I have recently started a fitness journey to become a healthier person. After moving away from home and coming down to Texas, AKA the land of fried foods, I gained 20 plus pounds which in return made me slightly depressed. After being laid off from my job I found myself with a lot of time on my hands so I decided to start working out more often. When I started out I would only go two or three days a week, but I was super strict on my diet. I would never drink anything other than water, and every meal no matter what had to be 100 percent healthy. Now I am not saying anything is wrong with this because eating healthy is very important but to some extent, it was a bad habit for me. I found myself turning down going out with friends and missing out on all types of fun experiences because I didn’t want to risk gaining any weight. So, I essentially went from being depressed that I was overweight to being bored and unhappy. After a while of sticking to a very strict diet plan, I found myself sinking back into just being plain unhappy so I decided I needed to find my happy medium.

Since then, I have become a little more lax on what I eat and in return I now go to the gym five days a week. I have found that working out five days a week versus three, I have a lot more energy and I am generally happier. But I do have to say, the true key to finding my happy medium was loosening up the reigns on my diet. I am without a doubt a huge foodie; I love to try new foods and I just love to eat in general. When I was adhering to a strict diet, I felt like I was missing out on life, and yes I know how crazy that sounds. I was no longer going out to dinner, lunch, or brunch with my friends. I was no longer partaking in pizza, wine, and movie nights with my boyfriend. I was no longer enjoying an occasional delicious dessert. Now I’m not saying I just eat whatever I want, whenever I want. The difference is I know occasionally will go to lunch or dinner with my friends and enjoy some amazing tacos or a big juicy burger. I now partake in one of my favorite nights of movies, wine, and pizza with my boyfriend. I am eating a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream as I write this. By lightening up on my diet I have noticed the pounds aren’t falling off as quickly as they were when I was dieting hardcore but I wouldn’t go back to the strict diet for anything! I probably won’t even loose the last five pounds that I want to either but I am 100 per cent okay with that! I am enjoying life and I am no longer saying no to life because “it’s not on my diet plan.” What stands between me and the last 5 pounds I want to lose is simply life, and I will not give up the things that I love just to have a “perfect” body.