Adrienne Houghton took a break from her regularly scheduled fashion content to answer some questions about her personal life. The latest episode on her YouTube channel, All Things Adrienne, was a 25-question survey during which she addressed the boogeyman in every woman's closet: weight fluctuation. Although Adrienne had never really considered herself overweight, her Instagram comments told a different story.
"If I'm honest, my weight gain in the last few years has been like a struggle for me where I'm like, I never looked at myself as being overweight. And it was weird to hear so many comments at one point that I was fat, and 'Oh my God, she let herself go!' I was like, 'Whoa.' So that was a little bit weird."
As women, our weight changes depending on our levels of stress, reproductive cycles, and a number of other life changes that we sometimes have no control over. I've personally made it a habit to keep a various sizes in my wardrobe, just in case.
No matter what end of the weight spectrum you happen to be tip-toeing on these days, it's most important that you work from the inside out. You'll never reach your "ideal" weight if you aren't confident in who you are.
Perfection is unattainable, but real beauty is far from perfect. The #BodyGoals that we so desperately chase aren't based on our specific lifestyles and body types, so they are seemingly unreachable. According to Adrienne, her desire to get serious about her physical health was based on her own her own standards of beauty, not what the trolls in her comment section wrote about her.
"I just did what I had to do to be comfortable in my own skin. And I think that's the most important thing. It wasn't necessarily to please other people."
This need to please everyone but ourselves often leaves women in the "wish" mindset, on an everlasting quest to reach unrealistic body goals. We "wish" we could lose 30 pounds, or "wish" we could have a body like beyonce.
But, one quote that I live by is: if you don't like where you are, change it. There's not a whole lot of "wishing" involved when you're serious about reaching the #BodyGoals you've set for yourself. Adrienne did just that when it came to her physical health.
"I actually, genuinely, didn't like the way I looked. And every day it's a work in progress. You know, girl get up and do some cardio. More than looking good, it's actually healthy for you to eat healthy and actually get a little workout in. So as I get older, I get that it's going to be harder and harder, but I'm up for the challenge."
I'm down to take that challenge with you, A. It doesn't take Beyonce's personal trainer or a multitude of time to make the lifestyle changes that it takes to be truly happy with your body.
Throughout our lives as women, we will be constantly burdened with weight fluctuation, it's a part of life. But no matter how high or low you go on the scale, Adrienne reminds us that we can't be defined by our comment section.
Featured image by Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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