A Story of Health & Change

It finally happened, I'm graduated! Well, mostly..... I've still got seven more weeks of summer classes before I'll actually get the diploma, but I've got the picture with a cap and gown, so ...close enough. (I would post it, but I'm just not willing to pay $40 for a digital picture, sorry but that's a total rip off...)

Multiple times along this journey people have asked me, "So why did you decide to study health?" So, here it is! This is my story about why I studied health,  and the changes that happened in my life to get me there.

In the first year of my enlightenment (aka college), grocery shopping was simple. Get it, get out, go home, pig out. I didn't pay much attention to labels, at the time the only thing that mattered to me was calories. It didn't really matter where those calories came from (fats, sugars, carbs, proteins...whatever...), at that point I was just trying to battle the freshman fifteen (okay more like twenty). Heck, they could be putting rubber cement in my food and I probably wouldn't have noticed, or minded for that matter. As long as I was staying within my calorie limit, because heaven forbid I actually eat something that would fill me up, or curb a craving (gasp!). I thought I was pretty healthy, I mean a lot of what I was eating was either labeled "health choice!" or "lean cuisine"....with a name like that, how could it not be healthy? I was also dancing every day at the time and so I naturally thought, well if I just work out, like a LOT, I'm good right?

This is where something magical happened. During these first few years away from home, I was learning so much about life, love, and one thing in particular .... health. I can't pinpoint the specific moment it happened because it was more of a process really, but I began to pay more attention to my body, in a good way. Don't get me wrong, as a dancer who did not have the stereotypical "ballerina physique", I had always paid attention to my body. Probably too much (hence the calorie obsession). The real turning point here was when I started wondering what I could do to make my body perform better, not just look better. Eventually, I started to focus my attention on how I FELT.

Honestly? I felt like crap. Not all the time.... but I knew I could be better. Physically, emotionally, spiritually, all the above. The body is essentially a machine, we need fuel to function. As I said, it wasn't like some huge epiphany and suddenly I was the picture of health, I will never be picture perfect for that matter, but it was the little changes and using common sense that really helped me to change.

It started with simple things, like "hey, maybe I should try eating wheat bread instead of white..yeah I think would be good". I started eating breakfast (back to the machine thing, ya need fuel to start, machine+fuel=ENERGY). Then I started eating a more filling breakfast. Instead of white flour and sugar (sugary processed cereals, you don't get much lasting energy from those guys), I would eat a packet of oatmeal. Then that processed packaged oatmeal turned into buying plain old fashioned oats, and adding my own ingredients like ground cinnamon, fruits, nuts, or honey if I had a sweet tooth. I gave up soda-pop, and started keeping a water bottle with me. The simpler, the better. I started to get rid of all those pre-made meals, and started using whole ingredients when ever possible to make my own food.

A curious thing was happening to me, besides having more energy and feeling more satisfied after meals, I felt more in control and I liked it. For the first time, I knew exactly what I was putting into my body. I began to look at the ingredients, instead of how many calories I could get away with. I started to realized that there was a lot of unnecessary crap in the foods I had been eating. Things like yellow #5, ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, BHT, and those "low fat" options can be loaded with sodium and sugar. (By the way, you do need fat in your diet, it's not all bad)

Now, don't get me wrong, I like a good ol' sugar laden Oreo as much as the next person (if your not an Oreo person, whatever your vice may be...brownies? Pie?), and I am a firm believer in letting your self indulge on occasion, but here's the thing: our bodies are amazing machines, but they can only handle so much.

They key word here is occasion, having one slice of store bought preservative laden peach pie or one whatever it may be is not going to kill you any sooner (unless your allergic...then I wouldn't recommend it..), but consistently filling your body with less than ideal fuel on a daily basis, might just do the trick.

For me, I started to notice a difference only when my daily habits changed. I became more aware of the things I was putting into my body on a daily basis and of course, was allowing myself to indulge on occasion to help curb those cravings we all have. During this whole process, I discovered I had a passion for this health thing because it felt good and eventually began to study health in school. I ended up getting my degree in community health education.

Now, in all fairness we live and function in the real world where much of our food is packaged and processed for us. One of my favorite bits of advice from a professor was this: if you have to get something packaged or processed, try to stick to the five ingredient rule. If there are more than five ingredients OR you don't recognize or can't pronounce some of the ingredients, don't buy it.

So here I am, an almost graduate in Community Health Education, and that is my story (or at least the gist of it) of how I got here. Cheers!