Gym Girlie

Recently I’ve been reminding myself to find the beauty in the little things. Today it was 75 degrees outside. The sun was shining and for the first time in a long time, people seemed happy. There’s something magical about the sun. This big ball of light enthralling our world in its gaze. Its distinct ability to bring this sense of balance after being in cold and darkness for so long. Anytime there’s a warm sunny day in the dead of the winter months, I take it as a sign. A sign that no matter what I’m going through, everything will be okay because look at that, the sun is shining.

My latest escapades have led me to become what my friends affectionately refer to as “gym girlie”. My not-so alter ego so to speak. I work out nearly every day now. This did not happen randomly but more of a crept-up-on-me type of thing. I hadn’t been feeling the most confident in my body. Hell, I felt like I was starting to lose myself. In return, I noticed that I became really hypercritical of everything I did. Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I am a firm believer that if you don’t like something about yourself, change it. Period. When I say this I don’t mean go out and do the extremes right away but start taking the steps. I didn’t like how I was gaining weight and my figure had expanded so you bet your ass I got into the gym and started eating better.

Full transparency, my relationship with food and my body was complicated for a long time. When people asked me what made me make this change I always say that it was just time but I’ll let you in on a secret. I felt myself going back to that place. That place where I had low self-esteem and compared myself to others and it wasn’t a good feeling. My first day back to working out and eating better was… a lot. I had underestimated how out of shape I had gotten and in true Claire fashion, I came home absolutely distraught.

My mother reminded me though that it wasn’t going to happen overnight and that I had to work my way back into it. It’s funny now but looking back almost a month ago, I thought that I would just be able to come in doing sprint interval workouts on an incline and 5 miles of cycling. I’ve just started to get back to that point. My endurance isn’t where I want it yet but a few days ago when I looked in the mirror my legs were back to being toned for the most part. Nothing is perfect though. I still hate core day but I never skip it. Instead of putting myself on a strict diet, I eat everything in moderation. I make sure to get plenty of sleep. Most importantly though, I do what I do best and that is mind my black ass business. Despite other parts of my life being a little questionable right now, this part feels balanced and I am very proud of that. I hope that this has encouraged you to find balance in areas of your life as well.

Take Care,

CT

My latest smoothie obsession

1-2 cups of coconut water (add more or less depending on desired thickness)

1 cup of frozen mango cubes

1 packet of frozen acai berries or (1/4 cup)

1 cup of frozen strawberries

1 cup of spinach

A single vanilla Activia or greek yogurt cup

Combine all ingredients and blend

Enjoy!