Inaugural Post!

As my first post, I thought I'd take the time to explain why I decided to write this blog. Let me tell you about my long and winding road to discovering a love for fitness. As a child, I was always extremely thin. Healthy eating choices, fitness, and weight were the last things on my mind. I ate whatever I wanted and was still rail thin. I know, you hate me, right? Well, as all good things must come to an end, so did that phase of my life. After hitting age 17, I gained weight. Fast. I went from being 5'9" and about 120 lbs. to 145 lbs. in a matter of months. Now I know that is by no means an undesirable weight, but for a 17 year old who never thought twice about food or the scale, it was a bit of a shocker. I had to buy all new clothes, which was not fun at all (as it should be!). And the worst part was that I was horribly embarrassed to have gained so much, so fast. Despite so many changes, I slowly became adjusted to my new weight because I still felt that I looked good. Then college hit.

College was easily the most unhealthy period of my life. I had always been force-fed extremely healthy foods by my mom, so I became a little carried away with my new found food freedom. I ate everything. My roommate and I would eat cupcakes, entire pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, huge bags of chips, pizza, grilled cheese, soda, and anything else unhealthy you could think of. When I finally came up for air, I realized I had packed on another 15 lbs. Let me tell you, the "freshman 15" is certainly not a myth! I knew what I was doing. I knew how terrible my eating habits were. I knew how to fix them. But I didn't. I used food as a comfort and a sort of rebellion from the healthy eating ways of my past. While the change in my body wasn't evident to my new friends (I was good at hiding extra weight with clothes), my family definitely noticed. They weren't very quiet about it either. I started to feel more and more ashamed of the extra weight I was carrying. I had a naturally thin body type, and with the increased weight, my figure just looked wrong.

Next came an even more unhealthy period. I figured that I had to do something about the weight I'd gained, so I turned to extremely unhealthy methods to do so. I wanted to see results, and I wanted to see them fast. I went through about six months of not eating for a day, then binge eating the next, extreme calorie counting, extreme exercising, and at my lowest point, using laxatives. It was terrible, and none of it worked. I had begun to wear only sweats and big t-shirts to hide the fact that I kept gaining, and my extreme diets weren't working. I can't say what the exact cause of change in my mentality was, but one day I just got too fed up with feeling so uncomfortable in my own body. I had known all along what really needed to be done for me to lose weight. I also knew it would be hard work, and wouldn't involve me getting to eat half a pizza whenever I wanted. Good old fashioned healthy eating and exercising. No matter what any fad diet or exercise program tells you, good foods and good work outs are the only thing between you and that bikini.

So I did a complete 180. I went full force on my new program because I knew that if I didn't see results quickly, I would give up. I completely overhauled my diet. I went from eating probably about 2,500 calories a day (I know how terrible that sounds), to trying to stay around 1,500. I stopped eating almost every meal out, to cooking for myself. I ate mass amounts of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains. I looked through hundreds of blogs and websites about healthy eating and fitness to gain tips and ideas. And boy did it all work. I felt great, and I started looking great. In the first two weeks I lost about 7 lbs. Over the next two months, I lost another 15 lbs. I was down to 140 lbs. and couldn't have felt more confident. I had joined a gym and was working out 6 days a week. I also began logging my meals and workouts in a diary. I was shocked at the rapid changes I was seeing in my body, energy levels, mood, and confidence. I was able to wear all the cute clothes I had been avoiding. The best part was that people noticed. My family, boyfriend, and friends all gave me the compliments and encouragement I had been starved for. Other people were asking me what my diet and exercise secrets were. I was thrilled to say the least.

In conclusion, my path was a rocky one, but I wouldn't know so much about the right ways to eat and exercise if I hadn't experienced all the wrong ones (and their effects) first. I became so pleased with the positive results I saw, that I devoted a huge part of my life to discovering the best ways to eat, exercise, and be happy with my body. I decided to write this blog because my journey isn't over. I still want to improve my diet, improve my workouts, and continue to tone up! I also figured that since I had spent endless hours searching for the best methods, that I might as well share them with others who are in need of some ideas, tips, secrets, inspiration, or just plain fun reading material. So I dedicate this blog to anyone out there who has struggled with their body, and who wants to make some healthy improvements to it! I hope you all enjoy this blog :)
-leila xxoo