Weight Loss

My whole life has always revolved around food.  I love food and am fascinated by how simple ingredients can be transformed into a complex flavorful dish. I am also an amateur “foodie”… constantly reading up on Chicago chefs and going to the best new restaurants.

The difference between my “foodie” life now, as opposed to 2 years ago, is that I am much more knowledgable about how food can affect my body and the way it looks.

Growing up, I was always an active person.  I was a “three-sport” athlete in high school and pretty much devoted my life to working-out everyday after school.  Once college came around, my active lifestyle stopped.  Like many college students, my favorite “active” activities revolved around day-drinking, late night McDonald’s runs and lots of sugary drinks (Polar-Pops to my fellow ISU alumni).

All of these activities eventually lead to a significant weight gain.

I moved to the city the summer of 2011 and decided it was time to get back on track.  My best friends have always been small and outgoing and I felt like the black sheep in the room.  I would avoid going to the beach with them so I didn’t have to put on a bikini and was not being fair to myself.  I missed being active and feeling great about myself after a hard workout.

One month later, I joined Weight Watchers.  WW helped me track the food that was going into my mouth.  I realized the food that I thought was “healthy” was racking up major points and there were better alternative choices.

I also started following Health & Fitness blogs avidly.  Following these blogs made me feel like I was part of a community and really motivated me to reach my weight loss goals.

Once I started losing weight by tracking the food I ate, and having the right motivators, I started signing up for 5k’s to get back into running.  I was instantly hooked.  The next thing I knew, I was running 8k’s and 10k’s and actually looking forward to my after work runs!  Trust me, it was not easy.  There were moments when I didn’t even think I would make it through 1 mile … and now I am training for a half-marathon.

I’m happy to say that I officially made it back to my happy and healthy weight.  I feel so much more confident in myself and truly feel better on the inside.

I still follow the same blogs because they will always keep me motivated.  Now have decided to start my own in hopes that someone may need a little inspiration of their own. 🙂 Who knows what the next few years will bring!