The One Habit That Changed My Mental and Physical Health

2020 is a year that we will never forget, I believe everyone will agree to this. With sooo many things that impacted the world, I know that we each have our own unique story to tell. For me, 2020 taught me how to love my body in ways I did not think I needed to. I learned how to appreciate my whole being, and to cherish my mental health, my mind, and overall physical health over appearance.   As a society, we focus so much on the exterior and neglect the interior. 2020 taught me that self-love was more than taking a selfie, more than wearing a bodycon dress, more than trying to not hate my body because it did not look like the accepted plus size body social media applauds. 

With lockdown and everything that ensued - the stress, the anxiety, the drama, the losses, I gained a significant amount of weight. However, I did not realize this change until my body began reacting. I  started to break out terribly, and my period cycle was a mess. There was a time my flow lasted the entire month.  And then another month that I  did not get my period at all but experienced nausea, headaches, fatigue, backache, you name it, I had it. Ms. Flow was not constant at all. I did not understand what was going on, until I finally went to the doctor. 

Now I dreaadddd going to the doctor because NO ONE ever listens to me. NO ONE wants to hear what I am experiencing. As soon as I step on the scale, the diagnosis is obesity and I am told to go on a diet and I will be fine. It appears diets were the only medications I was ever prescribed. 

Knowing this, I thoroughly researched to see an OBGYN, since I knew this was a menstrual related issue. And I PREPPED myself to be vocal about everything, which I did. Upon the visit, my doctor showed me what my ovaries looked like after I explained what I was going through. She compared it to a  cookie in the oven during the baking process (inflamed and increasing in size), and this is what they call PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. She was so kind and explained that this can be a result of my weight gain and stress throughout the year. She was not condescending at all, spoke kind words and suggested I start to be  more active and see how it will affect my body. 

Now for someone who has been through eating disorders, self-hate, body hate, essentially everything - I needed to figure out what I could do to not become obsessive. I did not want to go on a diet, because I know personally that it doesn’t work for me. I did not want to do something temporary. And remember, my doctor never suggested a diet, she said try to be more active. And that’s all I wanted to do. I started going on walks and checking out workouts on YouTube, but I was not feeling that engaged and motivated until I joined Afromotion. 

Afromotion is a fitness community founded by , Kwabena KB partnered up with another fitness instructor, Charlotte Fitness. Both are based in London, United Kingdom and are certified fitness instructors. Afromotion offers live virtual classes, four days a week with the option to do a replay if you miss a class. There are monthly challenges and the sessions are different every week. You are also put into a group chat with other women who are also on their fitness journey. And in those group chats, everyone is encouraged to share their meals of the day and encouraged to drink at least 2 liters of water per day. What I love about Afromotion is that the  coaches are encouraging lifestyle changes not diets. Coaches who do not push, but rather encourage you to do the best you can,  as long as you don’t give up. The best part is you get paired up with an accountability partner, a whole virtual partner!!!! 

I have been a part of the Afromotion community for nine months, and coming up on my year anniversary! Ever since I joined, my perspective on working out changed. It was and still is something I enjoy doing. Also, this was the first time I approached working out in a different lens. I was not focusing on losing weight, I wanted to feel better and improve my health so I could regulate my menstrual cycle.  While everyone celebrates my weight loss on Instagram, I am celebrating a normal cycle. I am celebrating my ovaries improving. I am celebrating clear skin. I am celebrating loving my body for sticking with me, and not giving up on me. I am celebrating taking the time to give my body what it needs. I am celebrating those mornings when I did not want to wake up and workout but I did. Those busy days that I felt too busy to work out but finally decided to do a replay when I would miss a class. I am celebrating loving myself so much that I finally listened to my body and gave it something I did not think it needed. I am celebrating my foreign curves. 2020 and Afromotion introduced me to my new chapter of my self love journey and I am so excited to see what other lessons this chapter unfolds.