Source: Estelle Archer / Permission from Estelle Archer
Known by many as Estelle Archer (and to a special few, Dawn Archer), the fitness instructor, author and body positive advocate is all about helping others. Whether she’s motivating people to try a cleaner diet with her images of colorful and affordable healthy foods (she’s vegan now), providing inspirational messages on Instagram, or leading her strength and dance fitness classes SWEAT in a different state every few weeks, Archer is looking to make a difference. It has a lot to do with the fact that the 32-year-old knows what it’s like to be overweight, depressed and to feel stuck in bad habits, so she’s never shy about sharing her story with her nearly 200,000 followers. As she told me during our phone conversation, she’s battled with her weight since she was young and used to base her days around eating not-so-healthy food.
“It takes a while to change your mentality.”
The Richmond, Virginia native and current Dallas, Texas resident has successfully flipped her way of looking at and doing things and wants to encourage others do the same — when they’re ready.
“People ask questions like, ‘What do you do to eat healthy?’ But everyone knows what healthy foods are: vegetables, fruit, water,” she says. “Everybody knows, it’s just a matter of being able to not make an excuse to make the exception.”
But outside of nutrition and fitness, Archer is also looking to be a source of knowledge and comfort for those who have HIV. She was diagnosed with it in 2017, and for a time, didn’t know how she was going to go on. However, through faith and with the help of homeopathic healers, she has moved out of a very dark place and is focused on doing what is necessary to heal her body. That includes eating as healthy as possible to put it in an alkaline state.
We spoke with her about how her fitness journey began, this new health journey she’s on, and why she’s so open and honest about it all. Check out what she had to say.
—
MadameNoire: I read that you went through a bout of depression some years back where you were unhappy with the work you were doing in graphic design, as well as with your weight. What was the catalyst for you to make your break from that job as well as to change things in terms of your health and wellness?
Estelle Archer: I had an internship at a graphic design company in Atlanta, Georgia. There was a point where it was the end of the six months for my internship. There was a girl there who was kind of a favorite, she was kind of feeding information to the supervisor who didn’t communicate with me. It turns out that when I was nearing the end of my internship, he told me that I didn’t bring any value to the team and he wasn’t going to keep me any longer. And so at that point I made the decision that this it too political of an environment as far as how they were making decisions. So I called my mom and told her I was going to put in my resignation and would probably teach in a parking lot. She said, ‘Ok, just don’t bring anything into my house.’ [laughs]
How did you end up deciding to create what would end up being the SWEAT tour?
I started working out before I left Atlanta. When I went home, I wanted to keep doing that type of workout, which is dance fitness. So I figured I would take a few of the routines I had been learning from the classes I had been taking and then I would make up more. So I went home and said, “Come meet me in the parking lot!”
What have you gained from doing the SWEAT tour in terms of helping you love and embrace health and wellness even more? Sometimes motivating others can motivate and encourage us.
I don’t know if per se it has motivated me to do anything as far as my health, but it’s definitely motivated me to continue teaching because I see people come and how they’re affected. That to me is really valuable. It has been really hard for me to slow down teaching because of that. So they definitely motivate me to continue the business and things like that. It’s great that some people look to other people as motivation, but I’ve never really felt that way about any person. I’ve always just looked at myself like, “I want to do better so let me get out here and work out.”
You have a very clean diet. I noted that you gave up meat in 2013 and you recently went vegan this year. You made the point that in the past, you weren’t ready to commit to these type of diets, but you eventually ended up being game for it. How did you come to that conclusion that you were finally ready to commit because that’s tough for people?
So I committed on a certain level before [to veganism], but I knew that I couldn’t make any exceptions as far as, “Oh I’ll have a cup of coffee here, a cup of coffee there,” when I knew that’s what I needed to do to heal my body. When I found that out, it was like, ‘Ok, that’s it. No problem. I have no problem changing and sticking to it.’
When you gave up meat, that is a very hard jump for a lot of people. How did you come to the realization that you were ready to do it?
I did some research on what it does to your body over time and where it comes from and that was enough for me. I think people get confused because they’re like, “Oh it’s so hard, I don’t know how you do that.” But there are a lot of substitutes that taste like the real thing, so you’re not really missing the taste of it. I just think people get wrapped up on having a burger. I could pass a chicken tender to somebody, they would have no idea it’s tofu.
Since finding out in 2017 about your HIV diagnosis, can you share how you overhauled your diet to deal with it? Can you also elaborate on what it means to get one’s body in an alkaline state for those who may not know?
That’s basically what I did, go completely vegan and alkaline. That’s the overhaul I did. And then alkaline in your body just means you don’t have any acidic foods in your system. You eat alkaline foods and have an alkaline diet.
Has your energy level changed or been affected in any way in terms of symptoms? Based on the workout videos you share, you still seem to exercise intensely.
I never really have any energy to be honest. I never have. But when I go to teach, I get adrenaline. But I’ve never really had much energy. I think people get that confused. They’re like, “I don’t have the energy to work out.” But when you get to the point where you’re in a good environment, which is what I love about my classes, you could come in there and everybody’s having the hardest day and could be exhausted cause of work. But as soon as the music comes on and we see each other, and we start realizing that we missed each other and it’s fun to be around each other and the energy is good, that’s what gives us energy.
How have you maintained your mental health dealing with this? You said before that you actually feel mentally stronger than before. What helped with that?
A lot of meditation and prayer and journaling.
Did you ever consider speaking to a therapist or anything like that?
I did meet with a therapist before but I didn’t really like the style that was used. It wasn’t really helping me. I never found comfort in a therapist. I only found comfort in herbalists and healers that are talking to me about healing. This is just in my case, I know therapists are very valuable in our society, but it was important to only talk about processes to get to my healing, not coping mechanisms. I know how to cope with it, with the depression, but I really was only interested in healing myself at that time. I think when you deal with something like this, it’s really important you don’t surround yourself with people who doubt it. You have to surround yourself with people who believe in what you’re doing or else you’re going to see their crazy ideas in your head [laughs].
I know you said you decided to forgo the use of traditional Western medicine to deal with the virus. What has made working with those who teach homeopathic treatments a better alternative for you?
Homeopathic treats the root, and Western medicine treats the symptoms. I didn’t want to just treat the symptoms for the rest of my life. I wanted to actually get rid of it and not just manage it.
People start out wellness journeys and often have the standard goals. They want to lose a few pounds, fit in a new dress, etc. But after years of doing this and going through your current experience, how have your goals changed and what are they now?
I never really had a number or like a size as a goal. My only goal when I started working out was for mental wealth and mental health. That’s why I exercised. I never wanted to be an ideal weight or a certain way. That’s great, but I don’t really have one in mind. So it’s always been to just have my clarity. As for right now, it’s to get rid of what’s in my body [laughs]. Everything I’ve been doing now is for that. But I honestly haven’t been working out lately. In the past six months, maybe 10 times I’ve worked out. My lifestyle has completely changed from exercise to nutrition. I think some people forget to do the nutrition part and then they work out, but then they eat bad. So I put all of my focus on that.
What advice would you have to people who want to eat healthier but don’t know if they can give up certain things?
I would ask, what are you dealing with? Maybe it’s a few things, and then I would usually ask — I asked a girl this morning because she was asking me about eating better. I asked, what is the lesser of two evils: being overweight or eating healthy? If you like being overweight more than you like eating a healthy meal, then that’s a sacrifice you’re not ready to make yet. So I would say make small changes. Remove the things you know are bad.
And you’ve been very open, not only about your diagnosis, but in general, with your workouts and your meals and with body positivity and your emotions. Why is it so important to you to be so forthcoming and transparent?
In the beginning when I was overweight and depressed and suicidal, I didn’t really feel like people were saying what they were doing to improve themselves. I would always ask, “Oh my God, you lost so much weight. What did you do?” And they wouldn’t really say how. They would just say, “Oh you know, I did this plan” or “I did this video.” I would ask, “What did you eat?” You have all of these questions about things people aren’t revealing. So for me, when I successfully figured out how to get through depression and weight loss and all these things, I said I was going to do my best to share as many details as possible to help other people do the same thing. I wasn’t going to keep it a secret.
Follow Estelle on Instagram at @estellearcher. Also, be sure to check out the rest of our many inspiring Fitness Fridays profiles here!
