I can remember being a small child watching my Mama exercise.
She had every Denise Austin workout video cassette tape ever created. She was
the Step Aerobics queen, with the leotard and tights as her scepter and crown.
When I was old enough, we would go on evening walks in Audubon Park in uptown
New Orleans. She always walked faster than me and I would always have to sprint
at times to keep up with her. At some
point, teenage laziness, a preoccupation with boys and a general lack of
interest and concern for my body set in some years later and continued on into
my college years.
Although my weight flip flopped during my years at Howard, I
finally got serious about the weight loss thing around the age of 24 or 25. One
of my closest friends and I responded to a steeply discounted gym membership ad
began feverishly working out. We lost some weight and we bonded, however it also
marked a moment when we began to take our bodies more seriously and pay closer
attention to our weight.
This also marks the time when I decided to start running,
something I now cannot imagine my life without (will share my love affair with running in a later post).
We like to use the excuse that “life happened” when things
occur in our lives that throw us off track. This is none more applicable to
circumstances – work, relationships and a fast and furious social life – that led
to eventual weight gain during my grad school years.
During my second year of graduate school on a visit to the
on campus doctor, as with any doctor’s visit I had to get on the scale. The
nurse informed me that the scale had informed her that there were 204 pounds of
me standing in front of her.
204.
I could not believe that at 27 years old I was tipping the
scale at over 200 pounds. The doctor
came in and before we discussed the actual issue that I had come in to see her
about, we talked about my weight. She showed me a chart that indicated what my
target weight was for my age and height, which was at least a 50 pound
difference. At that time it was not even
feasible to me that I could get down to the weight that she showed me. I had
only remembered being that weight in middle school.
And thus, the fitness train left the station again. I
started taking my weight loss even more seriously when I met my now-Husband and got engaged to be married. I
knew I wanted to be a thinner Bride and took the steps I needed to get there.
My journey that started as a little girl has taken some
twists and turns, with a lot more clarity and intention since I’ve crossed the
threshold of thirty. I realize now that the weight loss struggle has primarily
been one of the mind. It has been a battle of self-love and reconciling knowledge
and understanding - culminating in a winding-path journey toward a more evolved,
improved version of myself.
I now care about what
I eat because I care about the foods I put in my body and what they do to my
body once they are in my digestive track and blood system. With the help and
support of many, I have started to learn what it truly means to embrace a
lifestyle centered on movement, wellness and honoring your body. I consistently
make time for moving my body because my body needs to move - not only for
weight loss goals and sculpting, but for my mental and emotional state and my
body’s optimal performance.
I now think about food and exercise as the physical
manifestation of the preservation of my mind and body. That doesn’t mean I don’t
have a piece of chocolate or French fries every once in a while, but it does
mean that I’m doing an increasingly better job of choosing better options more
regularly and being okay with those decisions.
How do you honor your body? What are some of the habits you
can get rid of – and habits you can develop that reflects physical health and
wellness as a priority?
