“So you’re probably wondering where the heck the name UnhappyBanana came from?”
Let me tell you we wasted SO much time on trying to figure out what the name should be. Every name that had to do with fitness we came up with sounded generic.
“DURING THAT TIME I WAS GETTING BORED OF WRITING FITNESS NAMES, SO I JUST WROTE A LIST OF NAMES THAT I THOUGHT WERE SILLY.”
Since we exhausted the entire list of fitness names (we had more than three columns of names on a piece of notebook paper).
I turned to Chanelle and asked her “does the name even have to do with the fitness?” she told me “no, we could do whatever we wanted with the name.”
So I showed her the list of silly names I wrote down and ask her if any one of those would work.
“I secretly wanted her to pick UnhappyBanana.”
Without hesitation, she chose the name UnhappyBanana and its been that ever since!
That’s why she is the woman of my dreams!
Sincerely,
EROS
That’s pretty much it! We will keep you posted on our new adventures and ideas. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this I know it was incredibly long.
Make sure to leave us a comment let us know who you are and how you got here!
“We Love Your Faces, BYE!”
