Beauty is More than the Number on a Tag

Every year we make promises to ourselves that we are going to be better, we are going to eat healthier, we are going to work out and get back into those jeans we love so much.  Yet, everyday life gets in the way of those promises and goals and let’s be honest ladies, we get lazy.  We all know a night on the couch with a little Netflix and some Ben and Jerry’s sounds much more appealing than getting all sweaty and sore at the gym.

That was me a few months ago.  I kept telling myself that I would go walk a mile or lift some weights. HA! I started work 12 hour days and by the time I got home I was too tired to even think about lacing up my tennis shoes and hitting the pavement.  Not to mention, I HATE RUNNING!  So I got into a routine of being lazy, but making promises to myself that I would eventually get out there and do something.

Pretty soon, it got to the point where I wondered what I could do to get healthy and fit.  Not for anyone out in the world, or in my life, but for me and my well-being.  I’m a curvy lady, and to be honest, I love my curves.  I wanted to find a way to work out, be healthy, slim down and keep my curves.  They give me character! This is where things got interesting.  A friend of mine approached me and told me her brother, who is a personal trainer, was looking to start a community workout program and asked if I would be interested in signing up for the class.  She told me he was going to offer the first few weeks for free and then I could sign up for a full session if I wanted.

FREE workout classes?! SIGN ME UP!  Little did I know, this was going to be the hardest and most grueling workout I have ever done in my life.  I left each class thinking I was going to die.  My legs felt like jell-o, I sweat more than a sinner in church and I looked like something that crawled out of the sewer.  But, despite all of that, I started to feel really great!  I had more energy, I was more positive and I began to see that this type of working out was not just a three time a week meet up, it was a lifestyle.  It had an effect on all aspects of my life.  So when it came time to sign up for a full session of classes, I was the first in line.

Some of you might be wondering, is this girl nuts?!  Yes, I am!  I am crazy, nuts in love with this workout program.  This type of working out is the best thing I have ever done.  It is a full body workout that works areas of my muscle region I didn’t even know existed.  Each class focuses on a different part of the body, while using techniques that help us become stronger in other areas too.

I had joined a gym before starting this program and I felt like it was a huge mistake.  No one knows what the heck they are doing, they are gross and smelly and people are there to show off and judge you based on what your skills are and how well you lift or how far you run on the treadmill.  When you don’t know what you’re doing at the gym or in a fitness class you end up setting yourself up to get hurt and eventually turn yourself off from working out.

There are a lot of reasons why I love this class, here are just a few: It is a killer stress reliever.   I don’t know about y’all but I don’t have hundreds of dollars to get massages every week or go to a therapist and talk about my stress and ways to reduce it.  This class is my outlet for all the stress in this world.  And Heaven knows I need an outlet! The atmosphere is so great and encouraging. Everyone is at a different level of fitness and comfort when they come to this class, but no one judges you because you have to use a online casinos 10 pound dumbbell and not a 25 pounder.  There is a sense of comradery.  You want to see each other push it one more round, or grab a heavier kettle bell, or do push-ups, OFF THE TOES.  It is tailored to you and your needs.  This one was a huge point for me.  I was so nervous about joining this class and having it become too much for me and then me having to tap out.  That is not the case. You do it at your own pace.  You need an extra second to breathe? Boom! It’s yours.  You can only stomach 50 squats instead of 75? Not a problem.  You know your body and what it can handle.  It is a full body workout!  I love that I go to class on Monday and work my legs until I can’t walk for days, but then come Wednesday; we are toning arms and working on the core.  No part of the body is forgotten about like it would be if you were on your own, trying to piecemeal something together that looked and sounded like a good idea.  The last reason I will list as to why I love this class, it has given me so much more confidence in my life.  When we feel good on the inside, we feel good on the outside and the world sees that too.  I was recently diagnosed with Bell’s palsy.  Not a debilitating illness or disease, but awkward an unfamiliar for a lot of people. For those of you who don’t know what Bell’s palsy is, it is a viral infection of the 7th cranial nerve and causes you to loose feeling and mobility in your facial nerves.  It is reversible, but can take months to correct itself.  I have continued to attend my workout class and push myself as far and I can with this little tag along friend and ladies, let me tell you, I feel great!  I was so nervous that people were going to judge me and laugh at me because only half my face works.  Nope! Not the case.  This program has given me a the confidence to take this in stride and have a positive attitude about it and that has made people feel at ease with what is happening to me.

I know it is hard to think that a fitness plan can make you feel like a million bucks, but I am here to tell you that it can.  We live in a world where everything is driven by who has the smallest waist or the biggest thigh gap or by what size their dress is.  I have a waist that is by no means small, I do not have a thigh gap, which I’m okay with… it just means I am that much closer to being a mermaid!  And beauty is more than the number on a tag.

Why did I decided to push myself and sign up for a grueling, full body, kick you in the face every class workout?  I wanted to feel good inside.  I wanted to have something that made me excited to go to the next class.  I wanted to feel like I was making a difference with my body, I wanted to be the best me I could be.  And when you feel good on the inside, you look good on the outside.

Ladies, we are all beautiful in our own right.  It starts with feeling great on the inside and radiating that to what we look like on the outside.

Take some time for yourself.  Do a little something to get the heartrate up, start small.  You can change your life; you can change the way you feel.  It all starts with you and making the decision to not give up and to do it for you, and only you.