Here's my story.
Throughout high school, I was a reasonably thin person, but I was not healthy. At all. My activity level was minimal, and my eating habits awful. Eventually, my unhealthy choices caught up to me when I went to university, and I gained a lot of weight. At my heaviest, I was around 180lbs. At 5'7 this put me at a BMI of 28.2, considered to be overweight and just a milkshake away from the obesity category (starts at BMI of 29). By this point, it wasn't that I didn't care what I was doing to my body - I simply didn't have the knowledge to understand how to make changes when I did start to feel uncomfortable in my skin. I didn't know what to look for on a nutrition label, how much was a reasonable amount for me to eat, or how to be active when I didn't feel comfortable going to the gym at school.
My turning point came when I was 19 years old. I could no longer come close to fitting into the largest size available at "regular" stores - size 14. I still remember vividly trying on a pair of loose-fitting size 14 pants, and couldn't get them past mid-thigh. I was officially plus-sized. I walked out of the store in tears, realizing that my unhealthy lifestyle had caught up to me. It was time for a change.The next day, April 27, 2006, I walked into my first Weight Watchers meeting. On that day, I weighed 168.8lbs. I completely overhauled my eating and exercise habits, learned how to lead a healthier lifestyle and how to maintain the changes that I wanted to make so badly. Over the next 20 weeks, I lost 30lbs. I reached my goal, and got my lifetime membership to Weight Watchers. It was one of the proudest moments of my life.
Over here on the left, I was unhappy and unhealthy, didn't understand what a portion size looked like, couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded, hated to exercise, and was in complete denial about my body's appearance and limitations.
Losing weight was only the first step to finding out who I was.
Here on the right, I'm loving my healthy lifestyle. I love to get out and do active things with my family, friends and awesome boyfriend, and love to inspire others to make healthy choices for themselves too.
After several years of learning about food, exercise and well being, I changed my entire life to revolve around my passion for healthy living. I was cooking real food, finding new ways to move and exercise, and developed a true love of helping others achieve their goals. I realized through this experience that my true passion lay in helping people to understand food and the effect of nutrition on our bodies, and understanding the relationships that we have with food. I left my job working in marketing and communications to go back to school to learn about nutrition and food. After a few years, I'm entering the next phase of my education and career transformation - starting a dietetic internship, on the road to becoming a Registered Dietitian!
This blog will be a space to share what I hope will be inspiration for healthy living. You'll see recipes and nutrition information, product reviews, physical activity ideas, and other thoughts to enjoy a whole, fulfilling life.
