Hi everyone!
Welcome to my first post! I thought it would be appropriate for this to be an introduction to me and my health and fitness story.
Let me start from the beginning. As a kid, my weight fluctuated. I started dancing when I was 3 years old, and I was competing by the time I was 8. I was a pretty skinny kid up until I was about 9 years old, and then I started to recognize that my body had changed a lot in the past few years. I hated the way that my body looked, especially when I compared myself to my friends and fellow dancers. For years, I was so unhappy with my body and most of the time, was just embarrassed.
I started to lean out when I was around 14 years old, but was still extremely critical of the way that I looked (as most of us are as a teenage girl). I was always just a little bit heavier than my friends, and was constantly self-conscious about being compared to other girls my age.
After high school, I went to university and was determined not to gain the infamous "Freshman 15". I lived in residence my first year, and it started out well. Along with my roommate and a few friends, I went to a couple of Zumba classes, and went to the gym to try and stop any possible weight gain. Eventually, my classes took priority and I got lazy. I wasn't exercising anymore, and I was eating anything that I could get from the cafeteria - I'm talking chicken fingers, pasta dishes, pizza, burgers, and sometimes even multiple dinners in one sitting.
One day I was getting ready to go out for dinner with my boyfriend. I vividly remember trying to put on a pair of jeans that had fit me a couple months ago, but now, were a struggle to get past my hips. I realized that I had really neglected not only my fitness, but my overall health. After that night, I started to do workouts in my room with my roommate, and we started going back to the gym. I was back to feeling extremely unhappy with the way that my body looked, and the way that I felt. I was working out because I hated my body, and my only goal was to be "skinny" again.
By the end of my first year of university, I had gained, not 15, but 40 pounds. For the next few years I struggled with my weight, and didn't understand why I couldn't lose the weight that I had gained in only a few months. It was only in the last year of my undergrad, did I start to really take action. I started using the gym at school, and started eating (a little bit) healthier, but I still wasn't seeing the changes that I wanted to see.
By the end of 2017, I was feeling more motivated than ever to change the way that I treated by body. I realized that no results would come if I didn't work for them. I joined a gym that was opening close to my house, and set an intention to go as often as I could. I started learning more about fitness and nutrition, and wellness in general.
2018 has been the best year of my life (so far). I work out because I truly love it, and it gives me the confidence that I lacked in the past. I have lost 30 pounds since 2013, and I am finally at a place in my life where I love my body, and appreciate everything that it does for me. I am so excited to improve my health and well-being, and connect better with myself and others.
I hope you'll join me on this journey!
Taryn