Blog.
A 34-year-old woman living in 2024, married to her husband, with whom she has grown up since she was 18.
She has worked and built small businesses, owns a cozy house, invested in a couple of rental properties,
and drives around the city in nice cars.
She has no kids but five dogs, which could count equivalently similar to as having 2 kids, right?
(I might get a lot of people that would disagree with this one, haha)
Living the best years of my life, or so she thought until it came crashing down.
This is my story.
The story of awakening mindset; reclaiming my health, my life.
One step at a time.
I thought I had it all. A great husband, a nice house, nice cars, small businesses, and even rental properties.
This is all I ever wanted in my life.
Being able to be financially stable, sharing it with my life partner, growing older and creating a life journey together.
In 2008, I met my partner when I was 18 and we started dating. At the age of 19, we started living together. Since then, I believed we were irreplaceable to each other. We bought our first property and from a young age, we hustled and worked tirelessly - 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.
We started with nothing and we grew to what I would consider being "successful".
Little did I know that I was living in my own fantasy.
My life came crashing down in March of 2024, as my husband felt "unhappy". He expressed that he wanted his own space to find himself. I was confused as this was so abrupt and I felt blindsided. Trying to understand, I gave him his space.
In the midst of living separate, I felt anxious and started walking. I would take short walks in between and after work to relieve the tension that I felt in my body and mind.
June of 2024, in a span of 3 months; I had found out that it wasn't just space he wanted. It was a lifestyle.
My husband no longer wanted to continue being in a monogamist relationship with me.
I was devastated.
I couldn't get out of bed. My body was shaking uncontrollably. Just curled up with my eyes constantly in tears.
Continuously in my mind, feeling worthless and betrayed. It went on for a good couple of weeks.
Then it hit me.
I need to start moving.
I walked before to relieve tension; I think it will help me if I start walking again.
I started to get out of bed early in the morning and walked around my neighborhood. I would walk in the morning, sometimes late afternoon, and after dinner in the evenings. I also started tracking my steps through my watch and phone to record my activities.
I talked to my friends as I walked. If my friends were not available, I would
listen to my favorite songs on my playlist. When I would incorporate listening
to music and talking to my friends, my walks seemed to go by faster and I
enjoyed the overall experience.
One step at a time; I was moving my body forward.
I struggled with lots of insecurities from the breakup and my perception of my self worth. Whenever I felt down or sad, I felt better by walking outdoors on a nice, sunny day to calm my mind.
I felt less anxious and it helped lessen my overthinking. I felt stronger.
I didn't even realize I was walking up to 5 miles or 20,000 steps! It was exhilarating knowing that I was able to accomplish so much. I was also seeing reduction in my weight that I've gained over the last 16 years.
I started to discipline myself of my food choices. I watched and regulated what to consume throughout the day.
I looked up what was the recommended caloric intake one should take.
When you multiply your current weight by 15 is the right amount of intake of calories within a day.
With that number, exceed if you want to gain weight and or reduce if you want to lose weight.
I weighted 165 at my heaviest. During this time I shouldn't have consumed more than 2,475 calories a day. Currently my weight is at 130, so I shouldn't consume more than 1950 calories a day if I want to maintain a healthy weight for my body.
Learning about nutrition and avoiding unhealthy foods also contributed to my overall change. I struggled the most with addiction to sugary drinks and over consuming high calorie foods in one sitting.
My diet consisted of mostly boiled eggs, fruits, vegetables, and meat. I incorporated some cheese and potatoes here and there too.
I resisted the temptation of convenient fast food restaurants. I avoided snacking and eating at the slightest moment of feeling hunger. After a heavy meal, I would take a light walk to aid digestion.
Feeling progressive in my overall health and body, I took another step. I enrolled and got accepted into UMSL university. I decided to pursue a teaching degree as it became my new passion; an opportunity to become a better version of myself.
I started opening up. I became more comfortable communicating with my professors and my classmates.
I even made new friends that has been so kind and supportive!
Walking everyday has motivated me that anything I want to do in my life, I can accomplish. Taking one step at a time; figuratively and physically.
I've always wanted to create a blog; a safe community where people can connect with one another. I hope this can grow into something that can inspire and lead people into taking charge and create their own powerful journey.
This blog was inspired by my junior level writings course from University of Missouri - Saint Louis.
Having the opportunity to yet again create something by taking another step, I feel so proud and accomplished.
No matter how big or small, moving forward takes a lot of courage and strength.
Take One step at a time, even if it's only a small step because many small steps will cover a great distance.
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Comments
Inspirational. Im gonna go run right now!
This is really good! Go girl, I’m going walking now because of you and Lauren lol 😆
Just by reading this blog i feel so motivated everyone face a lot of problems in life its like a journey but few have the courage to share it with other to motivate them so i want to appretiate your hardwork and i hope life will treat you better in the future dont worry trust the process and im so proud of you 🌹
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~Meow💖
Just simply awesome! Thank you for sharing your journey!
I like your blog!!
Thanks for sharing with us!