We're in this thang together!

Where should I start? Let me first start by admitting, that for a long time, I’ve had difficulty in committing to anything; much less making it a priority to embrace a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise. The idea of commitment just seemed so permanent. For a person like me, who for a long time refused to limit myself to being responsible for just about anything, committing to exercise and fitness was definitely not on my priority list. Besides, I was a junk food junkie, and I just wasn’t having it. Having to sacrifice my chocolate? Oh no! This was not even an option. Although the way I view health and fitness has changed dramatically, I still have some junk food vices that I continue to entertain. Oh, I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, and to be even more honest, I don’t do a great job of “eating clean.” Not that I am proud to admit it, I just want to keep it real with you ladies. I am on this journey with you. I look forward to learning from you, and am anxious to share with you some of what I’ve learned to be effective along my healthy lifestyle journey.




Monday, January 31, 2011

My Story:
In 1993, I was lost, confused, and had no idea what direction my life was going.  I was attending Norfolk State University, since 1988 (I was 18), and my parents decided they were not going to continue to spend their hard earned money for me to get my party on.  And let me tell y’all, I partied!  Anywho, needless to say, I dropped out.  My dad decided that I needed discipline, so he encouraged me to join the Army.  That didn’t pan out so hot, because I have asthma, so that idea came to an abrupt end.  Bear with me, there is a point to all of this random info.  One day my dad was looking in the classifieds section of the newspaper, and he discovered an ad by TWA recruiting flight attendants.  He said, “You like to run your mouth, this is right up your alley!” Shoot, I can’t tell y’all how excited I was at the thought of running amuck all over the world without the supervision of my parents!  I was so ready.  So, I was successful in getting through the first interview, the second interview involved me flying to St. Louis.  Now y’all know there was a catch don’t you?  Of course there was.  At the time, flight attendants were still required to meet a certain height and weight requirement.  Although, I was 5’5” at the time, and a size seven, I had to be 130 pounds to meet the requirements.  At the time, I was 147.  Now, I had two weeks to starve and run my booty off to get to that weight.  Before I continue ladies, please know that this is the absolute worst way to lose weight.  We can talk about how not receiving enough calories will actually slow down your metabolism and hinder weight loss a little later.  So, let me tell y’all, I got up every morning at 5 am, and started running.  I hated it, because I ain’t gonna lie, it was hard!  Remember, I was no fan of commitment.  Well, you can imagine how it was killing me.  But guess what?  Two things happened during those two weeks. The first thing I realized was, although I hated commitment; my determination to become a flight attendant far outweighed my disdain for it.  The energy I used to foster thoughts of what I didn’t want to do was replaced by my desire of what I wanted down the road.  Sure it required sacrifice, determination, and commitment, but it was worth it.  The second thing I discovered was my runs became easier. What was once a grueling activity, turned into a habit, one of which I looked forward to daily.  I didn’t even consider the commitment aspect of having to get up and run my little 1.5 miles; it became something I didn’t even think about.  Kind of like brushing your teeth every morning, you don’t really think about it, you just do it.  This is where my journey began.  Do I eat junk food? Yes, I still do; in fact, I don’t even have the discipline to allow myself one cheat day a week.  To be honest, I have junk (in moderation) at least 3-4 days out of the week.  Here’s the catch ya’ll, if you do it, you have to burn it off.  Cardio exercises by way of cycling, brisk walking, elliptical and the stair master is the punishment you’ll have to endure to keep that stuff from metabolizing into fat.  Sugar and carbohydrates can be the devil if you allow it to be; but, you have the power to kill that demon with determination.   Now let me be honest with you ladies, if you eat junk, your workouts are going to be junky; making it that much harder to burn off that junk food you’ve consumed.  Trust me; this was a hard lessoned learned.  At 41, although, I know this to be true, I sometimes cave into the temptation of having to have that 300 calorie snickers bar.  I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t admit that as soon as I’ve taken my last bite, I want to go upside my own head for making such a bad choice.  Not only am I going to have to torture myself with vigorous cardio work for at least 45 minutes, but because I had that candy bar instead of an apple, those 45 minutes ain’t gonna be nice.  So there you go, junk food, (especially chocolate) is my vice. But you know what? We are in this thing together.  I am anxious to learn from you, and I’m happy to share all that I’ve learned on my journey to achieving a healthy lifestyle.  I am open to all suggestions, constructive criticism, thoughts, questions, concerns, or anything you may want to share.  I’ve created this blog a forum for me to document and share my daily activities regarding health, fitness, and life as well as another place for us to commune as sisters.  This lifestyle is a never ending journey, but with encouragement and support, it doesn’t have to be a difficult.    Again, I am no expert, so I won’t always be able to give you expert advice, but what I can offer is honest information on what I’ve learned along the way.  I hope to hear from you all soon.  Stay beautiful!

2 comments:

  1. 777jessiek@gmail.com I beg u pleez message a brotha lol :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 777jessiek@gmail.com I beg u pleez message a brotha lol :)

    ReplyDelete