You are Perfectly You...Own it

Dear Past and Future self,

For as long as I can remember and at different points in my life I have heard, “you’re getting chubby”, “oh are you a gymnast, you're so muscly,” “oh don't worry you just had a baby”. My younger self  internalized it all and I never felt like the skinny one or the one who looked pretty in the dress. Fast forward to the start of my journey (about 2013 and post two boys) and then I started to hear some encouraging things like, “how awesome for you”, “what are you doing," “you're looking great, I can see the difference” and some not so encouraging, "are those marks going to go away," "wow being pregnant took its toll on you".  Fast forward to present day and I am honestly quite shocked. I have heard comments along the lines of, “Don't get too skinny," “You’re not loosing more weight are you?”, “You're really too muscly”. 

These sort of comments hurt, they made me consider things from laser surgery to a boob job, and made me not happy in my skin. Luckily on this journey I have learned a lot from meditation, surrounding my self with positivity, and working through my self esteem issues.  Usually, when people make these types of comments, they are reflecting their own insecurities, struggles, or general ignorance on a topic.

As a country we are genuinely confused about what a healthy lifestyle and body looks like. Our society is so bombarded with the “ideal top model” looking women. Then we hear that, “these aren't what real women look like”. Yet we know America as a country has a large obesity epidemic and that's scary. I believe there are misconceptions and myths about clean eating and what it means to workout and have an active lifestyle. And again we don't know what healthy even looks like anymore. 

All I know is my story, my experiences, and the research I have done to be an informed consumer of media and health. First, my journey has not been overnight. Nothing healthy or worthwhile comes overnight, it takes blood, sweat, and tears to reach goals and to change a lifestyle. My journey has been over two years and I am finally at a point where I am happy with my weight and proud of my “strong” body. Does my journey just stop here? NO, I am on a lifelong healthy journey. It’s not one of those goals you reach and throw in the towel saying, “Okay I made it let me sit back and enjoy it from here on out”. What I love about the 21 day fix and all the Beachbody products is that you make it work for your needs. You want to loose weight, maintain, or get toned…there is a track that is right for you. For me I am 5’7 and 128 pounds. I am within the healthy range for my weight and height. I have reached my target weight and I am working on continuing to tighten my lower tummy from having my amazing boys. So what does a fitness program look like when you reach your goals? Simple, you increase your calories in healthy ways and you tweak your workouts. I currently do a 30 minute workout 6 days a week (this has a variety of focus days and cardio). This is recommended and backed up by research to keep your body healthy (If you are interested in these resources please ask:)). 

In the end I want you to remember it doesn't matter where you are in your journey, haters are always going to hate for a variety of reasons. This is why you need to build up your confidence and work on surrounding yourself with positivity. Now I understand there are VERY real issues surrounding unhealthy weight in either direction and I am not talking about that in this post. I am talking about people on a healthy journey and I do not discredit these diseases and their prevalence in the U.S. Just remember, “You're beautiful, strong, bold, and intelligent right where you are”. If you are chasing goals and dreams, you push on, and whatever you do, don't let others insecurities and uniformed opinions cause you to give up. I love what I do and I love helping people in all stages of their journey because I have been to most of these stages myself.

Please contact me if you need help learning the right eating and fitness plan for you. I love my body and I am confident in my appearance. It has taken me a long time to get here and I hope you love yours or you're on that path! Love yourself like you're the only you there is (because you are ;)!

Thank you,

-D