When I was little I ran as little as possible. I found great hiding places in flashlight tag to avoid constant running. I played defense in little league soccer. And I was even homeschooled so I didn't have PE until high school, at which time I ran for the minimum amount of time required to pass the acceptable standards (part of this was motivated by the perception that trying hard in gym wasn't cool, but mostly it was because I physically couldn't try any harder).
Come college, I was a healthy weight but an unhealthy everything else. My view on food was that I'd rather eat what I wanted and not deny myself treats my whole life only to become sick with other diseases and wish I hadn't been so hard on myself with my diet. I still think that this isn't the least healthy perspective to have, especially when it comes to desserts because I love them with such an undying passion. However, I've come to appreciate moderation a bit more since then. Additionally, though, I just straight up did not eat fruit. Most vegetables scared me. And fried foods were by far the most edible and preferable food option in the cafeterias. Slowly, my friends began helping me see that fruit was not the enemy and that some vegetables, if prepared right, could actually be tasty (who knew?). [This is by no means meant to discredit my mom, who by all accounts makes delicious food. I just spent the majority of my life refusing to eat fruits and avoiding most of my vegetables because I thought that I didn't like them.]
The first thing that revolutionized my perspective on health was a Pokemon competition. I blogged about this experience in October 2011 (THREE POINT THREE THREE YEARS AGO HOW), but the basic story is that I accomplished tasks across campus in order to achieve Poke-glory. One of those tasks was visiting a fitness class. This was literally my first time in a group fitness class of my own vocation (my friend Katie made me go to a body pump class once), and it was pretty intense. It was just a pilates class, but for someone who had never really stretched or exercised for more than 5 minutes at a time, you can imagine how exhausted and sore I was afterwards. But I came to understand that this was a good sore, and that I wouldn't mind having it again. And realizing how helpful it was to know exercises to keep your legs limber and your tummy toned (jk this has never happened to me), I bought a fitness pass so I could get guided work outs ALL YEAR. It helped that the following summer I lived with my friend Taylor who was very into going to pilates/yoga/ballet classes with me and also didn't make me feel terrible for being so unfit. (We would eat bagel bites and chocolate afterward. This health thing has been a slow learning process for me...)
First time pretending to be fit.
And then I got mono the last week of the year, and my fitness pass expired just as I acquired a wonderful reason to never work out again.
The following summer I graduated and moved to Richmond. I started working out very vaguely because I wasn't sure just how vulnerable my spleen was, but I was starting to get a little tired of feeling unfit. More importantly, I was earning healthy points at work. I started earning points for working out (elliptical), counting calories, reading nutrition articles, attending health-related talks at work, making healthy recipes...at first I thought that I was just doing this to earn points (to earn PTO). But I realized that I actually enjoyed having goals and feeling healthier (eating fewer cookies than I had access to in a day--major accomplishment right there). Then I started running and probably got "too healthy." Running was great. It made my legs feel AWFUL the first few times, which was how I knew it was an effective workout. I had always thought that I was just innately incapable of running, but I realized slowly that it was not something you could just pick up one day and be good at. I was counting calories and thinking about losing weight all the time and was enjoying it, but not really for the right reasons. I never got to an unhealthy weight or other objective standard of unhealthy, but I knew that my mindset wasn't right.
So then I stopped counting calories but continued running and trying to get a good number of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and even fish in my diet. (This should be the most shocking thing I have written so far to anyone who knew me prior to the previous year.) I had a lot of encouragement from Nathaniel in all of this, especially as he helped push me to run further than I thought I could (he even made me like EGGS. Yes EGGS). I started training for an elusive 5k that no one would sign up with me to run (because my friends don't run, live too far away, or run way too fast for me). But somehow, knowing that there would be a 5k someday, I was able to continue to motivate myself to run. Motivation is weird. Part of this was the vague idea that I would make myself run the Monument 10k this March and that it would be less painful if I started training...a year in advance. (I'm still doing this. I'm very dedicated to my goals.)
In November I did a Turkey Trot 5k with my sister which entailed plenty of walking but was still my first race so yay running! In about a month I'll try much harder to make it the full length of my race without walking because I'm pretty sure that that's a thing that, with the proper mindset, I can do.
First run!
Anyway, all of that narrative to get to my main points. I think that this is a view that a lot of people have, but maybe you have to go through your own learning process to understand it for yourself. Your health is something that is worth investing in. No one else can take care of your body to the extent that you can through your choices. That's not to say don't eat xyz (sugar, meat, carbs, processed foods, cookies) as a blanket statement, but it is a smart and good thing to think about what you're putting in your body and note how it makes you feel. Not taking care of yourself, when you do have the time/resources to do so, is not only a disservice to yourself but to the people around you. No one wants to see their friends or family suffering from things like heart disease or diabetes--things that, while not fully preventable, are still linked to your health decisions. As with anything on earth, it can be taken to an extreme and you can easily develop an unhealthy attitude on eating or exercising (or not eating or not exercising)--but, just like with eating cupcakes, considered with moderation it can be a very good thing.
