I have had body image issues.
I was overweight as a child and into my teenage years.
It wasn't until my sweet grandmother, gently told me I was "getting a little big", that I realized it may be a concern.
I knew she meant well, she was very gracious in how she said it and made sure that we were in private.
I was 18 years old and a newbie to weight loss, so I decided I cut out soda and join Planet Fitness.
I am 5 feet 4.5 inches tall, and I was a little over 185 pounds.
I lost 20 pounds in the first year and I was happy with my new weight at 165 pounds.
At the age of 19 I lost my father to a heart attack, he was only 38 years old.
He was not significantly overweight, we never knew of any heart issues, it was a very tragic death for me and my family.
After months of mourning, I realized life goes on and that my health is not to be taken lightly so I continued to try to take better care of myself.
In 2013, I met my husband.
Our first few months were full of eating out and baking cookies at his apartment.
In January of 2014, we decided to make a few health goals.
We both needed a workout buddy so we decided to hold each other accountable by going to the gym together.
I struggled in the beginning, I decided to go to the gym 3 times a week and started to count calories. I had never been this detailed when it came to weight loss before and was having a hard time staying motivated.
I wanted to lose weight and most of all; I wanted to be healthy.
I would see fitness models and celebrities and think, "how can I look like that?",
"I wish I could wear that!", "she's so beautiful, I wish I looked like that!".
I would see images of women on Instagram who lost large amounts of weight in a short amount of time and get discouraged. Why couldn't I do that? Why did my weight fluctuate so much? My stomach could never look like that.
I realized I could not attempt to reach my goals by comparing myself to others.
This needed to be for ME. For my HEALTH. For my LIFE.
I read an article that said many of the contestants from the show "The Biggest Loser", fought to keep their weight off after the show. Many of the contestants even gained almost all of their weight back. The thought behind this is that they were coached and given strategies to drop weight fast (as well as motivated by money) but never taught a lifestyle.
I began to research the healthiest and most sustainable ways to lose weight.
One thing I discovered, is that YOUR body is YOURS.
You can't cheat your body, what you do to it will show in one way or another.
I also learned to understand BODY TYPES.
We are all beautifully and uniquely made.
I have always been naturally curvy.
I could try to be a slender and petite woman, but my body will always want to go back to it's unique physique.
I needed to LOVE my shape, LOVE my body, LOVE myself.
Instead of cutting out pictures of other people, I decided to customize my own health.
I wrote down numbers; weight, measurements, body fat percentage, and blood pressure. I wanted to have multiple sources of how I can be the healthiest version on me. I didn't want one number to define my health.
I donated blood; blood donations are not only a great cause, but a great tool to receive valuable information like you your cholesterol levels for free.
I planned out my meals; I had experience in calorie counting and decided to take it step further by meal prepping. It was challenging at first, but I began to really enjoy cooking these foods because I knew EXACTLY what I was putting in my body.
I bought a calendar; in the beginning of each month I wrote down every family dinner, birthday, and everything in between. Those were the days I would eat out, I would savor my "cheat" meals for the occasions. (Which happen nearly every weekend) But if I could do well in the week, I could still be in good shape.
I tested my strength; I began training for 5k's, working out with athletes, and really testing what my body was capable of.
I believed in my myself; this was something I had to want for my best self. No one could support me more than myself.
As I put these ideas into action, I began to see results.
I now hold a steady range in between 130lbs. and 140 lbs.
These numbers are great compared to where I was, but they are not what I am proud of.
I am proud of myself, I am proud of my body.
I value it. I take care of it. I strengthen it. I feed it. I soothe it. I love it.
It is remarkable what the human body is capable of doing and even though we are all unique, we are all capable of reaching our goals.
It may not be fast journey, but I assure it is worth it.
YOUR body is the only one you get in this lifetime,
take care of it.💖