My Journey to a Healthier Lifestyle

Deciding to transition to a healthier lifestyle was one of the best decisions I’ve made. Four years ago I was overweight, out of shape, and depressed. I weighed over 200 lbs and most of what I ate came from a drive-through window. The only form of daily exercise I got was walking from the couch to the fridge. I was depressed and began to become fed up with my current situation. I wasn’t living a healthy life at all, I was miserable and making poor health choices. So I decided to transition to a healthier lifestyle.

Getting Started

During the last week of December, I began by researching weight loss, diet, and exercise. I decided that I was going to try the whole30 30-day eating plan and cleaned out my pantry and refrigerator. Then donated the items that weren’t apart of the whole30 eating plan to a local food pantry. Then I made a playlist of workout videos on YouTube. And developed a schedule so that I could stay consistent with working out.

I also started changing my grocery shopping habits by buying more fresh fruits, and vegetables. And stayed away from processed foods, sugars, and fried foods. Staying away from all the greasy fried food that I once loved was the hardest habit to break. I often would find myself venturing into the frozen food section wanting to buy french fries & chicken nuggets but, I knew I had to resist my craving to stay on track.

Surviving the First Month

When the first day of 2014, came I took the first step by waking up early and doing a set of workout videos. Then prepared healthy meals throughout the day. I continued with this each day following and used Saturday as a rest day. In the beginning, it wasn’t easy I found myself often tired and wanting to fall back into old habits. I knew if I wanted to change that I had to put in the hard work and I couldn’t stop so I powered through.

As I progressed it got easier. I no longer had trouble doing certain exercises, felt less tired, and it became easier to resist junk food. The changes I made had become apart of my lifestyle I went from someone who was overweight, lazy, and depressed to a healthy, active, happier me. By the time the summer came I could see that all my hard work had paid off I was down to my high school weight of 170 lbs. and I felt great. My hard work had finally paid off and I had achieved the goal that I set for myself.

Facing Frustrations

If you are deciding that this is the year that you’re going to make a change to a healthier lifestyle you’re taking a step in the right directions. It’s a long journey and there will be days when you want to quit. Somedays you’ll feel sore and tired you’ll think that your not making the progress that you should be. It’s a slow process, but quitting won’t get you there any faster.

I promise that with each day things will get better and even if you feel like you’ve hit a wall don’t give up keep going. Push through those days where you are tired, sore, and you’re not getting the results you want. Just remember how far you’ve come, how hard you’ve worked to reach your goal and ask yourself “do you want to quit now when you’ve come so far?”. I guarantee the answer will be no, so don’t let those bad days keep you from reaching your goal. At the end of your journey, you’ll find a new you one that is healthy, happy, and confident. It will all be worth it when you look in the mirror and see how far you’ve come from where you started.

I believe in you and I know that you can do it because I did it. And was once where you are and, made the same decision and stuck with it. I’m now down over 100 lbs. and I feel great and you will too. Take a deep breath and don’t worry you got this! It’s never too early or too late to work towards being the healthier you. Good Luck!

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