Don't be that person that gives up...

My first week of college I decided I would be fit and healthy. I went for runs in the morning and used the gym when I could and on top of that I was eating healthy food, given my new variety of options. I felt great. But that was one week, only one week. As soon as classes started, I started to get lazy. I would do three things and three things only: eat, sleep, and go to class. Eat a lot, sleep a lot, and go to class when I had to. That was my life the second week of school and I stuck with that routine for months.

As you may be able to tell, this routine led me down an unhealthy path. If I would have kept my first week's healthy plan, I would be in a much different situation. I may have started to lose weight then. It doesn't really matter for me now because I like the way my changes have happened, but it may have been easier the other way around. If I would have stuck with my first routine I would have lived a healthier and happier  college life, but instead I gave up.

I gave up. I made excuses. I let myself down.

Please, please, please do not make the same mistakes that I made.

What I didn't understand, that I want you to understand, is that your body can handle almost anything but it is your mind that you have to keep convincing.

It is really easy to go into college with this attitude of "I'm going to live a healthy college life," but unless your mind is fully committed, it can be harder than it seems. Trust me there will be temptations, but I know how strong you are and that you can resist them. There will be times when you want to make excuses, such as, "Well I had that test today and my legs kind of hurt, so maybe I'll just watch some tv with my roommate." But where is that excuse getting you? Nowhere, fast. So your legs are a little sore from that cycling class yesterday, your body is telling you it needs a good run or walk to work those legs out! There will be days when you think that you won't be able to get your workout in... but thats no big deal! You know that you can make 10-15 minutes (at some point in the day) to do some easy cardio like jumping jacks and maybe even some crunches.

You can make it work. You won't give up. You are strong.

If you are reading this you either want some insight into my life or your looking for inspiration or you want to make you life a healthy life. If you fall under that latter category, I'm proud of you (and thank you to the people in the other two categories). You are making so many positive steps to a healthy life, steps that many others can't and won't make, and nothing is stopping you now, because you won't let it.

Once I really got into my lifestyle change there was no stopping me. I would not give up. And now that I'm enjoying this healthy life, I will never go back, I won't give up on eating healthy and working out, because why should I? I've worked hard and so have you.

Stay inspired and DON'T GIVE UP.

A transformation for some inspiration...

One year ago vs. Now