SHIRLS LARSON 
When I found out I was pregnant with my first baby at the age of 20 – I made a promise to myself that my negative self-talk and low self-esteem would end.
I was going to be a young mother and needed to learn how to love myself so I could provide the healthiest, safest environment for my child. This proved to be challenging. Over the course of my twenty years of living, I had internalized so much fear and so many negative thinking patterns.
Bottom line: I was convinced that I didn’t matter and aesthetically speaking, I was every bit as small and as weak as I felt.
I stepped into the weight room for the first time after my daughter was born. I felt intimidated and silly grabbing 5 lb weights – but this was monumental because I was finally taking a stand against my negative thoughts. Weightlifting has helped me feel strong in my body.
I’ve been lifting for four years now and have realized that the best form of medicine is that which is practiced every day by the way we live, think, feel, believe, love and nourish ourselves.
