Back in May, Lexi Thompson announced she’d be stepping away from professional golf at the end of the season. By the time the CME Group Championship rolled around, she officially said her goodbyes. Sure, she hinted she wouldn’t disappear entirely—maybe a few appearances here and there—but for now, we’re talking about Lexi Thompson, former LPGA star, who left the Tour with a message for everyone.
“Go out there and follow your dreams,” she said. “Whether it’s golf or anything in your life, don’t let anybody or anything get in the way of you accomplishing what you want and going for it. Golf is just a game. As frustrating as it can be, there is more to life.” Well, it’s now been almost 15 days since Thompson’s final tournament, and she seems to have found a pretty solid way to enjoy this new chapter: diving into another passion of hers—fitness.
If you’ve followed her career, you’ll know she’s no stranger to the gym. She has often shared her workout clips with her fans and has always been a fitness enthusiast. This has only increased in the last 15 days; case in point: her Instagram story from Friday – a picture of herself flexing her impressive biceps, captioned with a simple but motivating “Get after the day.” And honestly, it did look cool. But that wasn’t all.
The picture also had a framed version of Golf Digest‘s May 2015 Fitness Issue, the cover of which featured the now-former golfer. Fitness has always been her passion, and it was evident when Golf Digest spent a day with Thompson and her trainer, Kolby Wayne. Wayne is no ordinary figure in the professional sports circle. He’s trained the likes of Justin Thomas, former NFL player Cody Parkey, and former MLB pitcher Will Harris. But, for him, “[Lexi Thompson] is probably one of the greatest athletes I’ve ever worked with.” However, did you know there was a time when Lexi struggled with her body image?
Yes, it might sound crazy for someone who’s been noted for her athletic physique to struggle with their body image. Lexi Thompson acknowledged so herself when she opened up about this in 2018. In an Instagram post, she wrote, “So this is a pretty personal post, and some people might think it’s stupid or that I’m crazy, but I’m going to share it anyway…. one of the biggest issues I’ve gone through is my self-image/ body confidence. When I was really young, I just ate what I wanted to; didn’t care about fitness… Then, as I slowly got into fitness, I started getting crazy about it, seeing the attention I was getting and doing certain photo shoots I never thought I would.
“I was putting my body through brutal workouts twice a day, not really eating because I thought that’s the way I would lose weight, and weighing myself constantly… As a girl, I know body confidence is a huge part of life and what we all go through. You think you’ll be happy once you get this certain body? But will you really be? The only way you’ll ever be truly happy, though, is if you love yourself first… Your body is your body; it is beautiful, so embrace it.” Since then, that’s precisely what Lexi Thompson has done.
Leave a Reply