New Year, New You, that's what they all say
Nina
Hi Everyone! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
This is my first fitness post on the #nvblog and I wanted to give you my fitness/health advice. Let me start wayyyy back to where my advice roots from. As a little girl, I grew up to Britney Spears, Cristina Agulara, Mariah Carey, TLC and Spice Girls. What do they all have in common fitness wise (back in the 90's)?
They were all thin and wore super revealing clothes, so in turn I wanted to act like them, dress like them and would compare my body to them. So at a young age I was not fat, just thicker then others, I remember being called thunder thighs in middle school, or being told not to walk so hard, guess this booty was jiggling...
So I wanted to dress like celebs, look like them, without genes like them...I am hiding pictures for the sake of my reputation that show me dressing like them eeekkk!
So little did I know that thing called photoshop was starting as well, so not only were my icons fabulous in their music videos, but also on cover after cover of perfected magazines. This can really set the bar high. I remember learning about eating disorders through lessons my mom taught me, I then went on to use the topic as subject of a class project. I've never wanted to be a victim.
And now to confess my love for food, oh how much food makes me happy <3 Thankfully my athletic nature to kill it on the soccer field helped balance my weight and figure when eating the extra large sub, soup, chips and smoothie. My metabolism was able to keep up since these were my high school days... By then JLo was on top, baby got back worked in my favor, for my curvy figure and I embraced my past insecurities.
Later in life, now, working in an industry that is so fabricated by chicken cutlet inserts, butt implants, photoshop, diet teas, video editing, waist trainers, plastic surgery, it's hard to have self confidence without all that, especially when you didn't grow up with a model figure. Maybe the problem is my icons were singers who clearly have trainers, who's job is to be an image, play a part and work that roll.
After my trips to Washington, DC last year I realized a theme to many statues I saw in the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery Museum. They all had a figure like mine, I mean I am of Italian decent, but these women were naturally curvy. They had thicker thighs, they had a stomach roll when they were sitting, they have wavy hair, maybe a bigger or unique nose (like me) and they were glorified enough to make a statue and outlast the test of time. They are the essence of a whole culture of beauty and this whole time maybe I had it all wrong, idolizing these celebs.
Maybe you are wondering what does my body issues as a child have to do with a fitness blog, well this is more then just go for a walk and lift some weights to me. Fitness to me, is about being healthy in every way. I have always been an active person 12 years of playing soccer, a year of football, a year of soft ball and always had an active job on my feet. Fitness to me is about an active lifestyle, loving yourself, and enjoying what you eat along the way. This is the only way we can all feel confident in our skin and idolize ourselves.
So as my first post I want to start by saying this fitness blog is going to be about enhancing your assets and loving yourself with the genes you were born with, and a couple things I like to do to help mine.
Thanks for reading and please share your comments below!