My name is LeighAnna Kingvalsky. I am 25 and a New Orleanian born and raised. I love pizza, beignets, snowballs, crawfish, pralines, red beans, greens, and so many other dishes that are inherent in giving New Orleans’ its flavor. I am also a daughter, a young black woman, and an advocate for metabolic disease prevention. So, you can see where my willpower constantly comes into play on a daily basis.
My journey and passion for wellness began at a young age with exercise. At the age of 7, I remember sitting in front of the TV before school and watching ab routine infomercials. My mom would laugh. Fast forward to high school. I am running cross-country and totaling at least 30 miles per week, during training season.
However, the infused tibia and fibula bones of my left ankle soon affected my motivation to keep going. My senior year I stayed away from everything I once loved. I became severely depressed and carried this spirit with me throughout my college years. After getting on antidepressants and feeling alone, a therapist recommended something as simple as adding exercise into my daily routine. Would you believe it worked?
Today, I am no longer on antidepressants. Today I get up, lace up my sneakers, go for a run, participate in a group exercise class, and I trek. I trek because walking is OUR foundation to get going and keep moving. I trek because my mental health depends on it.
I also trek because my mom’s physical health does too.
Little did I know that while I was away at college going through my own mental battles my mom was undergoing some as well, but hers were physical.
I come from a family whose women have a long history of heart disease and high blood pressure. However, neither my mom, her sister, nor my grandmother was ever educated about simple ways to change their lifestyle to actually form habits that make a difference. That is arguably the most important point to be made. If lifestyle changes never become a habit, then what we are taught will never truly make an impact.
When my mom and I started trekking with GirlTrek in New Orleans, she was a little hesitant to the idea. She initially supported attending treks with me, because GirlTrek’s mission aligns with my platform as Miss Black US Ambassador 2017. That’s right. I may have omitted one important thing about me. I am a pageant queen, but not just one for beauty. I am a pageant queen with a purpose.
As the national queen, I am an advocate for health promotion and increasing physical activity. My platform EMPOWER focuses specifically on educating and empowering everyone to live healthier lifestyles so that we can work together to prevent and manage metabolic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension.
I volunteer frequently with multiple organizations that have this mission. I attend treks, host fitness classes, and even contribute to my GirlTrek NOLA community by providing grocery store walking tours. Through the GirlTrekU program, I’ve had the opportunity to become a certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist. I guide participants and teach them to “Shop the Aisle, Healthy NOLA Style.” This program is so fundamental for New Orleans residents because it allows a healthy dialogue to flow about one of the simplest forms of preventative care: proper nutrition.
I have conducted a couple of tours in the city and set up nutrition booths for a few health fairs. My goal is to continue providing these tours to residents, but with a twist. Each month, I plan to link a theme catered to specific foods and their health benefits, such as a tour featuring certain foods that raise good HDL Cholesterol to counteract the bad LDL Cholesterol.
I aim to provide our communities with the tools to manage, and even prevent, metabolic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
The foundation that GirlTrek has laid down has allowed me to accomplish so much during my reign. I have fellowshipped with so many amazing women who have a wide variety of backgrounds for their purpose to trek. Most importantly, both of my mom’s systolic and diastolic blood pressure numbers have decreased and she feels happier and healthier every day.
My mom’s story allows us to reach out to so many women in the community to help them see that just walking, just taking those first steps, can make a major impact on their quality of life.
The women that we have grown to know and love are mothers, daughters, strong, and beautiful. We know this because GirlTrek is more than a walking group that walks the walk. We also take the time to talk. At every trek, we learn about one another. We are actively engaged and listening because the woman who is speaking is our friend and GirlTrek sister.
By talking I know that many of the women I meet have lost weight, throughout their journeys with GirlTrek. I also know that she feels amazing and like she can conquer the world. The fact that I know more than just each woman’s physical but also their spiritual journey says so much about how powerful the GirlTrek movement is in our communities.
I met the founders of the movement, Morgan, and Vanessa. Of course, I had read the background of GirlTrek’s mission online and watched the TED Talk, but none of those resources prepared me for the passion I witnessed when I saw and heard them speak in person. Their passion was genuine. So, genuine that I sat there and thought, “If my grandmother had heard them speak, would she be alive today?”
So, yes, I’ve been afforded my own mental clarity throughout my journey toward better health, but I know this movement is bigger than me. Through hearing Morgan and Vanessa, watching my mom’s physical health improve, and being involved with the ladies in my city, I have also learned how important it is for us to come together to enact change. This is why GirlTrek is more than the largest health nonprofit for black women and girls. GirlTrek is truly a movement paving the way for generations to come.
–LeighAnna Kingvalsky, GirlTrek, New Orleans, Louisiana
BlackDoctor.org is excited for this content partnership with GirlTrek to feature #BlackGirlHealing, an initiative created to document the narratives, struggles and successes of Black women on the journey to living their healthiest, most fulfilled lives through the habit of daily walking. This initiative will further the mission of decreasing health disparities and stigma among women and girls, and further the conversation that self care is a revolutionary act of love. Join the movement at www.girltrek.org.
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