Today, I'm going to share my tips and insight on exercise/fitness; revealing my health journey from desperate attempts to lose weight to making peace with my body and attributing exercise into my daily "aesthetic"!
IN THE BEGINNING, when I was a 14, I was trying so hard to lose weight. I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. When I was in 5th grade, I use to wear only skirts because I didn't like how big my thigs looked in jeans! It may sound cliche by now, but it's the honest truth: media and society put pressure on young adults making them presume that if they don't look like so and so then they're not "worthy" or "acceptable". I can clearly remember wanting to be a size 2 and the reality is that I will NEVER be a size 2! My body wasn't designed to be a size 2. If I ever got down to that size then I would look sick, not health. I am of a petite size and personally I feel that my body fat is sitting in the right places. I have finally come to terms with my body type. My motto is "work with what you got"! No one should be killing themselves to become a certain size because even skinny people have problems. Life doesn't become better or is superior if you are however many jean sizes smaller. But back to my 14 year old self: I signed up for Cross Country and Track in hopes that it would help me lose weight because I knew my coach would be on me to help push me. It only resulted in me popping my right knee out of place! Senior year of high school, my friend Kathy and I would workout in the school gym at the end of the day; breaking a sweat and trying so hard to meet our goals. I even tried "Hydroxycut" when Kim Kardashian was promoting it in hopes that I would obtain similar results, but it only made me hyper and jittery. I thought I was loosing my mind when I took those things! And even though I was a very active teen (danced from 8-14 and cheered from 12-17), I didn't feel like I was getting the results I wanted.
SO FAST FORWARD to my early twenties when I was living in Brooklyn; I began to run again and this time with some of my new friends that I met (at a church I was attending at the time). We would run in the morning about 1-3 miles at McCarren Track in Williamsburg. I miss those days because it made us accountable of each other. Some days I was fatigued but my friend(s) pushed me to continue and vice versa when they weren't feeling so hot or wanted to throw in the towel. I kept this up for about two years. In 2012 I began to attend a new church and attempted to join the dance team later on, but the instructor advised me that dancers can't be runners. I had to choose because my knee began to bug out on me when we would rehearse. So I had to ultimately forgo both, but I wanted to remain active as I continued to pursue weight loss.
This is when I discovered the beauty of "YouTube"!
In 2012/2013, I took a couple of free kickboxing classes and I really enjoyed it. But I didn't have time to go to the classes and audition as well as rehearse for a show I was in plus work on top of that. So I searched for "kickboxing workouts" on YouTube. I haven't looked back since! I use to exercise at the gym or go to the local YMCA to join kickboxing classes for free, but the gym isn't free and the YMCA classes faultered because the teacher wouldn't show up or the classes would be canceled at the last minute. YouTube enables me to execrise from the comforts of home for free and at my own pace. I have nothing, but gratitude for the personal trainers and instructors who upload videos for free. Below I will provide links to some of my favorites for your recommendation.
IT'S BEEN RECOMMENDED for people to track their calories and document every little thing they put into their mouths. I use to be on the bandwagon, but it began to irritate me. I didn't want to live my life like that. I want to be healthy, but not obsessed with my body. I always wonder if anyone stops to think "when will I be satisfied?". So, I stopped keeping track and decided to be mindful of what I eat as well as committed to exercising frequently each week (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri). That's my formula for a healthy lifestyle. If I have meat for breakfast then I wouldn't eat meat for lunch and dinner and vice versa (I'm actually eating less meat in an attempt to give it up all together#GMOs). I like to keep fruits and vegetables as a constant staple in my diet. I use to take vitamins, but with everything that the elusive "they" are pumping into our food with GMOs and what have you; I'd rather get my "vitamins" through fruits, vegetables, and/or smoothies.
NOT EVERYONE IS MEANT to be a size 2. If you naturally are then GOD bless you because that's how your body is supposed to be, but to force your body to be something that it's not so you will be accepted is simply sad. And I'm not mocking anyone, like I just shared, I was there. It is "sad" in all understanding of the word. Because it means that society won't acept you if you're anything but and this is the issue with the "modeling industry". I believe for all models to be accepted and not labeled as "supermodel", "plus-size model", "petite model", is for designers to accept all models on to their runway. Until then there will be barriers and divison. But I'm not letting my stature or size stop me from pursuing modeling. I keep hope alive and I believe. Plus-size models are making waves and my dream is that petite models will rise up and be next! Models are representatives of society and the majority of mainstream models do not accurately reflect our society.
ALL-IN-ALL COMMITTING TO EXERCISE doesn't have to be overwhelming. It's simple to start easy and make minor tweaks to your diet as you begin; then for those changes to grow as you make progress. I would suggest starting out with a "walking exercise" for beginners. Jessica Smith is one of my favorite "YouTube Instructors" who has specifically curated "walking exercises" for beginners who are starting to exercise for the first time or jumping back into it. Her exercises are "low impact" as she guides you through different techniques that ultimately result in you walking anywhere from 1-5 miles without you having to leave your home (and it's FUN, you don't feel like you just walked miles)!
I spend anywhere from 10-30 minutes working out and it depends on what type of exercise I am doing. One of my favorites is from 8fit.com and that is their "10 minute Tabata" workout that consists only of squats and mountain climbers. They boast that this exercise replaces an hour of exercise in the gym! Fitness doesn't have to be an all day event in the gym or for an hour at a time. Honestly, who has time for that?! But short spurts multiple times a week with a healthy diet will guarantee results. Overall, I ended up loosing roughly 30 pounds (by the time I was 24). I was a size 9 and now I am a size 5/6. I made peace with my body and decided to live healthy instead of putting pressure on myself to be something that GOD didn't design me to be just to be accepted by others.
I hope this has enouraged you as you continue on your health journey or begin it. And as always remember to SUBSCRIBE~LIKE~SHARE!
JESSICA SMITH: https://www.youtube.com/user/jessicasmithtv
MELISSA BENDER: https://www.youtube.com/user/mdloughy?pbjreload=10
FITNESS BLENDER: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiP6wD_tYlYLYh3agzbByWQ
POP SUGAR FITNESS: https://www.youtube.com/user/popsugartvfit
Sante
Commentaires