Oh where shall I begin... I feel as though I'm in an ever-changing relationship with food and fitness.
My fitness journey began in High School when I attempted track. Attempt being the operative word. I sucked and was useless to the team. However, I gained a new fascination and freedom with running. Although I was slow, I loved it! I loved how it made me feel, look, and so on. With my new slimmer physique, I became more and more interested in nutrition and the way that food affects mood, skin, and the overall body. There was also a deeper root to my interest in nutrition. My mom passed away from cancer when I was about 10 years old. Since then, I have been a hypochondriac about my own health. I want to feed my body the best foods to avoid the worst possible outcome: your body turning against you. Sadly, I know that cancer, illness, disease is prevalent in our times, but I truly believe it doesn't have to be. Treating yourself with healthful foods and habits is such a simple and proven concept. It's almost shameful to not treat yourself well!
I was my fittest during my first two years of college. I ran 4-5 times a week, kept a strict calorie intake, and bought healthy groceries. How naive I was. I thought healthy foods were "fat free" and "sugar free." My my...how far I've come. I was feeding my body ingredients that were harmful and not supplementing myself with enough healthy fats and calories. That is probably why I gave up this routine after two frustrating years. I am currently trying to get back into my fitness routine that I so easily put on the back burner during my last two years of college. I would dabble in the gym a couple times a week, have a couple "cheat days," ran a 10k for the hell of it...but was not consistent. Not surprisingly, I gained about 12lbs (give or take a few) on my 5'2" frame. That is significant for someone of my stature and not at all comfortable. I feel like it is finally my time to shine and stick to my goals with my overall health and happiness.
Now, I am in a place where I don't have 18 hours of classes and a full-time job as an excuse to not care. I realize that fats are not the enemy, they are the superstars in my diet! Oh and I recently gave up meat. Not entirely, as I will still eat fish if it's thrown in front of me, but I haven't eaten any meat in 3 months. I wouldn't call myself a vegetarian per say, but I sure don't crave flesh. Don't get me wrong, a perfect filet mignon or juicy burger might tempt me in the future - but we'll see what my body tells me when that day comes. So far, I've found that I don't think about meat at all. Fitness wise, I have been running most days and recently discovered the benefits of resistance training! Amazing how much I've missed out on. Lifting lbs really does wonders, and I feel soo blind for not discovering this sooner. I was always afraid of looking "beefy," but that is not the case at all. However, Pilates will always have my heart and I try to do some pilates moves along with my resistance training. I feel great, lost a few lbs so far, and I'm still on my journey! Won't you join me? :)
Where I am now...sort of. I've lost some weight since this was taken, but I will update!
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