'One day at a time': New mindset helps Dartmouth woman succeed on fitness journey

Janae Blackman is a working mom who has struggled to find the time and energy to work on her fitness. Now, a change in mindset has helped the Dartmouth, N.S., woman focus on how she feels instead of the number on the scale.

“I was always plus sized. I was always the biggest girl on the team,” says Blackman.

Blackman says, in the past, her focus was always on trying to be skinny.

“Growing up, it was kind of always looked at to be skinny, that was the goal. So that’s why none of the diets I tried before worked,” she said.

At the beginning of her journey, Blackman weighed over 300 pounds.

“My recorded first weight was 315 and at that time I thought I felt really great about myself. I didn’t think that I had any body issues until I started working out and really feeling good about myself,” said Blackman.

“Then I realized the difference between feeling like I’m just a big girl, and I’m always going to be a big girl and there’s nothing I can do about that, to now being able to feel stronger in the gym every single day. Feel mentally clearer every single time I leave the gym.”

Blackman says she has fully accepted herself and adds it’s not about the way she looks, but how she feels.

“This body has done a lot for me over the years and I’m going to continue to take care of it and nurture it the way that it needs,” she said.

In order to keep herself accountable, Blackman started an Instagram account, sharing posts when she was feeling down or didn’t want to workout.

“Also, focusing on the struggles of being a single mom and trying to fit it in where I could,” said Blackman.

“I started getting a lot of responses and support from people that could relate to that and selfishly, I used it as my own motivation to keep going and it also inspires them to think, ‘If she can do it, I can also fit it in where I can as well.’”

Essence Magazine reached out to Blackman in October and asked if she wanted to be featured in the magazine.

“The editor that was doing the article noticed my Instagram and saw that I focused a lot on mental health and moving my body at every size,” said Blackman.

Blackman says her message to anyone looking to start a fitness journey is to take it one day at a time.

“Try to focus on how you feel inside and that will start to radiate how you feel outside as well.”