Mothers are the first teachers, but they never stop being students either. As a wife and mother of two, Keinika Carlton is finding the balance in teaching and learning what it means to live her healthiest, most fulfilled life. The Chicago resident and GirlTrek ambassador shares in her own words her journey with weight loss and setting her family up for generational health.
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I’m 34 years old and I am struggling to live my best fit life.
Growing up, I was the chunky girl in school. I was always last to finish in races, out of breath in gym class and never could seem to fit anything I wore right. Being active wasn’t a priority in my household. We consistently went outside to go somewhere but always by car. Never really walked anywhere. Definitely didn’t run. My parents knew I was overweight for my age so they put me in after school classes like tumbling and tap, but everyday activity wasn’t stressed.
Fast forward to my teen years, I stretched out, the weight kind of evened out and I played tennis. But I was still out of breath when I ran and forget eating right. College, ha! Freshman 15 was more like the freshman 20, then 30. It didn’t help that there was a Ben and Jerry’s in my dorm, right before you got to the salad bar. Walking to my classes was the only real walking I did and I barely wanted to do that.
In 2003 I had my first angel, Alyna Michelle. That’s when I had my first wake up call. Just a little. Because now I had this life to live for. Now I had this human being that looked to me to lead her in the best direction for her life. So, that meant that I had to do right by my own life. I began to make better choices with my eating, joined a gym, all the usual stuff. Stayed at it for a good few months before I fell off. Every few months I made this “life change” but never stuck it out.
Mikayla Rei, the youngest, came along in 2010. My pregnancy with her was…
…my hardest. My labor and birth with her was difficult. Why? Not because of any medical complications. But because I was sedentary. I literally slept the whole pregnancy and ate everything that was not helpful to me or her. After I gave birth I was the largest that I had ever been. 249 pounds. 249.
I know some of you reading this may be thinking, that’s not much compared to some people. You’re right. But when you go through life in the 180s and then jump to 249 in a matter of months and that is NOT including baby weight, something has to give. It was hard. It took about 2 to 3 years for me to get on track and get real about my life and my health. I lost about 40 pounds, was eating so much better. I did it! Right? Momma, I made it! No. There were two little girls in my home that were looking to me on how to live their best fit lives and while I was being the example, I wasn’t including them.
Around 2013, I was introduced to GirlTrek by my really good girlfriend. She invited me to a few walks and because I was still on my path of being active, I came out and joined her. But not consistently. One thing I have to tell you about me, so you can really get the picture, is that I grew up an only child, so I’m a bit of a loner. Still to this day, I do a lot by myself. So, my “live my best fit life” journey was being traveled only by me. I was falling right into the same patterns as my parents where I relied on their school physical activities to keep them healthy. I saw into their future and I saw them as me, 30 years old (at the time), struggling to live their best fit lives.
Nope, not on my watch.
Fast forward to 2015 and…
…I am walking, running, dancing doing any and everything I can that gets my body moving and, more often than not, my two little shugas are right there with me. Moving up to 2017, if I’m doing anything GirlTrek related they immediately go to put on their superhero blue shirts. My oldest daughter, Alyna, runs 5ks with me. The little one, Mikayla, walk/runs the same 5ks with me.
Today, I am the example for my daughters and they are included in the journey. They are practicing self-care WITH me. They are active WITH me. They are showing love for themselves and others WITH me. Currently I am in a weight loss challenge with my husband. We are on a vacation countdown and decided to really push at being active and eating clean. Each of us created a team and recruited our friends and families to be on our teams. My daughters love their dad, but they are Team Mom because they want to see me at my best fit self. They have been my trainers and my food and water watchdogs!
Eating right is hard.
Walking every day is hard.
Staying fit is hard.
I don’t want that for my daughters.
I want walking, eating right, drinking water and being active to be a part of their lifestyle and now it is. They know, at 13 and 7, that living their best fit lives is the only way to live because they see the example that I set for them and I include them in my journey. Walking with me and being a part of GirlTrek is the first step to my family’s generational well-being.
I walk for my daughters, my granddaughters and my great granddaughters.
I walk for the health of my lineage.
See #BlackGirlHealing in action at #TEDMED2017!