Laurie Hernandez is an extremely successful former gymnast. She made waves in the 2016 Summer Olympics as a part of the Final Five team. Later that year, she won season 23 of Dancing With The Stars. Hernandez spent the holidays in Puerto Rico. She shared some highlights of her trip on Instagram, captioning it, “Happy holidays.”
She Swims
In her Instagram post, Hernandez is seen going for a swim. Better Health states that swimming has a lot of benefits. “Swimming is a good all-round activity because it: keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off your body, builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness, helps you maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart and lungs, tones muscles and builds strength, provides an all-over body workout, as nearly all of your muscles are used during swimming.”
She Doesn't Count Calories
Hernandez is open about her struggles with an eating disorder. She says to Us Weekly that she changed her approach to eating as a way to help her recover. “I don’t count or track calories. I’m just kind of eating clean, because I also know that food is a fuel and for what I do and it is important to eat healthy,” she said. “Last night I had fish and vegetables and there was this giant pile of veggies on the plate. If I were calorie tracking it, I might say, ‘Oh, this is a lot of carbs.’ But my body was craving vegetables. So, why not give it? Whenever I get to be intuitive and listen to my body, it’s what makes me feel good.”
She Focuses On What Works for Her
Hernandez tells Us Weekly that she has learned to focus on herself when it comes to wellness. “Between social media and a support system or people that are around you, everyone will give you different advice on what you should do, how you should eat, how things should be,” she noted. “Everybody is completely different and taking the time to really understand what makes you feel good and what makes you feel like you … I think that’s the most important part. So be patient with yourself and be okay with discovering what you like.”
She Gives Back
Hernandez wants to give back to others. One charity she supports is Lilly, which is a diabetes organization. She talked about why she supports this with Us Weekly. “My dad has type 2 diabetes and I get to raise an awareness to that, but also put [him] on a pedestal. ‘Cause in my gymnastics career he’s been just like such a huge part of not only my career, but my life. And he has been a big part of my support system and I now have an opportunity to get to talk about him and all the hard work that he’s been doing and his life and the representation of seeing him take care of himself and then being like, ‘Oh, then that means I should do that too.’ And Lilly gives me a chance to do that.”
She Promotes Confidence
Hernandez wants to promote confidence in others. She talked about this in the caption of this Instagram post for Dove. “Doing gymnastics has always given me the confidence to trust my mind, my body and to know that my body is a lot stronger than I think.💪🏽 That’s why I’m proud to partner with @Dove on the #KeepHerConfident Challenge to help keep girls in sports. 🏈⚽🏀🏑 Dove research reveals 45% of girls globally drop out of sports due to low body confidence – together, we can raise awareness about this and help them stay in the game. 💙”
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