Hello friends! How’s your morning going? Hope you’re having a great time so far! Today, I am cleaning all the patio furniture and getting it ready for swimming season. Come on! I’m excited to go to a yoga class between client calls, too.
For today’s post, I wanted to share more about my initial health journey. Younger fellow readers (hello! hello!) may not know that I lost 40 pounds in college. This was long before I became a group fitness instructor, or personal trainer, or Integrative Health Professional… and I had to learn everything myself, the hard way. This was also the case in the old days, when blogs were not a thing. Everything I learned (good and bad) was through fitness magazines and stacks of health books I bought from Barnes and Noble.
When I think back on my initial weight loss journey, I remember the snafus (like getting so sick after eating a packet of cooked chicken and a can of cold black beans lol), but I also feel proud of myself. I stuck with it, I wasn’t afraid to pivot when I realized things weren’t working, and I did a lot of things right.
What did I do wrong and what would I do again? [in my health journey]
Here are some of the things I did well and are fundamental habits that I recommend to all my clients:
– More protein and whole foods. I started emphasizing protein in my diet and paying attention to processed foods. I used to eat almost entirely processed food (with the exception of dinner) and I felt so much better eating food from the earth. I was kind of a poor student, so I was on a tight, tight budget, but I went for cheap options like apples, yogurt, frozen veggies, bananas, pasta, and wraps that I could make at home.
– I add walking to my routine. Walking made me feel better almost immediately, and I also got the benefits of the sun and the mood boost.
– Started strength training. I had NO idea what I was doing, but my boyfriend and I hired a personal trainer from LA Fitness. He gave questionable nutrition advice, but taught me the basics of strength training.
– Pay attention to balanced plate and portion control. I learned that my plate couldn’t be all carbs and still be really satisfying, so I started incorporating more
I think it’s easy to remember that classics are classics for a reason — they work! Simple changes that you can maintain over a long period of time will make the biggest difference.
Errors:
Here are some things that were difficult for me, and it took me years to untangle the damage from some of them.
– 3-5 hours of sleep per night. It wouldn’t be unusual for me to go to school all day, teach at the dance studio until 8pm, drive to the school library and read until 2 or 3am, then go back to home, sleep and repeat. I did this for almost all of college. Weekends were for work (I juggle two or three jobs), studying and partying… no sleep for this girl. No wonder I was exhausted, hormonal and craving sugar and caffeine all the time.
– Not dealing with stress. I was under a lot of stress and didn’t realize the effects stress can have on immune function, hormones, hunger levels, skin, sleep and well-being. Stress management is huge and can often play a role in preventing changes in body composition.
– Fear fats (even healthy fats). The “health magazines” taught me that eating fats made you fat, so I avoided them for a long time. Today, it’s NBD to eat a whole avocado.
– She took hormonal birth control. I know now that it was a horrible match for me and covered up a lot of the hormonal symptoms I was experiencing. When I stopped taking it, I felt like the clouds had lifted from my life. (<– read this old blog post to see how short it used to be and the horrible photos. You have to start somewhere though!)
– Did not focus on fiber or digestion. I would eat maybe one vegetable a day.
– Jumped in without a solid plan. This can be one of the hardest things for friends who want to change their lives. There is SO much conflicting information out there and what works for one person may not work for another.
– Lots of fake sugar substitutes. I ate so much Splenda, it makes me shudder to think about it.
My body composition has changed since then, but I also feel so much better! Before I made health changes, I had low self-confidence, deep acne on my cheeks, poor sleep and digestive issues. I have none of that now.
It’s been a learning journey – you can read about everything I had to do and change just last year! – but it’s always interesting to look back, evaluate and plan for the future.
So tell me, friends: how rough has your health journey been? What are you up to at the moment? If you’re curious to work together as we head into summer, let me know (gina@fitnessista.com) and we can set up a free discovery call.
ho ho
Gina
