Years in the Sun: What Teaching Fitness Has Taught Me

Kellie Varlet
Jun 25
4 min read

Movement, sunshine and a few things worth knowing after years in the fitness world.

I've Spent a Lot of Time Outdoors

Running tracks, pool decks, oval edges, outdoor fitness classes in all kinds of weather. Years of it. And I wouldn't change a single one.

But all that time in the sun comes with something nobody really warns you about when you're starting out. The cumulative effect of years of UV exposure on skin that was usually the last thing on your mind when you were focused on your clients, your class, your next session.

Recently I noticed a change on my hand that didn't seem quite right. Something small. Easy to dismiss. Easy to explain away. But there was this quiet nudge that kept showing up and eventually I listened to it and made the appointment.

It was skin cancer.

I'm okay. And I'm grateful I listened to that little voice before it became something bigger. But it stopped me in my tracks in a way that years of teaching health and wellness hadn't quite managed to do.

Because here's the thing. I know better. And I still nearly talked myself out of going.

The More You Teach, The More You Learn

For a long time, I thought looking after your health meant waiting until something needed fixing. Book the appointment when there's a problem. Rest when you're exhausted. Slow down when your body makes you.

That's how most of us operate. And it's not laziness or carelessness. It's just what happens when life is full and everyone else needs something from you first.

But somewhere in the years of working with people — watching them push through things they probably shouldn't, watching them finally listen to something their body had been saying for months — my own thinking quietly changed.

It stopped being about reacting. Started being about paying attention.

Moving because it feels good. Noticing when something feels off and doing something about it before it gets louder. Booking the check before there's a reason to be worried.

Simple in theory. A completely different way of living in practice.

That Quiet Nudge Is Worth Something

We are remarkably good at talking ourselves out of things. Telling ourselves we're overthinking. That it's probably nothing. That we'll get to it when things settle.

But that quiet nudge doesn't show up without reason. And it's not always about health. Sometimes it's about a relationship, a situation, a decision you keep circling around. It speaks in all kinds of ways.

The people I've worked with over the years who do best aren't always the most disciplined or the most motivated. They're the ones who pay attention. To what their body is telling them, to what they actually need rather than what they think they should be doing.

That skin check reminded me of that in a way nothing else had for a while.

Sun Safety Belongs in the Fitness Conversation

If you move outdoors — if you walk, run, train, teach, garden, swim in open water — you're accumulating UV exposure in ways that add up over years and decades well before they're visible on the surface.

I wore sunscreen. Most of the time. But anyone who's spent long hours outdoors knows how easy it is to forget a spot, miss the back of your hand, or reapply a little later than you should have. It adds up. Quietly, over years, in ways you don't see coming.

'Slip, slop, slap' wasn't just a childhood jingle. For anyone spending time in the sun it's one of the most practical health habits going. And that means being consistent about it, not just when you remember.

Skin checks matter too. Please get them. Especially with a family history, years of sun exposure, or if something has changed that doesn't feel right. Don't wait for an obvious reason. Book it before you have one.

https://www.cancer.org.au/types-of-cancer/skin-cancer

You Deserve the Same Care You Give Everyone Else

We service the car before it breaks down. Charge the phone before it dies. And yet most of us wait until we're completely running on empty before we give ourselves the same basic attention.

Health isn't only about how you move or what you eat. It's about slowing down long enough to notice when something has shifted. Giving yourself the same care you hand out to everyone around you without even thinking about it.

That's what the years have really taught me. Not the programming or the periodisation or any of the technical stuff. This. The quiet, unglamorous, genuinely important habit of paying attention to yourself.

You're worth that. You always were.