Throughout my teenage years, I have watched my body change drastically. As I child, I was always on the chubby side. Never fat, but definitely not skinny. As I went into high school and my body started to change, I began to care about how I looked and felt more and more. However, I developed an unhealthy lifestyle while I was at boarding school for a number of reasons, and I let my health go. I watched myself gain about 45 pounds throughout my 4 years in boarding school and the first semester of my freshman year in college. On my first winter break, I looked in the mirror one day and decided that something had to change. I was lazy, miserable, already having trouble with my joints, and my general health was just not up to the standards they should have been.
Although my roommate had no need to lose weight, she decided that she would change our lifestyle together. Starting with a Special K Cereal product diet, I vowed to make a change. But the first night being on this diet, my roommate and I went out for Buffalo Wild Wings - which was only the beginning of our cheating. We never went to the gym, just decided we would change our eating habit. By eating less and starting my job at Olive Garden, I began to see subtle changes in my body. But I wasn't serious enough about changing my life. After meeting my current boyfriend, who loves to go to the gym, I began making my way to the gym in the rare free time that I had. With small amounts of walking and running on the treadmill and a few different exercises, people began noticing my weight loss. When I received comments about it, it made me feel great and was a great push to be better!
I worked my way up to running anywhere from 3 to 5 miles, all but everyday. Exercising made my appetite change and I was eating small but frequent meals. I saw changes in my body that I never thought were possible and I had lost a total of 45 pounds - back to my weight before I began high school! Even though I was the same weight, I was more lean muscle! I was fitting into size 4 jeans and was so sooo excited when I could get rid of my size 12 jeans that I had wore less than 6 months before!
Coming back to college and not starting back at work again yet, I have realized how much work I have to put into my health when I am not constantly moving. Dining hall food is not your best friend. Skipping days at the gym because you think you need a nap is not smart.
And here is where it will all begin. I have gained back 5 of the pounds that I lost since beginning my sophomore year in college 2 weeks ago, but I refuse to let my health and body image go. This is not for anyone else but myself and so I will continue to push on. I am not concerned with what other people think about my weight or my lifestyle - I know that I am beautiful inside and out, no matter what.
My boyfriend, a friend and I have all decided that we won't let each other lose track of our bodies while in college. By pushing each other in cardio, weight training and other various cross training exercises, we have decided to record our bodies changing in pictures as we go along. To serve as motivation. To show how much we have accomplished. And to remind ourselves that everyday is just another day to be better and stronger! It will all be worth it in the end and hopefully this will serve as inspiration to everyone that it is possible! You can do it and you will :)
