Before: 155
After: 110
I never thought of myself as being "in shape" growing up, and to be
honest, I was 110% okay with that. I participated in cross country and
track during my high school years, but only to spend time with my
friends and to say I was on a team. I never hesitated to order a
1,000-calorie Dunkin' Donuts Coolatta post-practice because, hey, I
deserved it. That’s how I thought it worked.
[post_ads]Fast-forward to my first year in college, when eating healthy and
working out fell to the bottom of my list of priorities. I didn’t think
twice about stuffing my face with cheesy bread at 2 AM, going to town on
the endless buffet in the dining hall, and avoiding the gym to hang out
with friends. Plus, everyone kept telling me that weight gain during
college was totally normal, so why stop a problem that apparently wasn’t
there?
The following summer, I looked in the mirror
and didn't recognize myself. The freshman 15 had turned into the
freshman 30—and I hadn't even realized it. Not long after that, I went
to a doctor’s appointment and discovered that I was borderline
overweight for my age and height. I remember thinking, "How did I get
here?"
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I promised myself that come sophomore year, I was going to change. I
wanted to live a healthier lifestyle—for the sake of my own happiness.
When I got back to campus that fall for my
sophomore year, I started to change my diet. While my friends headed
straight for the hot meals in the dining hall, I made my way to the
salad bar and stir-fry station—whipping up meals mostly made of lean
protein and veggies, but not depriving myself of what I wanted.
A typical day of eating was a bowl of steel-cut oatmeal with brown
sugar and golden raisins and a bowl of fruit on the side. Lunch was a
salad with feta cheese, sesame seeds, and plenty of veggies, and a cup
of soup or a moderate side of fries. And for dinner, I took on the
stir-fry station—mixing a cut-up turkey or chicken burger with veggies
and sautéing it with a dressing. When I went out for dinner, I'd get a
slab of salmon or shellfish.
Most importantly, if I wanted a serving of soft serve ice cream or a brownie, I wouldn’t hesitate.
A year and a half after I changed my diet,
I'd lost about 15 pounds and counting. But I was about to leave for
Florence, Italy for a semester—aka carbohydrate central. Luckily, the
food was fresh and the walking was substantial, so my three and a half
months there only resulted in gaining a few pounds.
However, when I returned to the States for my senior year of college,
I was determined to get back on track by continuing my healthy diet and
creating a fitness routine that would get me in shape (something I
never thought I would care about).
[post_ads]I started by joining a local gym that had fitness classes daily,
which were my jam. I’ve always been the kind of person that feeds off of
other people’s energy, so being in a room full of active people pushed
me to work out harder. I started taking cycling classes every other day,
hitting the treadmill for a substantial period of time, and developing
my own arm-strength routine in hopes of building some muscle.
Eating healthy and hitting the gym at least
every other day was the combination I needed to see results. By the end
of my senior year, I was weighing in at around 115 pounds—a number that I
thought I would never see on the scale. I was in the best shape I had
ever been in my life.
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The following year after graduation, I was still extremely
self-motivated to do my normal gym routine, but I knew that drive wasn’t
going to last forever—especially with a two-hour commute to work. I was
in search of more motivation and I wanted a challenge.
My friend and I had talked about doing a half-marathon together—so
when the race bibs finally went on sale, we went for it. My initial
thought was "What the hell did I just get myself into?"
I knew I had to be mentally tough to get through the months of
training. Luckily, the $60 entry fee for the race was enough motivation
to get me going.
