Growing up, I never really liked anything related to fitness except dance. I remember in high school I would always use asthma as an excuse so I could get a free pass during some exercises in PE class. ( I used to have asthma symptoms as a kid, but they went away as I grew older, thank God!) I was somewhat skinny and I did not see the point in working out and get sweaty and go through all what I would call at the time “torture”.
It’s not until freshman year of college that I really got into working out. One day, I realized that I’ve gained weight and I was not too happy with the way I looked. I was not overweight or anything like that but I could see the results of the late night pizzas, sodas, and junk food. I would say that I was living the “typical freshman living on campus” s life… Looking back now, I realize that I was just fine and I’m not sure why I wanted to loose weight. Maybe, I was under the pressure that I had to look a certain way in order to fit into what some people’s expectation of beauty was… Anyways, I started going to the gym on campus since I was literally paying for it. Each time, I was learning new things in the gym, it was very fun and I enjoyed it. I was seeing the results after a couple months, so I kept going. The only problem was the fact that I did not have a clean diet. I was eating the cafe’s food which was not the best and not healthy. If I was going to workout and have a healthy lifestyle, I wanted to do it the right way. Therefore, I started to do some research about diets; I found a lot of things such as keto, military diet but I thought I would never be able to stick to them. Instead of following the diets online, I started cutting up on things like processed foods, unhealthy carbs, sodas. For instance, instead of chocolate chip waffles, I would have 2 boiled eggs and a cup of fruits in the morning. I included more fruits and veggies in my meals and I felt so great about myself, especially when I would skip domino’s pizza or buffalo chicken sandwich for some cafe’s salad on the weekends!
When classes ended, I moved off campus and I spent the whole summer in the Sunshine State. It was one of the best summer ever! However my diet was everything but a good diet which caused me to gain some weight. And there I was again feeling insecure physically, mentally and emotionally. When I was back in Connecticut, I really focused on loosing weight and being “skinny”. Fast forward to now, after a couple of years being in and out of fitness, I finally understand that the goal was NEVER to be skinny but to be in a state of mind where I can really be happy with myself. I can finally say that I LOVE myself, my flaws and all that comes with being ME, being Maruth!
Now, I workout at least five times a week and I stretch daily. I also do weekly meal preps and sometimes I have some takeout once in a while without feeling guilty. I do not punish myself if I have some pizza, quesadilla, some good bad food. I just enjoy the food and go right back to my regular routine. I’m more happy than ever and I motivate people around me to be happy and to have a healthy lifestyle.
If you want to start on your own journey to a healthy lifestyle, the best thing for you is to just do it. Push yourself to the limits, and DO NOT stop till you reach your final destination. It will all be worth it at the end. Do not strive to be skinny and fit into what the world think is beautiful. As long as you are happy within and love yourself, that’s all that counts!
Hope y’all enjoyed this little post! Do not hesitate to email me about questions that you may have about starting your own journey!
XoXo!
SmileyMaruth!
