About a year ago, I never would have pictured where I am physically and how much better I feel. It all started midway through my senior year of high school. I started to feel really low on myself and how I looked; I would stare at pictures of my friends and I, but technically this was not the good kind of stare. My legs looked bigger than usual, my chest always looked and felt bloated, yet my eating habits did not change, but over the course of my junior and senior years, I had gained 20 pounds in water weight since junior year started due to stress levels, previous medications, heavy workload hours, and my not so healthy work break-food ritual 3-4 times a week (you would think eating chicken tenders this much would be heaven for a 16-17 year old). By the end of my senior homecoming,I just decided I was tired of being dismissive about my problems, in and out of school, so I decided to do the unthinkable: start exercising. I did heavy research specifically on Kayla Itsine's BBG 1.0 and 2.0 because I always came across transformation pictures on social media of people who had started and followed her food and exercise guides and I just wondered what it would be like to lose the annoying water weight and feel better about my image and health. Around New Year's Eve, I officially bought my gym membership and began BBG 1.0 Week 1 in January 2016. Because I have not been involved in sports at all in high school, the first few weeks were brutal; I was dizzy, nauseous, sweaty, and kept contemplating on giving up. However, after a few weeks of getting in the swing of going to the gym about 5-6 days a week and including a half hour to an hour per day in my schedule for gym time, I noticed more emotional changes rather than physical. Around February-March, I began to grow passionate about my workouts and telling my friends and family that I was finally taking charge of my body and happiness; my grades improved (I still suffered from senioritis, but I managed to increase my cumulative GPA??), I began to develop better social interactions with my peers and my incoming friends in college, and I noticed my size 27-29 skinny jeans getting too bulky on me, causing me to bump back down to a size 25-26. Once prom and the end of year senior festivities came around, I received many compliments like, "Did you lose weight?" or "You look amazing!" and I continued to explain to others what I had gone through within 6 months, before and after my commitment to the gym. Yes, some workouts sucked or were too redundant, but I didn't give up and do not plan to fall in the path of the Freshman 15; I go to a college that offers a free workout facility and I also commute around campus via bicycle or by foot. As for my diet, I began to include more fruits and veggies, while also allowing "Cheat Days" for my favorite cravings (living blocks within a Red Mango and Potbelly's ain't easy!); I did grocery shop weekly during BBG and would scarf down snacks like whole wheat bread, peanut butter, Cheerio's, homemade açaí bowls, and other snacks rich in protein to help build more muscle. Now, in a matter of a year, I have lost about 20 pounds worth of water weight, insecurity, hatred towards a gym and sweat, as well as endless amounts of reusable water bottles to begin and conclude my workouts. However, I am proud to say I will still be the girl to scarf a platter of chicken tenders at my campus's grille, while still making time for a quick jog around campus or the local walking trail blocks within the downtown area.