So These Stars...

Quite recently, I have been aware that "hey my clothes aren't fitting as well as they used to."  This seems to happen every year around this time because I have a tendency to kick myself into high gear during the Summer or even the start of the year and then when the school year starts around September when I have reached some goal, I slow down and just stop working out and even eat horribly. Note: my definition of horrible might be completely different because after all, I am gluten and dairy intolerant, but I do not necessarily stay to those. Anyways, so I started thinking I should work out because I want to stay fit and be able to do an actual push-up.  Apparently, the type of push-ups I do, according to my boyfriend, are fake push-ups. And when I try to do just even one correctly I fall on my face because my arms cannot support my body! I find this very depressing...  If this is going to work at all, I decided I need to be honest with you. I am not what you would call overweight, I am 5'6" and weigh probably 135 pounds, maybe give or take a few pounds, but I am unwilling to get on that scale because I have been eating horribly lately, but I did workout the past two days (yay!).  I am a perfectionist and hard on myself. I can be incredibly insecure about myself because let's face it, society has told us that we need to be perfectly skinny and have perfect skin, which I have neither.  And I have drank the kool-aid when it comes to the lies society has fed us, and it is a little embarrassing that I have because who wants to admit that?!?! I decided that I cannot lose weight or even just get fit for the sake of looking skinny. (Also, my mom has struggled with her weight since she was a pre-teen, and I am all too aware of what she has been through, which has driven me to stay healthy.)  It has to be for more.... Like health, energy and happiness. With this new mind set and thinking about how God wants me to view my body, as said in 1 Corinthians 6:19, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."My body is not mine, it is the Lord's. He doesn't want me to view myself as flawed and fat, but His beautiful creation. For goodness sake, He knitted me in my mother's womb! He knew what He was doing! So I have to take confidence in that, right?
     This leads me to why I posted this, I was surfing my facebook feed and all of a sudden I see this post about how Beyonce lost 65 pounds post baby. I was intrigued by this because after all she is the Queen Bey. And I am reading this article and all of a sudden she says it, "I wanted to show women that it is possible to be a woman and mother, and still be able to get your body back." That's noble of you Beyonce. Then I read how she did it.... She had her trainer live with her and woke up at 5am, worked out for two hours then did the same thing at 5pm the same day. And also had an extreme diet of just eating protein and vegetables. Beyonce, come on, this is NOT showing all women that we can be a woman and a mother. The average woman does not have enough money to have a trainer live with her and does not have the time to work out for 4 hours a day.  We have lives, we have bills and we have regular jobs.  Ladies, I am all for being dedicated and working hard at something, but this is just ridiculous. I appreciate the fact that she worked very hard, but her reasoning was not for herself, as she says in her documentary, "I wanted to show my body." UGH. That's great and all, but in the age we live in, we do not need to hear that, we are aware all you want to do is show your body, but we need to dig deeper for our reasons to actually lose weight. Like to be healthy, for myself, to be able to do the things you love, to not be exhausted all the time. Not to show my body off to the world. And the way she lost the weight, that is not real life! You have a baby, you should not feel pressured to lose all the weight that you gained. You should be amazed at the fact that you just created the life that lies before you. I am not saying do not lose the weight, but do it in a way that is healthy and in your own time. Still enjoy life and live the life the Lord has set before you!
     I am on this journey because it is easy for me to be a tyrant and count my calories, say no to every dessert possible, never eat carbs and be unhappy. I will rise above this and eat healthy because it is the right thing to do, not to be stick thin and workout because it helps my energy levels and relieves stress! I encourage you to look at the reasons for why you are loosing weight or getting fit. Make sure they are reasons that will actually keep you going and not reasons that will just make you depressed a month from now, eating a tub of ice cream. Be happy and healthy! I hope you ring in the New Year with positivity and eat some cake because it is good to indulge some times.  :)

Side note: I do like Beyonce, and if I offend any of you, that was not my intention. My intention was to show that we need to lose weight for the right reasons--health and happiness. Below is a link about Beyonce's story for those who like to check the facts...

----Alexis


Beyonce E!News Story

So you want to start a blog....

Let's get some introductions out of the way. I'm Alexis Victoria Coutsicos, 21 years young, senior at UCI and I love The Lord. Hence the title of my blog, Redeemed. It's not like I think I have a whole lot of knowledge that I decided to start a blog, I just felt The Lord pushing in this direction. The need to be authentic in this day and age is so crucial as a Christian and follower of Christ. And being honest about my struggles and my passions is a start. I just pray it might help some people out or make them realize, they aren't alone in this journey. I am a nanny to a lovely 8 year old boy who fills my life with so much joy and a full time student. If that doesn't tell anyone anything, I am a pretty busy person, which happens to give me some pretty interesting experiences. And I'm hoping you all, anyone out there?!, will find them just as interesting. I'm going to be honest, I can be sporadic and not stay on topic, so I apologize in advance. I can't wait to embark on this journey of blogging. For now, that is all..... 

---Alexis