“I view exercise with thankfulness for what my body is capable of doing instead of viewing it as punishment.”
What an incredible quote that it. It’s like a “ah ha” moment.
Meet Jennifer Gibson, as I know her. One of my best friends from high school (27 years ago). We had some great times together. Double dating, cheerleading, football games, loud music, lots of Burger King and McDonalds and the list goes on of some my fondest memories.
The perks of Facebook is that it leads you to people far and near. She is now Jennifer Austin with 2 wonderful children. I have never met her husband nor her children but have watched her marry, her children grow and graduate, and have also gotten the pleasure in witnessing her transform her life into a healthy living, strong, mindful, balanced, and even more beautiful person. I follow her day to day routine and am so jealous of her organization skills.
I asked her to share her story, as everyone has one. I have thought when is the right moment. Jenn has struggled to find her best self and I can truly say, she has. Everyone struggles with this. It does not happen overnight. It takes time and patience and the energy to find what works for you and most importantly how to balance it all out.
Jenn says, “to live wildly and boldly and to have good balance.” Can we not all understand the power of this? AMEN
Enjoy her fantastic story and I know many of you will relate to her journey of freedom and happiness.
SHE IS STRONG
Love and hugs to you and a great big thank you, Mitz
This was so hard for me, for several reasons… having to think back about a painful time in my life… but more so for fear that what I wrote doesn’t make sense or I’m not articulating it correctly. But here you go:
I’ve always liked the saying “Don’t look back, you’re not going that way”. I think I liked that saying mainly because for me, looking back was painful and hurtful. But as I got older, I remember my daddy saying, “it’s not what happened that matters, but how you react, learn from and move forward”. I guess looking back can be a learning and healing process. So, to understand my fitness journey, we have to look back a little.
In Jr. High, I was the “new girl” – my dad was a minister of music and we moved around quite a bit, so I was pretty much used to being the new girl. But Jr. High was hard. My parents had just gotten divorced and I had just moved to a new town; and girls were mean. High school was harder. I hate talking about size, because honestly, I don’t think about size a lot. But for perspective, I started high school a size 0. By my Junior year, I was a size 8. By the standards of some, I was fat – and they made it known that they thought that. And that started my lifetime spiral of a constant fear of judgement. To this day, I don’t even know what I weighed in high school. I hadn’t considered myself overweight – until people said I was.
From that point on, I was on a “diet” for my entire life. Why? Because society told me that I had to be a specific size – and I believed them.
I’ve yo-yo’d back and forth, ranging from a 10 to an 8 to a 14 to a 4. Life went on and I was fine – always on a diet, always unhappy on the inside with the way I looked, but otherwise fine. I had two great kiddos (still do) to raise, I had a great job (still do!). Life got busy like it does for everyone. I never had drug or food addictions, or any eating disorders. What I did have was an addiction to convenience. How easy is it to just run through the drive through or order pizza after a long day? So, I yo-yo’d with periods of eating crap for weeks – months – on end and then one day I’d snap and say, “that’s it! We are eating healthy from now on!” Then the addiction of instant gratification hit. I would eat healthy for a couple of weeks, hardly exercise at all, not see any change in my body, get frustrated and busy, and get right back to my pizza! LAZY!!
About 3 years ago, I got tired – tire of the mental struggle, of the mental abuse I had imposed on myself for so many years. I was tired of the way I felt on the inside, unhealthy and just literally tired; constant headaches and upset stomach. So, I started a journey that is NOT a diet – it is a lifestyle of daily exercise and daily clean eating. I am choosing happiness. I decided to fuel my body with healthy and real food and to view exercise with thankfulness for what my body is capable of doing instead of viewing exercise as a punishment. I have learned what kinds of foods to eat at certain times of the day and how to stagger my weight and cardio training. I have always been an organized planner, but I learned how huge of a role planning and organizing plays in the healthy lifestyle. I absolutely believe in spending the time up front, of planning in advance – breaking the addiction of convenience. If I didn’t plan out exactly what we will eat (every meal) for the whole week AND spend a couple hours on the weekend prepping everything, eating healthy would definitely be a challenge. It is so nice to have it all done as we go through our week. It frees us up to enjoy ourselves, each other, friends and family. And I’m enjoying trying new foods or combinations I never thought I would try, much less like! Like, using chickpeas as a base for some delicious muffins!
But most importantly, I have learned that life really is short. I have learned to have fun, to LIVE life (not just plan to live it by waiting for the moment to be perfect), to love wildly and boldly and to have good balance. I have learned to lift up others, especially other women, because the comparison game is real and is still a struggle; and even though we aren’t still in high school, people are still mean. I will not be that person. In fact, I am thankful for all those ways I was made to feel because it taught me compassion and empathy and kindness, and how not to treat others. And that, too, is part of a healthy journey. So much of my fitness journey has been mental – always choosing to be positive, to be involved in a fitness community where women encourage and truly support each other. I have been using a daily devotion and gratitude journal and it is great! It really causes me to dig deep about what I’m grateful for. I’ve been taking time for more self-care, which is not selfish at all!
To me, being healthy is being HAPPY, fueling your body, being confident in your skin and loving yourself – which there is nothing wrong with! I am so thankful for a great support system – especially my amazing husband who eats whatever I fix for him (except Brussels sprouts), even if he thinks it is weird; for doing my workout videos with me even though they are said to be for “women only” – they are definitely challenging workouts and he does them happily; and for allowing me to take the time that I need to recharge myself.
I am happy to say that during the last 3 years, since I finally started to get it, I am fit and happy! And while the number on my scale doesn’t define me, I am at a healthy weight and I feel great! That is what motivates me to keep going – being fit and healthy translates to a happy heart, a positive mind, a healthy body, clear skin, strong muscles and great energy! And the only reason, to this day, that I know what my weight is, is because the doctor weighed me last week.
I wish I had learned more about what being happy and healthy meant when I was a teenager and young woman, but I didn’t. But as a 45-year-old woman (that sounds WEIRD,… is that true?!), I am thankful to take a look back to learn how to go forward, today and each new day.
