Today’s Fit Five Friday features Stephanie from New York. Let’s see what she has to say about health, fitness, and her body.
1. What do you love about your body?
Definitely my legs. They’ve always been long and lean, thanks to years of ballet. And recently, I can add my butt to the list of things I love about my body, after years of struggling. I always felt it was disproportioned to the rest of my body, and made me look like I weighed more than I did. It also would make fitting into pants so hard growing up, when all I wanted was to wear the “cool” jeans from Abercrombie & Fitch, which are not made for teens with curves. It would also garner ridiculous attention from boys since I wasn’t working with much on top I guess, making me very self-conscience. I would recently categorize my butt as love though, because FINALLY I’ve gotten it toned and in shape, and fitting into pants and skirts is a lot easier due to this and a better self confidence level.
2. What would you like to change about your body?
I don’t think I will ever be content with my stomach. It will never be flat enough in my opinion. It’s the first thing I stare at in the mirror when I get dressed, and if my stomach doesn’t look good in my mind, I will change my outfit. This includes work out outfits which is crazy, I know.
3. Have you ever been or are you currently on a diet?
I guess I shouldn’t really call it a diet anymore since I never seem to go off of it. For the past 2 years I have kept a food journal. I count every calorie I eat. Now, obviously I have days where I just don’t… or even a week here and there, but for the most part I keep a log of everything I eat. I’m a snacker, so if I don’t keep track I will eat way more than I need to. Right now specifically though I am trying the Paleo diet, which is a low carb clean-eating diet. I don’t plan on sustaining it for very long. I like to experiment I guess by trying different diets different months.
4. Have you ever or do you currently belong to a gym?
I do! I belong to Flower City Crossfit, which only specializes in Crossfit classes. And I love it! Crossfit is the first activity since dance that I look forward to and get excited to participate in. I run, but I don’t love to run. I only do it for the sense of accomplishment at the end. With crossfit though, I surprise myself every time with what I can do in a class. And everyone is so friendly. We are all on different points of the fitness spectrum, but support one another with words of encouragement and coaching. There isn’t this sense of “judgement” like I got in dance. I can lift and squat with a quarter of the weight of some of the people there, but they all cheer you on equally.
5. What does fitness mean to you?
Fitness to me means being well-rounded with the right exercises and nutrition. I can eat garbage, and exercise, but I’m not fit. And I could be strong, eat well, but get winded going up the stairs. To me, it means achieving strength, edurance, and the right nutrition to live your life in optimal wellness.
Bonus: What is your current fitness goal?
I would love to shrink my tummy, and increase my upper body strength. I have a super strong lower body, but stuggle with arm strengthening. I would love to be able to do unassisted chin-ups in crossfit as well as handstand push-ups in the next couple of months (crazy I know, but everything is scale-able in crossfit, and right now I can only do chin-ups with bands and hand-stand balances).
