My first blog is going to be about food. It is no secret that food is my
downfall when it comes to my journey to being in the best possible shape
my body will allow. My nickname in high school wasn't "pork chop" for
no reason. In fact, let's start there...
I was an athlete in high school and sometimes spent three hours a day in
the gym. I was strong from weightlifting and I was fast from track,
but to look at pictures from back then, you would never know it. At the
times when the weight on the scale would inch up at each year's
physical, I truly believed that it was all the time I spent in the
weight room since muscle weighs more than fat. It couldn't possibly be
that I could demolish a box of cereal or a whole pizza in one sitting. I
just figured because I was playing sports, I needed the extra
calories. Where this was true in theory, I was choosing the wrong kind
of calories and in excess. I prided myself in the fact that I could
out-eat my guy friends at pizza eating contests and scarf down Dairy
Queen cheeseburgers, french fries, and a Pepsi before hitting the court
for a volleyball game. My mom would show up to track meets with two
grocery bags full of junk food which included things such as powder
sugar doughnuts, Scooby Doo fruit snacks, and Nutty Bars. My pole
vaulting coach used to question how I could eat that and then launch
myself up in the air. Truth is, I wasn't great at it. I made it to
state two years in high school track and it was a fluke both times.
Someone was sick or someone who was better than me had an off day at
districts. Had I actually eaten like an athlete in training, I'd like
to think I would have been unstoppable. haha!
After high school, I felt like I needed to uphold my role as the girl
who ate a lot. My athlete days were on hold as a rebellion against my
dad. I had turned down a few opportunities to play volleyball because
my dad really wanted me to play. Looking back I don't understand what
my reasoning was. Yeah, my dad was pretty aggressive about me and
sports and "encouraged" me to practice all the time, especially pitching
for softball but I still don't know why I adamantly refused to play a
sport that I loved more than anything else. Anyway, back on track
here...I was still eating like I spent a good portion of everyday in the
gym. My first year of college, I had gained not just the notorious
"freshman 15" but the freshman 20-25. I saw a picture of myself in a
swimsuit and couldn't believe my eyes. I knew I needed to do
something. I hated all things cardio so I did what I knew best: I
joined intramural teams and lifted weights. Did I change my eating?
Kind of. I would restrict myself too much and then go on a two day
binger. Yeah, that's super healthy. I'm almost positive that every
woman has done this at some point in order to lose weight and was not
sustainably successful. My cardio of a couple hours a week up playing
slap-stick sports was not enough to burn any fat over the muscle I was
building so I was actually GAINING weight! Ugh!
Why do I share this long, probably utterly boring life story with you?
Because I think it's important to be honest about this stuff. It
doesn't come easy for a majority of people. And if you are not honest,
at least with yourself, about this you are going to struggle with
identifying where your short comings are. So the question I want to
leave you with today is, what are your nutritional downfalls? If you
say that you have none, but you are still thinking you need to lose a
few pounds, then you might need to dig deeper into your diet. Take a
couple of days and write down everything that goes into your mouth. I
know you've heard this before, but it really does help pin point where
your diet is lagging.
No comments:
Post a Comment