Truth be told, my relationship with food has fallen on every end of the spectrum throughout my life. While in middle school, I began curiously tracking my calories, and although this new interest seemed harmless at first; it quickly spiraled into obsessive thoughts about my weight and eventually led me into a three-year battle with anorexia nervosa.
Fast-forward to my first year of college and I was filling my body with overly processed foods and vending machine snacks in-between classes. This combined with emotional eating caused me to quickly gain almost thirty pounds by the end of my first semester. I felt out of control of my weight and while getting ready one morning completely broke down. As tears rolled down my face, I was forced to acknowledge the painful truths I had tried so hard to ignore for months: for the first time in my life I was severely overweight, I wasn't happy with my body, and I had some big changes to make. Guilt, embarrassment, and regret were just a few of the painful emotions I found myself feeling while looking at the result of my unhealthy decisions in the mirror. The mere thought of “where do I start” only overwhelmed me into more tears and research into weight-loss options just left me more confused. I had never struggled with my weight before and longed for a quick fix that would painlessly undo the damage that I had been inflicting on my body for months. So, to no surprise, I promptly found myself falling into the dangerous and restrictive fad of the keto diet. After losing 15 pounds in a matter of weeks I started to feel in control of my weight yet also felt ridiculous for practically banning fruits from my kitchen while eating a wide variety of saturated and trans fats. Looking back now, I surprisingly don’t regret this senseless beginning to my weight loss journey at all. Why? It is what truly pushed me into a curious state about how food affects the human body. I had so many questions, read hours of online articles, and started on a personal journey to become the healthiest version of myself.
Since then I have been studying nutrition and am currently a junior in the Didactic Program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I've dropped the 30 pounds I gained plus 22 more and have never felt happier or healthier!
As I continue learning I aim to share helpful resources, post some of my favorite recipes, shed light on the confusing aspects of healthy eating, and continue to document my journey every step of the way.