Too many of us struggle with giving ourselves credit for what we see as small victories. However, I have come to learn that these small victories are what we should applaud the most. You have made it one step closer to the end game. You have taken another step that not everyone has successfully taken. You did not give up. You did not break. You did not fold! Why not celebrate that? Think about where you were 5 years ago or even 3 years ago! Were you where are now? You have grown so much and may not have even noticed. If you don't acknowledge your progress, you will never find joy in your hard work. Why not write down your victories like you write...
Life is full of lessons. There is so much to learn if you are paying attention. As I have stated so many times before, I initially started my fitness journey to manage my depression and anxiety. The gym has become a very sacred place for me like it is for so many others. It was through fitness, I learned so much more about myself. Here are the top three (3) lessons that my fitness journey has taught me thus far... (1) Fear of failure is one of the BIGGEST roadblocks. Will Smith stated, "Fear is not real. The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things...
I was in a car accident July 26, 2019. Nothing major, no one was injured, but I was shook! I've never been in an accident before. I've never even had a speeding ticket. I lost my appetite for the remainder of the day and not one thought was geared towards my prep. I ended up eating an entire bag of cherries and three golden Oreo cookies just so I could fall asleep. My mindset got really jacked up and my anxiety about driving went up ten fold. At the same time, I began to look at a few things differently by the time I went to bed. What do you do when something shakes you and throws you off your...
The new trend seems to be going vegan. Beyoncé is even bringing awareness to a plant-based diet with her “Greenprint” campaign at which fans could win tickets to a Jay-Z and/or Beyoncé show for life! Who wouldn’t want Jay-Z and/or Beyoncé tickets for life?!?!? But what is a plant-based diet? Don’t worry! It doesn’t mean eating salads for the rest of your life as some hard-core meat-eaters believe. To me, it isn’t really defined. People tend to forget that it’s called plant-based. I take that to mean that most of your diet consists of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and whole grains. Since it’s plant-based, you limit as much meat as possible or don’t eat meat at all. Keep in mind...
Like many in the black community, I had a sense of humiliation surrounding depression and anxiety. I didn’t want a label to define me which is why I was totally against speaking with a therapist. I was terrified of being diagnosed and therein given a label. I was struggling with my own thoughts and doing it in silence. My mind was my enemy and I felt it was my war to fight on my own. After all, it is “my” mind. I had become my own worst enemy and soon I started to feel like suicide was my only option… I felt death was better than my suffering. Yet, I never went through with it wholeheartedly. My malti-poo is why...
