Hello! My name is Kimberly. ☺ I guess ill start off when I was I kid. I wanted to start off from what I experienced because I figure there is someone out there who has gone through what I have gone through too. There was a video I saw on Facebook that showed these Asian American women who had body insecurities and after watching it I realized I had some of the same issues as well. When I was younger I was a shy, tall, and skinny girl. As I had reached 7 years old I had gotten fatter and ever since have been on the bigger side. When I was 10 years old, there was this boy at my school that would always say I was Samoan and I would always correct him that I was Filipino. I didn’t understand why he always called me that until after awhile I got it. I was taller than this boy and bigger than most girls my age and my skin was tanner. It did hurt me. Growing up I always felt like I was being compared to other girls or even to my younger sister. My younger sister and me are just 11 months apart and every time we went out I felt like I was the “ugly sister.” My mother would always make comments like “You were so pretty when you were little.” Or “You shouldn’t be eating to much. Its bad for you.” Or “You need to go to the gym if you want to loss weight like your sister.” Or “you would be prettier if you lost weight.” It hurt. And the sad part about it is that it wasn’t just my mom who said these things but also some of my aunts and uncles.
Hearing this at young age was hard and I had no one to tell me I was beautiful the way I was. I sometimes would cry before I went to sleep after hearing that. For my 20th birthday I went to the Philippines with my dad and younger sister. The stares I got from people there were nothing but stares. I didn’t have that white skin, small, and skinny girl. I was this 5’7” brown, big girl. My dad, younger sister, and me had gone to my dad’s home island and I got to meet my aunt and uncle (dad’s older brother) for the first time. After staying a couple of weeks at my dad’s home island, we went back to Manila and stayed there for the rest of our visit in the Philippines. My aunt (my dad’s sister) had made a comment about how I was eating or something about my weight and I would just laugh it off. When my dad, younger sister and I were getting ready to leave to go back to America, my aunt (my uncle’s wife) had hugged me goodbye and told me “you are a beautiful girl both inside and out. And we will pray for you, your dad, and sister for a safe travel back home.” I cried a little as she said this to me hugging her because this was the first time a relative had ever said that I was beautiful. For 7 years after I had struggled with my body. I even would just keep eating and cry when my mom or aunts would their comments about me. It didn’t help me.
Last November, something just clicked in me. I told myself, “enough of pitying yourself and time to get up and start doing something if you want to change.” “2016 is going to be your year!” My friend on December had posted Anne’s post on her Instagram (mentioning a boot camp in January) and I thought “this it, this is where I’m goanna start taking care of my self and doing things that I wanted to do.” So I emailed Anne about wanting to join her boot camp. To be honest after I had sent the email, I was actually hoping she had no more room. (Sorry Anne. >_<) But than I got the email from Anne and started her boot camp in January.
My experience in boot camp… was a lot for me. It had been awhile since I had gone to the gym so I knew this was going to kick my butt. The first day of boot camp we got to introduce ourselves and explained why we had decided to join. I learned that all these ladies were great supporters to each other. On the second day of boot camp we started to do some workouts. I was always the last one to finish but the ladies in the boot camp would always encourage me to finish. I am so glad I didn’t back out in joining Anne’s boot camp because not only did I find my self getting stronger physically and mentally but I gain new friends with the ladies and Anne. I know some interesting stories from the ladies at boot camp and I love that now I get to hang out with some of them outside of boot camp. After the boot camp I started doing personal training since I was going to school and my schedule was crazy. I got to know Anne a little more and she got to learn about me a little more. Through her personal training I got to learn how to use some equipment as if I were at the gym. Most of the equipment we used was the first I have ever used before because at the gym I only would do cardio and than go home. I find my self now getting so much stronger, my running has gotten better, and I am now able to do some squats and assistant push-ups. I still have a long way to go but know I’m learning to love myself more. So thank you so much Anne! You have been such a great trainer and I gained a new friend from you. I wish I could think of some words to express how much you have changed me into a better person these past 5 months. Thank you for being that voice to all these young girls out there and letting all the ladies know that we are all beautiful both inside and out.
