From a young age I have always loved “junk food” or “unhealthy food.” That is what everyone in my family ate, so I went right along with it. I never thought about what I was consuming, because what little kid does? As I got older my eating habits continued to stay the same. Cheeseburgers were my go to, I would have them multiple times a week. I could eat an entire box of Little Debbie’s in one sitting. Needless to say, my eating habits were not getting me anywhere good in life.
As I got older and was able to finally realize how excessive and unhealthy I was eating, I started to attempt to make changes. There would be a day where I would go without eating anything that was too bad for me, then that very next day I would go back into my unhealthy patterns. My reverting back to my old ways had a lot to do with what I surrounded myself with. When I got to college I decided that I wanted to try to make healthy changes. Cut to the first week of classes where I ate a cheeseburger for lunch and dinner for a week straight. Real “healthy” of me. I continued to do the same things I would do in high school. Days of eating decent, then days of complete junk. Slowly I started to notice that my body felt different. There wasn’t a day that went by that I did not have a stomach ache after I ate something. At first, I thought it was lactose intolerant, but when I began taking Lactaid the problems persisted. I finally decided that it was time to see a doctor when I was doubled over in pain with tears streaming down my face.
I went through tests and scopes before I finally realized that the food that I held so near and dear to my heart was the problem. I honestly felt like the candy, ice cream, and burgers were killing me. From that day on, I decided to make a conscious effort to try to live a healthier lifestyle. It is something that I continue to work on every day. While in the moment those foods are amazing, but we have to think of the long term effects that it can have -- especially when it is consumed too much.
