I was always in shape, I played every sport growing up and was bored out of my mind if I wasn't doing something active. Which was all great until I hit college. I had an offer to play sports in college, but had turned it down because of the major I chose; the class load and time I would need to dedicate to school would conflict with sports, and it was one or the other.
Needless to say my lifestyle became more sedentary. I ended up changing majors three years into school (I was kicking myself because if I had figured my major out earlier, I could have been playing for those three years) and I also became a little socialite, constantly going out with friends, drinking, partying, hitting Taco Bell at 3 am..and the freshman fifteen came fast.
I decided it was time to get my behind in shape again. I started running again and joined intramurals at school, and eventually signed up for smaller races and a half marathon. Everything was going great until I tore a muscle in my leg and was out of commission for 8 weeks.
The year after that, I did the same thing. I began running again, signed up for another half marathon and races, but sustained another injury (outside of running) and was diagnosed with a cyst on the tendon in the front of my ankle. It was 3 inches long and 1.5 inches wide and hurt to move my ankle. It took 4 months and six different doctors to diagnose it and send me to surgery and was then in PT for 16 weeks.
Needless to say, I put on the pounds sitting around and not being able to move much. I hit my highest weight at 180 lbs (which was scary compared to the 135/140 lbs I have been my whole life) and decided it was time to do something already and to change my lifestyle.
THIS YEAR is the year. My foot and ankle are still a little swollen but it doesn't hurt anymore and I've been training slowly. I've been doing Crossfit Training at my gym and running smaller races in the area. I've signed up for the same half marathon again (hopefully this won't jinx anything) and have two months left to train for it.
It was difficult at first, learning how to eat right again, give up the sweets, fat and carbs, soda and caffeine, and getting my butt out of bed at 4am every morning to workout. After a month of severe dedication, I have lost 10 lbs (which doesn't seem like much but I'm putting on muscle in the process) and feel amazing. I no longer crave crappy food and my energy levels are high, keeping me active and happy all day.
For anyone out there looking for motivation keep this in mind:
"It will hurt. It will take time. It will require dedication. It will require willpower. You will need to make healthy decisions. It will require sacrifice. You will need to push your body to its max. There will be temptation. But, I promise you, when you reach your goal, IT"S WORTH IT."
