At the beginning of this year, I wrote this post about my health and fitness. I also did an Instagram story and feed more recently that was centered around the same thing so I thought I would do an update. No, I haven’t lost the weight. In fact, I’ve gained some, but I think it’s important to share what I’m going through so others who are going through similar things can feel encouraged to keep striving.
Eating healthy and working out is not new to me. I’ve had to work out and watch what I eat my entire life. Unfortunately, as I get older it has become increasingly hard to maintain my weight and stay healthy.Left to right: Kate (All Things Kate), Me, Jenn (Finding Jenn Again), Liang (Peach in Seattle), Jenni (Track It Like It’s Hot)
My Health and Fitness Story: Working Out in My Teens
I first started getting into fitness and eating healthy when I was 13. I worked out about 5-7 days a week and followed a low-carb diet. I ended up losing a ton of weight and eventually was a healthy size 0-2 and felt strong and fit. I continued to maintain a low-carb diet into my mid-twenties, but once I entered college, that’s when things got a bit tricky. I did, however, manage to maintain low-carb meals and weekly workouts.
My Health and Fitness Story: Working Out in my Twenties
After college is when things started to go south. It got harder and harder to maintain a low-carb diet. I also went through a slew of digestive issues and was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. My diet was getting the best of me and I needed to incorporate more carbs into my meals, not just veggies and fruit. This made it hard to stay lean but helped my tummy immensely. I’m also lactose intolerant and have a sensitive stomach, which is the primary reason why I have always eaten healthy; sugar and processed foods don’t agree with me at all.
My Health and Fitness Story: Current Workout Routine
My current workout routine consists of Orangetheory Fitness 2-3 days a week. I’ve been a member for almost a year and absolutely love it! It meets all of my requirements in a workout: fun, fast-paced, and instructor-led. If you’re not familiar with Orangetheory, it is a heart-based, interval training workout. I love the science behind it and how it’s great for all fitness levels. It’s designed to burn up to 500-1,000 calories during a 1 hr session plus an afterburn for 36 hrs post workout. It’s amazing!
My Health and Fitness Story: Weight Watchers
I’ve also done Weight Watchers off and on, but after the initial go, I found it hard to stick to. It does work and I highly recommend it to people who have never tried it before. The Weight Watchers foundation is more of a low-fat approach, but I appreciate the point system which is more or less a way of creating balance and portion control.
My Health and Fitness Story: Overall Thoughts on Fitness and Health
At this rate, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to take off the weight, but I’m going to keep pressing forward! I used to focus on wellness for vanity reasons but now it’s to stay healthy. About two years ago, I fell into the prediabetic arena and that was when I was 25 pounds lighter. Now it’s more crucial than ever for me to stay fit and healthy!
I’m going to continue to work out and start to watch my portions. I recently updated my Orangetheory membership to unlimited so I can start to go more often. In order for me to lose weight, I have to be incredibly rigid, weigh my meat with a scale and use measuring cups to measure miscellaneous items.
My Health and Fitness Story: Final Thoughts
I hope this post inspires you and helps you persevere in your wellness journey! Know that it’s not easy and every day can be a battle, but it is worth every bit of your effort. Being healthy allows me to feel good physically and mentally and to wear the clothes I love! With my new size I no longer enjoy shopping or putting on clothes because nothing fits and most clothes feel uncomfortable, but that’s a story for another day.
What things do you struggle with when it comes to fitness and health? I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.
Thanks for reading!
Visit the TEMA site to shop the pieces in today’s look. If you see something you like, use code LACEANDPEARLS to receive 40% off your order. Offer is good for everything on the site.
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Shop the Post:
Top and bottoms: TEMA Athletics c/o | Sports Bra: Target | Shoes: Nike | Lipstick: Bobbi Brown
*c/o: courtesy of or gifted.
Photography: Bhawna Gupta owner of TEMA Athletics
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