My Health Journey

January of 2018 I decided it was time for me to seek out help.

I went to a nutritionist underweight and frustrated from not being able to gain. Prior to my pregnancy I was a very healthy weight for my age and height. Postpartum I lost weight and continued losing no matter how much I ate. Now, I do have a fast metabolism, but I also think that stress was a contributing factor.

When I went to see the nutritionist, I was sent for blood work to make sure there were no underlying conditions. After finding out that there was not my nutritionist proceeded to put me on a meal plan of 1,900 calories.

I used the MyFitnessPal app to track this.

I had to change my entire lifestyle, but I knew it was what needed to happen.

I was so accustomed to eating whatever I wanted and it was all bad calories. I cut out milk, bad cereal (I was addicted to fruity pebbles), most bad carbs with the exception my treating myself to some every now and then, as well as red meat and junk food.

My new diet consisted of things like almond milk, healthier cereal alternatives, a TON of eggs, grilled chicken, ground turkey, brown rice, and fresh steamed veggies.

This at times was so difficult because I was not only changing the way I cooked, but the way I shopped and prepped meals. If I'm being totally honest, I cannot believe how much thought and effort I was having to put into eating healthy because now I see it's honestly so much easier!

Seriously, way less ingredients. Simplicity.

So, I was tracking my intake at 1,900 calories/day and that was broken up into 50% carbs, 30% fat, and 20 % protein.

I was also weight training only because I burn calories at such a high rate that I was also low muscle tone and weak. So I was doing as heavy as I could handle with only 6-8 reps. So no cardio or HIIT.

After following this plan for two months I went back to my nutritionist for a follow up and I hadn't gained weight.

So, she upped me to 2,300 with the same ratios.

Im here to tell you, It may be easy to eat 2,300 calories in a day when its garbage food. They have high calorie content. But when its healthy, filling foods that aren't near the calories of a Big Mac, you start to feel like you're having to choke the food down.

But thats what I did. I continued to track, weight train, and eat 2,300 calories. I also drink a protein powder called serious mass because with one scoop you can get in about 650 calories. Thats an 8 count nugget meal from chick fil a! Lol

I will be 100% honest with y'all. The 2,300 calorie thing only lasted a couple of months before I was over it. I stopped tracking. However, I continued to eat my healthy foods, meal prep, lift heavy weights (heavy for me at least), and make sure I never got hungry.

I am so proud to say that two years later of putting in the work, I am back at a healthy weight and most importantly I put the weight on in a healthy way.

No type of shaming is ever okay. During this two year period I have received so many ugly comments and jabs from people who would validate their ugliness because I was skinny instead fat. So before you tell someone "you look like you need to eat a cheeseburger," ask yourself if thats really a compliment.

I never said anything to people when those remarks would be made mainly because I feel like people who bring others down need to be brought up and I was not contributing to making anyone feel bad about themselves.

Unhealthy is also not okay. When I say this, just know that this statement has nothing to do with looks for me. It has everything to do with being the happiest and healthiest version of yourself. When you're happy and healthy, you will THRIVE!

I still feel like I have a lot of room for improvement but I have already come so far and you can too!

If I had one piece of advice to offer up to anyone starting a new healthy eating journey, it would be to not set unrealistic expectations. To start eating healthy and to say that you're never going to eat junk again is setting yourself up for failure.

Allow yourself a cheat day or a treat a few times throughout the week. It will inevitably happen where you eat something that doesn't fall into your new plan. If you have set unrealistic expectations for yourself, you'll be left feeling like you've failed.