Hello!
My name is Vi, short for Viola, and I am a 53 year old woman from Alabama. I love Jesus and my family, and I am passionate about health and fitness and sharing my journey to help other women my age find health and strength without all of the negative things that tend to come with that. I am a Mama to a 20 year old daughter who is starting her Junior year in College this fall, and she is my whole world. I am newly divorced, single, and I live at home with my trusty companion, Lillie, who is a mix between a husky and a Labrador Retriever. It took 50 years of bad relationships with myself, other people, food and exercise to realize that I was doing life all wrong.
From early on in my teen years I have had unhealthy relationship issues with literally everything in my life including my Savior, Jesus Christ. I grew up in church. In the south, you go to church on Sundays. You just do. I was a part of the youth group and I believed in Jesus! Just like I believed in all historical people which is exactly how I viewed him. He was someone that lived in the past. He was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, rose 3 days later, and ascended into Heaven. I believed that then, just like I do now. The difference came much later in life when I realized that Jesus is alive and living in me. He was born, died and ascended for me because He loves me and wants a relationship right now with ME! Right here in the present. That was a life changing season for me. And it is still life changing every single day. He chose me even though I am broken and a complete mess. He still chose me. I think he shakes his head a lot, but He still chooses me every day, and for that I am eternally grateful.
My relationships with people suffered because my relationship was not right with Jesus. I know that now, and am still trying to mend the wounds from years of trauma that comes with unhealthy relationships. But Jesus and I are working on it. I am not going to go into details about people relationships because I don't want to hurt feelings and it isn't necessary. Just know that I participated in each one and contributed equally to the unhealthiness! I am not trying to play the victim card on this part of my past at all. I have made some pretty bad decisions and messed up a lot in my life and hurt a lot of people, but because I serve a Merciful God, I am forgiven and I can move on. I certainly don't have it all figured out yet. I am a work in progress and this life is a journey that is a process. I am not there yet, but thank you Lord, I am not the person I was before. I am striving for steady progress in everything and I am no longer looking back. I am trying to keep my eyes on Jesus and what He has in store for me in the future.
My relationship with food and exercise, like most women, has been a complete disaster for most of my life. I would try diet after diet, exercise after exercise, and I would get results, and then go right back to being unhealthy. I was focused on weight and how my body looks compared to other women, or I wanted to be more attractive to men. It was a vicious cycle. I would eventually "cheat" on my diet or skip a workout and then give up completely and go back to the unhealthy habits because I would tell myself I couldn't do it. I was my own worst enemy when it came to my health.
I am now at 24% body fat and I am building lean muscle as fast as my old body can handle it and getting stronger by the minute. I am not on a diet. Yep, that's right, I am not on a diet. I choose to eat healthy foods in all the categories (proteins, fats, and carbs)most of the time. I read books on nutrition and learned how my body metabolizes food. I do log my food and keep up with my calorie intake and macros , but I am not a fanatic about it. I don't obsess about it. If I want a cupcake, I am going to eat a cupcake. I am not going to loose my mind and give up because I ate a cupcake. I do both cardio and weight training. I do things that I like to do, and I am always trying new things. I do spend a lot of time in the gym, because I like it, and I have friends there that I like to talk to, not because I feel like it is necessary because it isn't. The gym can be more of a social thing for me sometimes. I love to visit with friends and share ideas! Now, I did not get here overnight. It took a good 2 years of falling off the wagon several times and I am not totally out of the woods with the bad body image problem and comparison, but then again, that problem didn't develop overnight either. So it's going to take time.
In this blog, I hope to shed some light on how I handle relationships with people, food and exercise. I will share my failures and my successes and how my background effects how I handle things. I hope to share the funny things that happen to me along the way. Let's face it, life in the deep south is just funny sometimes. I will share recipes, meals, and workouts. Because I have utilized so many blogs and Instagram accounts to get me where I am . I hope to contribute some to the world. We will see how it goes!
Here is to a new beginning, a new chapter in my life and I can only hope for the privilege to be a blessing to someone else.
Vi
