When I started: Summer/fall of 2010.
Why I started: This part is a little lengthy, so stay with me please. 2009-2010 was an extremely hard year on me stress wise. I went from working out 5+ days a week at school to nothing because of moving from a small school where my confidence in volleyball was big to a much bigger school (I'm talking going from a graduation class of 18 to 500 something) where I was intimidated by just the thought of trying out. I regret that decision, I think I always will. Anyways, I was put on anxiety medicine in 2009, I had always struggled a tremendous amount with it, and the medicine definitely did it's job. I relaxed about everything, food, school, relationships, literally everything. Then the weight gain hit really quickly. I don't really know the time frame of gaining that huge amount because it happened so quickly. I just remember looking at myself and thinking, "what the heck happened Sav?"
My initial solution: I started walking on the treadmill for 15 minutes and getting on our elliptical for 5 minutes. I would up that time by a minute on both, so eventually I got my workouts to a full 30 minutes. I started only eating out once a week (SO hard to change that), and that was about it for a long time, I want to say from 6-9 months. The funny thing about fitness and losing weight is it's exciting and it pushes you to do things you never thought you would. I started following blogilates on youtube and learned what it meant to eat clean and train using more than a treadmill, but exercises to build your strength. I still didn't get the results I wanted to see, mainly because I couldn't get my diet on track.
Later in 2012: I started kicking myself in the butt to be real with you. I made myself run, and I really started to hate the fact I didn't see what I thought I was going to see once I lost weight. I had lost 40 pounds but I still didn't have my dream body. (This is what I stress most to my friends whenever they tell me they want to lose a big amount of weight) Let's be real, if we can't look at ourselves and form a dream body with our OWN curves, looking at someone else's awesome, but different bod is not going to make you happy. I started hating myself, my appearance. To others I looked confident and healthy, but I constantly nitpicked at my body and wondered how the heck I was going to get it off. On a journey of self-love I found myself in self-hate. There's a lot that I don't want to go into, and just thinking of the way I looked at myself in the mirror with or without the lost weight really saddens my heart now.
2013: I learned a LOT about food this year. Mostly about the awfulness of processed foods, and realizing how much of my diet needed to change. I still didn't fix a whole lot in the beginning of the year because let's be real, frozen french fries are so dang good...tasting wise. My fitness level went up and down throughout the year. Sometimes I'd work out all the time sometimes I wouldn't move (other than school/work) for a week. I didn't like living this way. I always expected consistency from others so not getting it from myself frustrated and confused me. I'd like to say it did end on a good note, mostly because I kicked myself in the butt again (positively this time) and told myself I was worth so much more than the crap I was putting into my body.
2014 so far: I started a nutrition class which is probably one of the best decisions ever. I've learned a lot of what I've been taught is false, and it's really motivated me to reach a new level of awesomeness with working out and my personal diet. I'm back and forth on whether or not I want to study nutrition, I feel like I have this voice in my head telling me to. I LOVE to help others with this, I invite friends to go to the gym with me literally all the time, and I love learning how to better myself so I can raise healthy kids one day.
Just on a final note, I'm not perfect. I still eat too much processed food and not enough veggies. But I'm working on it, and just from recent changes I feel so much better. No matter what stage you are in your fitness journey (because I really don't feel that it ever ends once you start) keep pushing, and be good to yourself. Talk as nicely about yourself TO yourself as you would want someone to talk to you.
I am ALWAYS here if anyone wants any advice, but I'm not an expert. I'll go for a walk with you and encourage you to run, but not push you to your breaking point. I believe balance is the key to many things in life, like nutrition and fitness.
I am, and always will be an outlet for anyone's struggles or problems, especially concerning this
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