I meant to post this last week but then my mom came and surprised me and blogging got put on the back burner!
First, all the comments on my post about Binge Eating blew. me. away.
It is not easy putting stuff like that out there but you guys make it so much easier with your support and thanks for touching on the topic. I plan on doing a complete follow-up post next week.
Since my blog has been getting a lot of new readers lately AND I am kind of taking it in a new, healthy living direction I thought it would be good to re-touch on my healthy living story. The last time I wrote about it I had, like, 5 readers so it would be good for a refresh!
You can find the five original posts I wrote on this subject here.
My Healthy Living Journey
For as long as I can remember I felt fat. I can distinctly remember being 8-12 years old and cutting pictures out of magazines of the women (models) that I wanted to look like. I would pour through women’s magazines for “dieting” tips and had a scrapbook full of them.
I have always been active; swimming, volleyball, baseball, hockey etc. and I’ve been working out at the gym since I was 14. My problem was with food. I had a very unhealthy relationship with food.
I was teased for being “fat” when I was a kid and for a long time, I truly believed I was. Sure, I was a bit chubbier, but I was not fat or overweight by any means. I’ve had an unhealthy relationship with food for a very long time. I did not feel comfortable in my own skin and it was a terrible thing. I’m sad to say, that when I look through old journal entries there is one common trend: Weight Loss.
In journals from 2001-2002 when I am 13-14 years old, I am writing about how I need to “stop eating junk food so I can get skinny like the girls in the magazines”. Looking back on that now makes me sad.
My relationship with my body changed a bit when I turned 16. I was in high school by that point, playing hockey 6-7 days per week and going to the gym. I felt pretty good and ate relatively healthy (though not healthy at all compared to how I eat now, but healthy for a 16-17 year old I suppose).
Here I am at 16. And if I remember correctly, this photo was taken after getting home from the gym! Looking back at this now I am SO MAD at myself for ever thinking I was “fat”.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, I did date Ashton 
When I went away to college in the fall of 2006 I had already gained about 10 pounds after my first summer of working full-time and I gained another 10-15 pounds in college. Drinking and eating junk food caught up with me. Despite my active lifestyle, my weight skyrocketed. In the summer of 2007 I was my highest weight ever.
Summer of 2007:
I went back for my second year of college in September 2007 and once again got caught up in the college lifestyle. Drinking, eating and drinking some more.
Don’t get me wrong. I had a freaking blast in college. But I also gained weight and was really uncomfortable in my body. New Years 2008 I knew it was time for a change.
I started carrying a small notebook around with me and writing down everything I ate. I also started reading healthy living blogs on Glamour.com and recording my food intake through Body by Glamour.
Once I started keeping track of my food, my whole perspective changed. I had NO concept of calories in vs. calories out before, and once I figured it out I realized that I didn’t have to give up my favourite foods to lose weight, I just had to eat less of them.
Also, even though I’d always been active to an extent, I would go through periods of 2-3 weeks where I wouldn’t work out at all. Then I’d get back on the wagon for 4-6 weeks only to stop working out again. When I started recording my food intake I also started recording my workouts and stopped “falling off the wagon”.
The weight started falling off and in six months I had lost 25 pounds.
Clothes were baggy on me.
I felt better then ever!
As I delved more into the blogging world, I started experimenting with new foods. Oatmeal and Green Smoothies are just a couple of things I learned about from the blogging world!
Then, in February 2009 I did something kind of crazy.
I signed up for a half-marathon.
Despite always being active, I had never been a runner nor had I ever even enjoyed running. I mean, running is painful. I had never ran a 5K, 10K or any sort of organized race and I signed up to run 13.1 miles. What!?
My long-time readers will know that I went on to run that half-marathon, and two others in 2009. Somewhere along the way I fell head-over-heels in love with running.
Just under a year later, in January 2010, I signed up for my first full marathon, which I will run in Portland Oregon on October 10, 2010.
In May 2010, I read Eating Animals, which opened my eyes to a whole world and concept I did not know about: Factory Farming. I have not ate chicken, pork or beef since May 18, 2010. I still eat seafood occasionally but am planning on taking steps to eliminate that soon as well. I don’t know if I will ever eat meat again, but for now this lifestyle has allowed me to spend less money on groceries and I have more energy than ever before.
Now?
Now I exercise for an average of 60 minutes a day. Sometimes more. And I love it.
Now I rarely drink other than the occasional glass of wine.
Now I eat healthy, wholesome ingredients.
Do I have a perfect relationship with food and my body? Hell no. But it’s 100 X better than before. I still track my food using Spark People and I still have fat days but I take it one day at a time.
Does anyone else have a healthy living journey to share? If you have any questions, ask in the comments and I will reply to you and answer! I have a lot more to say but this blog post is getting really long as it is 
