Somehow, through my first year at university, I didnt do too bad in the weight department. Maybe a gain of 5-10 pounds. Although I didnt gain too much, I definitely was not healthy. I barely ever worked out and ate o lot of hamburgers, chicken burgers and fries at our dining hall. And I drank quite a bit of beer.
That was my first year residence formal, me in the yellow dress. I had to buy spanx for it, so clearly I was heavier, just not heavy enough for me to care, or do anything about it I guess.
At the start of my second year, shown above I was definitely heavier. I worked at Tim Hortons that summer and probably had a bagel or a cappuccino everyday I worked (or chili, or a muffin...they have a lot of unhealthy options, but as I learned this past summer, they do have some healthy options too). This was my big weight gain year. I think I went from 155 to 175 in about 8 months
At this point, I knew I had a problem. I was not active. I was not eating healthy. And my body was responding like it would, I had gained 20 pounds. I was still a very happy girl, but I wasn't the most confident Ive ever been.
This was the picture that did it. I was at my sisters graduation, and I was wearing one of the only shirts I had that wasn't tight on me. I thought it made me look skinny because it wasnt tight to the skin, but then I saw this picture and realized, clothes cant make you look fat, or skinny, only your body can. Seems simple now, but it wasnt always easy for me to admit. If I wanted to look thinner, there would be no shirt that I could wear, I would simply have to lose weight. So I started running, one summer later I looked like this:
In Mexico with my mom and dad. We'd done this two years before but what I remember so well about this trip was that I went to the gym 6 of the 7 days I was there. I had finally gotten it into my lifestyle and I wasnt letting go.
Since then, Ive run two half marathons and lost the remainder of my weight. Im back down to about 148-150 (depending on the day) and although Id like to get down to 140 because I know it will help my running, Im just going to continue running, strength training and eating well, and see what my body does.
