Losing Weight Teen Style

For most of my adolescent years, I was either underweight or perfect weight. I was confident about my body, and I never gained or lost weight when I was in the perfect range. I always told myself that I would never be concerned about my body because I was healthy.

When I started college, I went into a state of depression, but also anxiety, desperation, and I had an incontrollable need to eat. I had large breaks between classes, causing me to get bored, which made me eat. My favorite soda was always available and it was cold, and tasted WAY better than water.

About halfway through the semester, I realized that my focusing and my overall mental health felt off. I couldn't concentrate, I was over-emotional about everything, and I just wasn't happy with anything I did. I decided to go to the doctor, to see if I needed a med adjustment.. I was on anti-depressant/anti-anxiety, and sometimes they needed to be adjusted. When the NP took my vitals (weight, height, BP, etc.), she weighed me off at 140lbs. This was 20-25lbs more than I'd ever weighed in my life. It was a big reality check for me. I was depressed.. so I ate.

My doctor put me on an anti-depressant/sedative to help me sleep because I'd been having nightmares and wasn't sleeping well. Once I got my mental health back in order, I decided it was time to treat my body better. I started eating breakfast in the morning; eggs (scrambled and hard-boiled), orange juice or milk, and other things. I'd eat a healthy lunch and a healthy homemade dinner. I even bought myself Cayenne Fruit supplements as a metabolism booster. All of these things worked. I was visibly losing weight, I felt better, and I had lost 5.5lbs.

Unfortunately, though, I fell off and started eating unhealthy again. Continuing to drink soda because it was convenient, and getting the munchies whenever I saw my favorite chocolate-y snack. Only sometimes was I able to resist the temptation. I tried to get to the gym that I conveniently worked at, but either never had the time to get there when I wasn't on the clock, or something more pressing always got in the way.

Now that I'm on winter break from school, I'm gaining the weight back. Quickly. With the holidays, it's hard to eat healthy. But I just bought new clothes today, and realized that it's time to jump back on that wagon, because I know I'm capable. I'll never have a flat belly (due to genetics), but I want to feel good about my body. And I know that, if I felt overweight back at 125lbs, I will feel great being back at that weight now, after being 20lbs more than that.