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Only a few short years ago, Lea Watkins couldn’t even dare to dream of the woman that now looks back at her in the mirror. Before losing the weight, Lea had to first accept that she was worthy of feeling good about herself. In her own words, Lea shares her incredible weight loss story with BlackDoctor.org and her journey to becoming a personal trainer and bodybuilder.

I was big my entire life. I didn’t particularly enjoy being overweight but I never thought I was strong enough to lose the weight I wanted. I masked my pain and irritation with my wide frame by just forcing myself to be the pretty big girl. I smiled and pretended to like it but I always said to myself, “I don’t want to be this person. I hate this!” I was embarrassed to announce that I wanted to lose weight because I knew I would fail, and I knew that saying “I want to lose weight” out loud was an admission that I was overweight and it was a reality I was not willing to accept.

In late 2011 I was at my heaviest, probably about 230 lbs. I met a guy (who I’m still with today) and he was in good shape, trained as a boxer, and ate healthy all the time. I was shocked that he found me attractive and I was embarrassed about me being so big in contrast to him being fit. I didn’t want us to walk down in the streets together looking like the number 10. How humiliating! I’ve seen the memes of these couples and I laughed. I couldn’t be the latest “big girl, small guy meme.” Truth is I faked the confidence in my body so there was no way I would ever be able to pull that off. It was now or never.

Tough Love

In hindsight, it wasn’t all about him, but about the fact that I knew I could never be the person I wanted to be, and have the relationship I REALLY wanted to have if I didn’t get rid of this “zero” body that felt like a cage. I remember sitting on his couch and feeling horrible and ashamed and disgusted and defeated and there was nowhere else to hide. I put my head to his chest and, exhausted, I whispered “I want to lose weight.” He responded “If you’re serious, I’ll help you.”

He gave me one instruction: eat clean.

He also handed me a workout that consisted of weight training 3 days a week at the gym, yoga one day, and cardio one day. For the first few months, for reasons I don’t remember, I could only think to eat Cheerios (plain, of course), fish, rice and yogurt. My boyfriend, always patiently advising, never criticizing, was teaching me what foods are healthy and how to read labels. He explained to me why plain Cheerios weren’t ideal for my goals and why other options (eggs, oatmeal, etc.) were better.

Under Construction

I was like a sponge, absorbing everything he said and ultimately it was this humility that largely contributed to my success. It’s okay to just say “I want to lose weight, I don’t know where to start, and I don’t even know if I can do it.” Becoming a true student of health and fitness sparked my interest in bodybuilding, specifically women’s figure. I wanted to know everything there is to know about how nutrition and training contribute to what we see in the mirror. In one sense, I was always a “bodybuilder,” not competitively of course. I was always adjusting my diet and my training to get the vision in my head to match the person I saw in the mirror.

I’m in love with how much control I have over my most precious asset: my physical body. Now the battle with the scale is over, and my bodybuilding journey is centered around creating my body to look the exact way I want it to look. It’s art in many ways and I’ve always been an artist at heart.

I started out as a size 16/18 and am now in a size 4/6. I originally wanted to be a size 9 and at the time a size 9 was a pipe dream! The feeling of accomplishing what you couldn’t imagine being possible and even surpassing that is so surreal.

Taking control over your health and fitness is so meaningful. It’s so incredibly empowering and takes form in different, seemingly unrelated aspects of your life. If people knew what they could do, they would be brought to tears with their accomplishments. I want everyone to believe in themselves more than anything, especially those who are hurting the most and become whoever they want to be. For me, it’s chiseling my physique like it’s art, but I would have never known how much joy it brings me if I didn’t open that door to endless possibilities. I truly believe taking care of you (at whatever level you want) is the first step to truly discovering who you are. Being fit is not about looking good, it’s a way to change your life if you’ll allow it.

Catch Lea each week on BlackDoctor.org’s Facebook Live and follow her on Instagram for inspiration @the_leahshow.

5 Exercises for FULL-BODY Toning

Fitness doesn’t have to be impossible.

If you think you need to live in the gym, spending endless hours working on isolation exercises, or grinding yourself into the ground, you’re in luck. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Turns out, there are certain ‘hacks’ to getting that physique you’ve always wanted. While these ‘hacks’ need to be applied consistently, they can and do make the difference you’ve been seeking.

What are they? Simple. They’re compound exercises, and they can help you sculpt a better bod with less effort, less time, and less obsessing over the details.

Let’s cover five exercises for full-body toning that you probably didn’t know.

1. Lunging Bicep Curls

Lunging bicep curls are one of the best compound exercises you can do. This means they ‘compound’ your muscles and joints, working multiple groups at once instead of focusing on just one muscle group at a time.

This makes them more efficient, more challenging, and uniquely stimulating for an overall better physique.

Here’s how to do lunging bicep curls:

Begin with your feet hip-width apart, with one dumbbell per hand.
Take one step forward into the lunge position with your right leg, ensuring your torso remains straight.
While lowering into the lunge, curl both dumbbells toward your shoulders.
Go back to the starting position and do it for the other side.

These curls are perfect for activating your glute, hamstrings, and quads, while also strengthening your biceps and forearms. The beauty of lunging bicep curls is that you not only increase muscle tone, but improve flexibility and muscle endurance as well.

2. Kettlebell Swings

This has become very popular in recent years, most notably used by podcaster Joe Rogan. Kettlebell swings are basically what is called a dynamic exercise. In other words, lotta movement!

Here’s how to do them:

Begin with your feet shoulder-width apart, one kettlebell clutched by both hands.
Bend your hips and knees and bring the kettlebell down between the legs.
Then, drive the hips forward, swinging the kettlebell up near shoulder level.
Bring the swing down again and repeat.

If you do this repeatedly, you’ll notice the results. Your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings are the most activated. But don’t forget your shoulders and your core. They too will benefit, as you build strength, explosiveness, and cardiovascular health all at once.

If you want to optimize both your anaerobic and aerobic fitness, kettlebell swings are one Helluva way to do it!

3. Deadlifts

Want to target your lower back, glutes, and hamstrings? Deadlifts work by stimulating multiple muscle groups at once.

Here’s what to do:

As always, begin standing in the hip-width position, behind a barbell or dumbbell.

Bend your hips and knees with a straight back as you grab the weight.

Extend the hips and knees as you return to standing, bringing the weight to your thigh level.

Lower it down again slowly but surely, then repeat.

Great for overall body strength and toning, deadlifts have been used for countless years. They are especially important for strengthening the lower back, so if you have weaknesses there, consider deadlifts.

Over time, you’ll notice that your posture improves as lower back pain decreases too.

4. Burpees

Designed for high-intensity, full-body workouts, burpees incorporate multiple movements. You’re squatting, jumping, and doing a push-up all in one sequence.

Sound tough?

Here’s how to do ’em:

Begin standing, feet shoulder-width apart.

Drop into a squat with hands on the ground.

Jump into a plank position, feet extending, and do a push-up.

Jump back towards your hands, feet retracting, and then jump up tall into the starting position.

Repeat.

As you can guess, burpees will get your heart going! They are also working out your core, upper body, and legs all at once. We’re talking better endurance, more strength, and greater agility, simultaneously.

5. Renegade Rows

Renegade rows are similar to burpees in one way: they use the plank position. However, that’s where the similarities end. With renegade rows, you’re pretending to row, which works out your back, core, and shoulders the most.

They only really feature three steps:

Start in a plank with one dumbbell per hand, with your body straight.

Row a dumbbell back to your hip as you keep your body stable with the unused arm.

Bring the dumbbell back down and repeat with the other arm.

Renegade rows are great because they get you breathing as your muscles burn. If you wanna build your lats or rhomboids, this exercise is particularly helpful. Your core stability and flexibility will also improve, which is great for overall health and injury prevention.

Over time, incorporating these five complex movements and exercises will have your body looking more toned, feeling stronger, and working better in all ways!