One of the most important lessons I have learned is the difference between being skinny and being fit. After I had my first child, it was very difficult for me to adjust to the change my body had made. It wasn't the same. I couldn't eat like I had before, and I had gained weight from sleepless nights and stresses of beauty school. When I finished school, I remember looking at a picture and realizing what I really looked like. I wasn't happy with what I saw, and only being 20 years old, I wasn't going to do it. But I wasn't smart. I made a good choice and started exercising, but I was really desperate. So along with running miles and miles a week, I was eating VERY, VERY little. We are talking 500-600 calories a day. This is less than half what a healthy diet for my calories being burned through the day should have been. I kept this up for a long time, and every time I looked in the mirror, all I could see were the fat rolls (all in my head). It wasn't until I looked at a picture of me and noticed that I looked like a skeleton - bony, sunken in eyes, no color to my skin, dark saggy eyes) that I realized it was a problem. Ever since then (at least ten years) I have worked hard to find what healthy really is.
On the left is me at my lightest weight (about 105 lbs.) On the right is me a few weeks ago (about 115 lbs.) When I look at these photos it is clear to me what I would rather be. You can't go by the scale to determine how "fit" you are. Muscle definitely weighs more than fat, and looking at the number on the scale can play mind games that aren't really true. I only weigh myself every other month or so, because I have discovered that being in tune with how you feel is more important. By being disciplined and paying attention to what you are fueling your body, changes will happen! I'm eating about 1400 calories a day of pure whole foods. Of course I cheat sometimes...and that's ok! It's all about balance! Hopefully in my posts I can help give some pointers on how to do that!
