Liz’s Story
Before I was even born, I was healthy. My mom took her job as “vessel to a human being” very seriously. She wanted to make sure I was the best and healthiest baby I could be. After birth, she continued nurturing me with the best foods on Earth. Homemade organic baby food, fish, zuchinni and hummus were apparently some of my favorites as a toddler. However, somewhere down the road my eating habits changed. My mom tells me that attending public school is what changed and thus my food choices changed with it. I started eating what the majority of the population ate…overprocessed, “fake” foods.
Years of eating this way will affect a girl, and by 10 years old, I was on the fat side of chubby. My afternoon snacks were frappacinos with whipped cream, pastries, Cheez-its and the like. I know I was eating some good food, but I think that the bad food overpowered it. By 14, in the thicket of adolescents, I became self-concious and ashamed of my body. Let the dieting begin! For Christmas that year, I asked my parents for a gym membership. I started exercising and I also joined Weight Watchers with my mom. I ended up losing about 20lbs, but dropped out before I hit “goal.” I still kept moderate exercise up, but I regained some of the weight.
At 15, I decided to do a sport. Cross Country was my choice. It was hard. I remember the first day of practice. We had to run a mile. I could barely do one lap. I stopped and told the coach, “I don’t think I’m cut out for this.” He said, “Stick with it for a week and then tell me how you feel.” Well, I stuck with it and my passion for running was born. I came into the season to lose weight and get healthy, and I left that season with a passion, an addiction that would stay with me forever.
But back to age 15. So the running thing really caught on…but I didn’t really lose any weight and my eating habits didn’t change. And alas, all through high school I stayed a bit overweight. I would gain a lot of weight and then lose it, then gain it back. From age 14 to 19 I went to Weight Watchers 4 times! I would lose some weight eating “diet” foods, extremely cutting calories and, of course, the running helped. Running really seemed to keep me sane, centered and gave me a sense of wellness that I just kept on coming back to. It was the eating that was holding me back.
I remember when the epiphany of sorts really happened. I had just quit a dead end, entry level job at Jiffy Lube and I was tired of eating hamburgers, ice cream, candy bars, chips, etc. every night. I didn’t feel good. I actually felt downright gross! So, I joined Weight Watchers again. I also started running again after a laspe of 6 months or so. Embarking on this journey that felt all too familiar, I fell into similar “diet” habits. I was eating all the processed diet foods that gave me no success before. On the upside though, I was running about 2 miles pretty easily, so at least my fitness wasn’t totally down the toilet.
After, the first couple weeks I wasn’t losing much weight. I was frustrated. What wasn’t working? Well, there is a saying that if you do what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you always got. So, at one of the WW meetings, one of the leaders had mentioned that eating whole foods and increasing vegetables, fruits and such would satisfy hunger better than eating low-cal bread and Lean Cusines. What a novel idea! Who would have thought that eating real food would help ypu lose weight and feel better? So, I heeded the leaders advice and upped my intake of real foods and the weight quite literally started dropping off. I was also adding more milage to my running and feeling great. I was more confident, by body felt better and all in all, I felt like things were falling into place. Ultimately, I discovered that eating for good nutrition and health was better than dieting, so I quit Weight Watchers and soley focued on eating right and exercising. I took the diet out of my life and madebeing healthy a lifestyle.
So, that was about 3 years ago. I’m 21 now, going to school for a degree in Kinesiology. It’s funny but going to Weight Watchers for that 5th time really changed my life. Since then I started researching on my own about good nutrition; reading books, looking on the internet, experimenting with new healthy foods and also improving my running. Through all of my own research I discovered that I was so happy learning about food and exercise and I loved telling people about it. So, what better to do than go to school for it? I’m still learning and sure, I still struggle with my weight sometimes, but all in all, I feel pretty good at where I am at right now, phyically and emotionally.
So, all in all I’m here to give advice, get advice and communicate with other “health nuts” out there! I have a passion for health that I need to fufill, and here I am to fufill it!
Themocracy
I just added you!
Loved your story! Your childhood reminds me a lot of my own – making poor choices but not really understanding why I wasn’t losing weight when I ate my fill of “fat free” candy and snacks. I had a bunch of false starts too, it took me a while to find my way to lifestyle filled with whole foods, regular exercise and portion control. Glad you eventually found your way too.
Thanks for sharing, Liz; I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog so far. Your story is inspiring and I hope be able to increase my own (running) mileage abilities. Anyway, I recently began my blog as well; feel free to stop by if you’d like. Look forward to more from you!
What a great story! I just started running this summer, and you totally motivated me to stick with it! I recently started a blog with my boyfriend about our road to healthy living—please come check us out!
Thanks for sharing your story. I can remember doing the diet foods, eating barely enough food… And it is amazing how much better real food works for real permanent weightloss.
[...] Liz’s Story [...]
Thanks for sharing your story. I have a similar background, which is why I’m getting my degree in nutrition. Isn’t it funny how our own battle with weight and body image leads us into not only healthier lives but a whole new passion for career.
I look forward to reading your blogs.