Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Cross Roads

Making changes is not an easy thing to do. Stepping away from what is familiar and “safe” takes strength and courage.  The road to self- improvement is a bumpy one.  On that path we began to uncover things about ourselves we may not like, or we may come across a fork in the road and may not know which way to go. Sometimes it doesn’t matter which way you go, as long as you go.
A few weeks ago, I came to a bump in my road, during a night out. The music thumping and I was sitting down skimming the room. I began to ask myself why was I sitting down and not dancing. Then I said to myself, “Who are you, and what have you done with the real Genee?”  “What happened to the girl who knew she was beautiful was ready to take on the world and feared nothing?”  At the moment I realized I had lost a part of myself during this period of weight gain. I had to make a choice to reclaim ME. Going to the gym and eating right are not the only things I had to start doing. The last time I talked about loving myself and it was challenge. But the real challenge is learning to be strong and fearless.
So getting into my skinny jeans for me is more than physical transformation. I challenge you to ask yourself what is your REAL skinny jeans?

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Welcome


Welcome to “Getting into My Skinny Jeans” blog. I am a 31 year old single mom who took a long look in the mirror of life and did not like what I saw. I decided to make changes. I am reinventing myself.  I have made a decision to start loving myself ALL OF ME.  Saying I am going to love myself no matter what is a lot easier said than done. It is more than just saying “OK, I am going to accept the way God made me.”  I have no control over the genes I inherited, but I do have control over my health and how I treat myself. God did not create me to be an overweight, out of shape, self loathing person.  After wrestling with those thoughts, I decided to really love me and make changes. When you really, truly love someone or something, you treat it well.  I love my children and make sure that they love, eat well, have nice clothes, look neat and go to a good school. So, if I say I love me, then why the hell wasn’t doing the same for myself. 
Two week ago I weighed 295 lbs with asthma and on high blood pressure meds.  That is not how I wanted to continue on with my life.  The first thing I changed was how I ate. I had to treat my body better so that meant I had to change what I put in it  every day.  No, I am not on some kind of crazy diet. I eat things that are healthy for me like fruits and veggies. I drink a lot of water now, and not so much soda and other sugar filled drinks. I limit my carbs. I watch my caloric intake.  The second thing I changed was the fact that I was so inactive. I joined a gym. I work 5-6 days for 90 min. I know that seems like a lot. But it is all about what is important. So, I gave up 90 min of watching TV to workout.  With those changes, I have lost 10 lbs in less than two weeks. I wake up more energy. My blood pressure is becoming under control. My asthma is not bothering me.

I did not create this blog to tell my life story, but to give encouragement and share ideas on achieving a healthier life style. The reason I call this blog “Getting into My Skinny Jeans” is because of the goal I have for myself. But your “skinny jeans” may be being able to run a marathon or being able to enjoy playing with your kids with struggling to breathe. Whatever your health goals are, go after them. Every day I am learning to love me, and it is a challenge. But, if I don’t love myself who else will?