Embracing My Journey ~ Living with passion & purpose!

Embracing Your Life, Your Body and Yourself! Guest post by: Toneka Pires & Linda Okwor.

The fitness and nutrition experts of BWell Fit share their motivational tips and personal stories of weight loss and overcoming insecurities.

A fitness championship title holder, fitness model, certified trainer and nutrition expert, Toneka Pires has showcased her hard earned physique on the pages of well known magazines such as, Shape, Allure, Muscle Fitness Hers, Oxygen and Ms. Fitness. She has also been featured as a fitness expert on TV shows, such as MTV’s “I Want a Perfect Body II”, and ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPN International.

Believing in yourself and taking control of your life is the best gift that you can give yourself.

Taking the necessary steps to lead a healthier lifestyle is so important, but it’s not easy. As an athlete and fitness enthusiast, I lost more than 20 pounds with a little sacrifice, some dedication and a lot of hard work. I understand where you’re coming from and can relate to everyone who wants to feel and look better. My best advice is to set attainable personal goals, put together a structured plan, believe in yourself and set your mind to do it. Once you do that, there is no stopping you! You will succeed!

Remember life challenges, obstacles and roadblocks all equal growth. Without obstacles in life, we don’t learn and we don’t move forward. Embrace yourself and what’s in front of you!

Remember the following 3 important messages that we want you to remember:

1. Believe in yourself: Believing in you is the first step and the most important!
2. Establish personal goals and put together a plan: Be specific with what your health and fitness goals are. Once you know what you want to improve on, you can then move forward with a structured plan for you to follow.
3. Set your mind to do it! You are important, tell yourself everyday that you believe in yourself and you want this… for you!

A certified personal trainer, nutrition expert, fitness champion and fitness spokesperson, Linda Okwor is a former NBA cheerleader and holder of many regional, national and international fitness titles such as, Ms. Fitness New Zealand and ESPN fitness champion. She has been featured in various print publications, such as Oxygen magazine, television and fitness campaigns, and was co-host of “Off the Record”, a popular TSN Canada television show.

I clearly remember sitting in the counselor’s office while in high school crying uncontrollably.  I was not crying about a boy or my family, the reason seemed much more painful at that time.  It was a scene that happened many times during those awkward years.  I was crying because I hated my body.  One of my peers just created a new nickname for my slim (lanky is more like it) frame.  I was called skinny Minnie, bag of bones, bean pole and now bagel booty (I will explain the name another time but it wasn’t a food incident).  I hid behind baggy clothes and often shied away from opportunities.  This should have been the period when I was having the time of my life but I was secretly in pain.  And let’s just say that I wasn’t very popular with the boys either.

Many people could relate to this pain because they went through it or are currently going through it.  Your pain could be the struggle to lose weight, the gaps in your teeth, a speech impediment, etc…   Regardless of what the source is, the pain is there and it is real.  Luckily for me, I didn’t become depressed or self destructive, it motivated me to find a solution.

I began to work out and discovered that I could reshape my body using strength training.  As my body changed so did my self esteem and confidence.  With confidence came more activities, friends and yes, even attention from boys.  I grew out of that horrible stage in time to enjoy high school and all the wonderful things that came with it.  Now, my only regret is the years that I spent crying, hiding and wishing for someone else’s body and life.  I feel for those who have pain because of their confidence or because they are ridiculed…I have been there.  That is one of the reasons I decided to pursue my passion in fitness, nutrition and health.  With every client, blog post, appearance and consultation, I know that I am saving lives and smiles.

If I could give you 3 things that I learned from my experience, it would be:

1. Embrace your body.  You can improve your body but you can’t get someone else’s.
2. Play up your best assets.  Whether it is your smile, arms or legs, play it up and less attention will go to your problem areas.
3. Be confident. Confidence is the most attractive quality you can have.  You will quickly go from “blah” to “hot” when you exude confidence.

Have a happy journey!

BWell Fit is an innovative health and fitness company based in Marina Del Rey, California. BWell is committed to improving the quality of life for their clients through personalized, balanced fitness programs that incorporate proper nutrition, exercise, supplementation, nutrition deficiency improvement and motivation.

The fitness and nutrition experts at BWell Fit are certified through reputable organizations, such as the International Sports Science Association (ISSA), World Instructors Training Schools (WITS) and IDEA Fitness and Health Association. We hold updated CPR certifications and are involved in several local, national, and international physical fitness initiatives.

BWell Fit has nutritional experts and a physician with over ten years of experience to help with our clients customized fitness programs, nutrition, beauty and overall well being. We will make your fitness goals our own and are passionate about helping you see amazing results! http://bwellfit.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 10:54 am and is filed under 40 Days of Amazing People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.