Part III: The Hunger Games

Eating has always been a comfort in my life. From the moment I got home from school, till the moment I would go to bed, snacks controlled me. When I was bored, doing homework, watching television or cleaning, garbage was being engulfed into my mouth. My habits were terrible with no one to blame but myself. 

When I began my journey 'back to health' I knew one of the first things I would have to do is nip my eating habits in the butt. I searched online for hours trying to find a diet that would work for me. I came across a website guided directly towards better eating and weight management. The website mentioned that eating fruits and vegetables can help regulate weight problems including fighting against many diseases and illnesses. 

I drove to my local grocery store and purchased a variety of fruits and vegetables that I could start my new diet off with. Pears, apples, bananas, grapes, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and avocados filled the back seat of my car. I love fruits and vegetables but rarely ate them on a regular basis. Whenever I am at a party I start by eating out of the vegetable tray but end up wandering over to the chip and snack table instead to fulfill my craving. This is a habit most people have, so I know I am not alone. 

I enjoy my fruits and vegetables raw even though some think they are best cooked or steamed. I believe the most important step to do before eating the fruits and vegetables would be to clean them with water.  This ensures that any pesticides or unwanted gunk will not be digested by anyone eating the food. 

Counting calories is important as well when trying to lose weight. If you truly want to lose weight you must burn most of the calories that you eat throughout the day. For example, if someone was to eat 2,000 calories of food on one particular day they must burn up to one-forth or one-half of their daily calorie intake to start losing weight. The key to weight loss is to eat low-calorie foods while burning lots of calories working out. I was able to lose seven pounds by just eating healthier.

Here is a list of low-calorie fruits and vegetables; all one-hundred calories or less:

• a medium-size apple (72 calories)
• a medium-size banana (105 calories)
• 1 cup steamed green beans (44 calories)
• 1 cup blueberries (83 calories)
• 1 cup grapes (100 calories)
• 1 cup carrots (45 calories), broccoli (30 calories), or bell peppers (30 calories) with 2 tbsp. hummus (46 calories)

Eating healthier isn't the only factor in losing weight; working out is an essential part of everyday living. In my next post I will examine my workout schedule as well as how 'The Biggest Loser' gave me the motivation to push myself to lose the first fifteen pounds. 

For more information about eating healthy and weight management visit: http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/fruits_vegetables.html

Part II: The Good, the Bad, and the Fortune Cookie

“If you think you can. You can.” These words of wisdom are a statement found in one of my fortune cookies years ago. The fortune has been stored in my wallet ever since the first day I read it. I have found this fortune to be very encouraging and positive. Whenever I am in a spot of despair I remind myself of these simple, yet complex words and I feel enlightened. Naturally I knew these were the words that I had to start my journey off with. “If you think you can. You can.”

In my previous blog post I introduced you to my journey ‘back to health’. In this post I will be discussing the struggles of finding a workout that best fit my lifestyle. I will also discuss the great lengths I was willing to take in order to be healthy.

It is important to know that not every workout and diet will work for every individual person. We all have different motivation levels and comfort zones that must be met in order to progress. What worked for me, may not work for you. It is up to you to find a medium that you feel comfortable with.

In the beginning steps of finding a workout that would best fit my schedule and ability I searched online for information. I knew that if I surfed the web I would find some kind of workout that I could do at my home on my own time. This tactic proved to be impossible because every workout seemed to have no real direction. In other words: I was not motivated to complete or attempt any kind of workout. This was an issue far larger than I had anticipated. Thinking about completing the workout is simple; actually doing the workout is another story.

           

Motivation is not obtained with ease one must strive for it. I see motivation as more of a goal than something I can just receive and continue. There is a process to gaining the motivation needed to continue my journey. It is similar to soul searching except I must realize and act on my feelings and thoughts. As much as it may sound absurd, talking to your self is a really valuable life tool. You are the only person who knows yourself better than someone else. Why wouldn’t you fix your own issues by conversing with yourself? It is the most logical solution to fixing problems quick. Honestly I talk to myself every day, as should most people because it is healthy. I found that this tactic works best for myself when striving for motivation. This is because I am an independent person and although I hate to admit it; I am very stubborn as well.

Once I had obtained enough motivation to start working out I had to decide to what length I would go to lose weight. Completing the normal walking and junior high gym workouts was not going to push me to my fullest potential. I needed something added to my daily life that was reasonable, simple to do and cheap. Vegetables and Fruits became my best friends at this point in my process. In the upcoming blog I will explain how eating more greens and fruits helped throw me onto the fast track for healthier meal plans. 

Part I: The Introduction

Life lessons can be learned best through real life situations. Since high school ended four years ago, I had 'let myself go' when it came to my overall health and fitness. I became obese, depressed, and lacked motivation to change any aspect of my life. It took me three years to realize how terrible my life habits were. Throughout this blog I will be sharing my life lessons, goals, and struggles as I make my way back to a healthy lifestyle. Becoming a healthy adult is more than just eating better and exercising. It requires a complete spiritual, physical, and emotional transformation. The process is long and overwhelming but worth all the effort put forth in the end.

I started my journey 'back to health' in March of 2013. There was a moment in late February when I took a good look at myself in the mirror. In this moment I realized the turmoil I had caused myself. I was flabbergasted by my own reflection this was a terrifying feeling. (When I was in high school I was a positive and active teen. I always was on the move because I hated sitting down or being lazy.) This terrifying feeling was caused by my laziness and my weight problem. It was a hard pill to swallow realizing that I had gained fifty pounds since graduating high school. Fifty pounds is a lot of weight to gain in a three year span. For some fifty pounds could be half or one-third of the average adults overall body weight. I immediately wanted to make a difference in my life. No matter what it took I was willing to correct my mistakes and begin to work out the kinks I had created in my life. At the time I thought changing myself was going to be easy, I quickly learned that would not be the case.

Finding a balance between school, work, and living a healthy lifestyle day-to-day was not easy. An even bigger struggle was finding the motivation to keep me on track and push me to continue my journey. With strict self-discipline and time I was able to balance my lifestyles into three of the most important quadrants of my everyday living: school, work, and my health. During this ten-month (and counting) journey my health became priority number one, as it should be.

Eventually I had to choose what healthy ways were best for me. Exercise and eating better seemed to be my best choices. I knew I could stick to both choices throughout this process even if I had to tweak them a little. In posts coming soon I will explain what steps I took to reach my goal for exercising and eating healthier. These posts will be all real life situations about the journey I am making to become a healthier person inside and out. It will involve exercise tips and personal stories of the processes I took to become 'the brand new me'. I will include pictures showing my progress with goals I set for myself. I will also discuss the main points of my journey that I believe would be helpful for someone looking to embark on a personal journey of their own. 

This photograph was taken during my senior year in high school, before I lost control of my health. At the beginning of my journey I wanted to be back to my high school weight and exercise more regularly then I was then.