Healthy Time

I’m getting back on track. I’m saying goodbye to the processed foods/treats that I have been indulging in all summer, and I’m welcoming fruit, veggies, and grilled chicken back into my life. Yesterday, I went into the city for an interview, and I wore the cutest gray/black dress from Banana Republic. I had bought this dress about a month ago, and while it fit yesterday, it was definitely snug… more snug than when I had purchased it. I decided that summer is ending and so must my poor eating habits. I am very active. I run 3-4 days a week and my job requires me to walk the beach all day long, but unhealthy eating can reverse any good fitness activities you complete during the day. Enough is enough. It’s time to get healthy.

I am no stranger to weight problems. Today I am a healthy size/weight, but that wasn’t always the case. As a child, I was overweight from limited activity and junk food overload. I would switch between a Big Mac and a number 2 (two cheeseburger meal) every time I went to McDonalds, and once I was old enough to stay home by myself in the summer at age twelve, I would start my morning by waking up at noon and eating a large bowl of ice cream. By seventh grade, I was wearing size 13 jeans in the junior’s section when most of my peers were wearing 1’s and 3’s. I’m proud to say that today I am the smallest I have ever been. Okay, maybe I was a tad smaller in the May/June timeframe, but three pounds of excess weight hardly counts as a tragedy. My weight problems have caused years of confidence and self-esteem issues, and I try every day to stay healthy and yet not focus on my body image constantly. It’s a battle.

Instead of telling myself that I must look like Jennifer Aniston before Christmas comes, I instead try to focus on goals I have yet to accomplish and making myself healthy. I was so pleased when I became a runner after so many years of claiming I could never be one. Nothing pleases me more than when I finish my 3-4 mile run and think of how I probably could have kept going. I love that I don’t wheeze or hurt when I work out anymore. I love that I actually want to work out. I have days when my body is literally aching for a run, and I throw on my shoes and go. My love/hate relationship with food is similar. I can tell how my body feels based on what I eat. I have more energy, my skin looks better, and I feel more satisfied when I choose grapes over salty chips and apples over ice cream. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes a girl needs ice cream, but I now put two scoops in a coffee mug and call it a day. No more large bowls with fudge and sprinkles.

I’m proud of myself for what I have accomplished. I know I can always do better, and I still have my days where I get upset with myself for my choices – this is definitely something I need to work on. There is no point in hating yourself because you gave into temptation. Yesterday, I had lunch with my dad in the city and inhaled a plate of fries with my sandwich. I was angry that I ate them, and I felt gross walking around the city in the 90 degree heat with greasy food sitting in my stomach (and I was still wearing my tight dress), but I came home, went for a run, and had a salad with cucumbers and apples for dinner. I can’t go back and change what I did in the past, but I can change the future, and I’m going to really focus on me this fall by running a few races and purchasing blueberries and oatmeal after work for tomorrow’s breakfast.