Imagine this: it's been an exhausting, hot, sticky, summer day, working the ever-so-great role as a camp counselor for 7-year-olds. Let's face it: you would want to go home, plop on the couch, and dig into a bag of your favorite chips and binge-watch your favorite show after a jam-packed day of "She won't let me play with her toy" and "I face planted after jumping off the swing!" and my multiple child-made wood chip stab wounds.

Me on the other hand? Not so much, even through all my exhaustion. What I wanted to do was exercise. But more than one would think. A year prior, I went into a phase; I started to hate the way I looked, from my stomach to my thighs. The media really started to get to me. I kept on reminding myself that it was not real, but no matter what, I could just not shake that persistent feeling, it was a monster clawing at my emotions. My body was already naturally small from genetics, yet pretty muscular and toned from all my years of dance but that still wasn't enough for me. "I need to tone up even more, and I need to lose weight," I thought.

So my solution? Eat healthy and exercise, exercise, exercise. After arriving in the comfort of my home from such an energy-draining day, I would slip on my beloved shorts and tank as soon as I walked through that door. Usually, a workout is supposed to take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. My own workout? It could take up to 3 hours. First, I would take an hour long power walk. My mind was determined to get my steps in for the day. I would end up averaging around 16,000 steps a day all because of the fact that I was leading kids around all day plus my two workouts. After my walk, I would head straight to home to the gym; nothing would stop me.

An hour long walk usually burns a pretty significant amount of calories, up to about 400. That plus my second workout, which would usually be HIIT (high-intensity interval training) could burn 200-300 calories. My total calories burned for the day would be around 700 calories. If I burned that much, I would need plenty of healthy and nutritious food to refuel myself. I was eating enough, but most likely not enough to replenish the amount of calories I burned. I didn't occur to me that I was not taking care of myself correctly until my mom noticed. "You are always in the gym", she explained. As one would usually do, I tried to deny it. My mind told me that it was the right approach, if I wanted to lose weight. I was constantly being told that I didn't need to, multiple people have called me "strong looking". I would not agree, believing that they were delusional. I refused to admit it to even myself.

Before I knew it, there were even more people who approached me about my fitness habits. They explained to me that they always see me in the gym. The more people who started to show their concern, the more the thought occurred to me that maybe my routine wasn't healthy. The realization was a like a ton of bricks tumbling down. What matters is that I am a young, healthy, strong girl and I don't need 3 hours of daily exercise to improve myself. Yes, exercise is important for a healthy lifestyle, but not in excessive amounts. I did end up losing 5 pounds, but it wasn't worth it for the sweat-filled hell I put myself through each and every day. I learned it was perfectly okay to take a rest day. I needed to treat my body right and give it what it actually needs, not what I think it needs. Right now, as I attend college, I am limiting my workouts to an hour maximum. Before, I wasn't making time for relaxation and that is an important key to health. I now allow myself time to exercise, as well as keep up with my schoolwork, volunteer, clubs, and dance. I get to kill two birds with one stone: I still get to exercise and feel adrenalized, but all in all, I am being smart and responsible about it.