I wasn’t always interested in nutrition and fitness, it was just something I stumbled upon and became serious about when I was 20 years old.
I was never obese, anorexic or unhealthy. I never did any emotional eating. Since I was a baby, my mother had always told me I was a great eater. Hey, I loved food; all food. If there was a sweet on the table, I couldn’t resist it.
When you’re young, you can eat just about anything. But there comes a time in your life when you need wake up and open you eyes that food isn’t just delicious, its filled with vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates, fat and sometimes loaded with calories.
I have a small frame, standing at a mere 5 feet tall, and at my heaviest I weighed 127 pounds. It may not be a lot for most people, but with my small stature, I was overweight. I didn’t notice it at first. My family never made me feel bad about my size. In fact, my abuela (grandmother) would always say I was too skinny. One day, I came across some old summer vacation pictures and I noticed how big I had become. The insecurity began to settle in.
How come no one told me I was this big?
Of course, my mother thought I was exaggerating a bit. “You’re healthy, Christy. No need to worry,” would say my mother.
But I wasn’t happy with what I saw in that picture, and soon after in the mirror.
I knew I had to lose some weight, I just didn’t know how to begin.
I had always heard exercise and nutrition are the keys to a healthy weight and body. Now, I had exercised before, but I always found the routine cumbersome and tedious. I often was left bored. And after a heavy workout, I had an insatiable appetite that prevented any weight loss.
It wasn’t until January 2008, when I came across a book called The 12-second Sequence. Thanks to that book, it jumpstarted my weight loss. It taught me how to work out effeciently to gain the maxiumum results for weight loss and toning, and at the same time educated me on the science of food on the body.
Over a year later, I have maintained my weight loss and continue to build a stronger and healthier body.
Granted my love for food hasn’t gone away. I still go for a treat here and there, but educating yourself on nutrition and how the body processes food, as well, as finding the time to integrate fitness into your daily life, will seriously make a postive impact for a lifetime.
