I don’t think I’ve ever considered myself a healthy person until recently. I’ve always loved fatty, sugary, greasy foods, and I was always the slow kid in gym class. Seriously, I was one of the last of my fifth-grade class to finish the mile run, and the teacher decided it was a bright idea to get the fast kids to chase me so I would make it all the way. My first semester of freshman year, I continued my unhealthy lifestyle. A quick rundown of my usual meal just for perspective…

Breakfast: 2 Pop Tarts and a Starbucks frappucino from the vending machine

Lunch: Guacamole cheeseburger, curly fries, and sweet tea

Snacks: Cookies, cheese balls, and/or fruit snacks

Dinner: Buffalo wings, fries, and sweet tea (again)

On the weekends, I often had quite a few liquid calories that really added up, if you catch my drift. (I’m talking about soda...obviously.)

And of course, little to no exercise. The freshman 15 hit me hard, but even worse was my perpetual exhaustion. I was always falling asleep in class, crashing from all the bad carbs I was consuming. After my class finished at 11 a.m., I would go back to my dorm, crawl back in bed, and have to set an alarm to wake up for my 5 p.m. Then I’d stay up until 2 a.m. to do work, socialize, and check my phone, only to wake up at 6 or 7 for class.

Second semester, I realized that I wanted to make some changes in my life. I was tired of never having energy and honestly feeling kind of shitty, emotionally-speaking. I knew that in the past when I’d tried to live healthily, I had attempted everything at once and then burned out after a week. This time around I knew that I had to start small and work up to a healthy lifestyle. I slowly implemented a few changes.

I decreased and eventually completely eliminated my sweet tea intake. I was appalled by how many calories I was consuming daily, so I started with cutting back on the liquids. First, I decided that I would only have sweet tea with dinner and stick to water for lunch. Gradually I started having water with dinner, too. One day a few weeks into my water-only consumption, I decided to have a sweet tea for dinner again. After one sip, I was surprised to find that the tea was sickeningly sweet, and I wished I had gotten water instead. Drinking water all the time actually recalibrated my taste buds so that they recognized when something had too much sugar!

I switched to coffee with less sugar. I knew it wasn’t possible to go without coffee in the morning, so I switched from those frozen Starbucks drinks (240 calories) to instant coffee packets (50 calories). The packets actually aren’t as nasty as you’d expect from a powdered mix--in fact, I find them quite tasty.

I started eating salad. I used to think that salads were only for people who hated themselves, but I realized that it’s all about how the salad is prepared. I enjoy spinach (lettuce is just water with fewer nutrients) with chickpeas, carrots, hard-boiled eggs, and a bit of Caesar dressing or balsamic vinaigrette, depending on my mood. Once I started to enjoy salads, I got them more frequently. Now I eat at least one salad per day.

I got a different breakfast. Pop-Tarts made me crash, so I switched over to a daily breakfast of a banana, a clementine, and a breakfast cookie with less sugar content. It’s easier to stay awake. And speaking of staying awake…

I scheduled later classes. I’m a night owl and probably always will be. I knew that I’d be up past midnight every night, so I made sure none of my classes started before 10 a.m.

I started working out. I’m lazy and I love sitting, so I started out on the stationary bike. The minutes fly by as you sit back, pedal, and listen to music. I realized that I love the post-workout high, so I started running and doing some core workouts as well. I now work out for 60 minutes 5 or 6 days a week, and I absolutely love it. It’s something I enjoy doing, and I make sure I have time for it in my schedule. It also helped me to start taking the stairs more often.

I changed the way I saw food. Before, I saw food as a way to treat myself for accomplishing something and a source of comfort when I was upset. Now that I’m active, I see food as fuel. Fries and pizza are tasty, but I don’t like the way they make me feel throughout the day. In order to keep my body strong and running well, I need to eat good fuel. I treat myself other ways, like working out (it honestly is a treat) and listening to music. In short, I prioritize the way I feel in the long-term over how great a greasy dish is. Of course, I’ll eat junk every now and then, but I find that I no longer crave that kind of thing as much.

I limit my naps to 20 minutes or less. Believe it or not, it’s more energizing to take a quick snooze than to sleep for 5 hours (which will throw off your sleep schedule). I no longer wake up from a nap wondering if it’s the next morning.

Before, I had the unhealthy notion that my body belonged to other people and not to me. Being healthy is helping me reclaim my body as my own. I’m in charge, I’m calling the shots, I’m respecting myself. Along with getting to see my progress (hint: the scale doesn’t show it because I’m losing fat and gaining back muscle), I just feel better. Energized. Happy. Confident. I’m starting to make better decisions with my emotional health as well, like focusing more on my friendships and studies rather than guys.

I’m hoping that you can implement changes in your life, bit by bit, to start feeling like a better version of yourself. It is possible, even for the unhealthiest Dorito-lover. Here’s to good health!