3 years ago,
I started to teach myself how to eat.
Seriously. I thought I would be
even happier if I was skinny. I learned about counting calories and
understanding that you must expend more calories than you take in to lose
weight. I found there are two ways to
reduce your calorie intake.
Artificially,
by eating reduced calorie processed foods or by eating naturally low calorie
foods such as fruits and veggies. Not
wanting to give up the things I love, I started out with reduced calorie
versions of all those yummy things. They
turned out not so yummy. Did I lose some
weight? Yup. But then I discovered I got more bang for my
buck eating naturally low calorie foods.
Even better, I discovered that I felt better, both mentally and
physically, when I ate unprocessed foods.
Five years
later, it’s 2013. I feel pretty darn
good. Many of my previous health
problems are non-existent. Have I lost
weight? About 55 pounds and counting.
But on this journey, I discovered a few things I wasn’t expecting…
•Skinny does
not equal healthy.
•Healthy food
does not equal low fat, low calorie
•There are
lots of weird, scary things in processed food
•When I feel
good, I actually enjoy physical activity
•My taste
buds are trainable
•When I feel
good about myself I don’t care what other people think about me
I still
struggle every day. 2013 has been
particularly difficult for me as I try to deal with some digestive issues since
getting a stomach virus over 6 months ago.
I haven't lost any weight. There are points where I want to give up and
go back to my old ways. Trying to be as
healthy as possible can be exhausting at times.
Sometimes I wish I could hit up the closest fast food restaurant rather than
spending an hour in the kitchen cooking a meal. However, I know I can't
quit. Quitting means returning to the
life I left behind. Quitting means
getting sick again. Quitting means being miserable. I won't go back.
There are so
many ups and downs when you take the first steps to getting healthy. In the end, the ups are WAY better than the
downs. I may take a few steps backwards
every once in a while but I will always make sure I have more steps forward in
this journey.
Mandy
Website: fatgirlgonehealthy.com
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