Welcome to my blog!

Thank you for stopping by and reading my story. My name is Cindy, I'm 24, and I have struggled with my weight since I was 8. That is 16 years of my life that I have read diet magazines advertising "Lose 10lbs. in 5 days" or "2 weeks to a bikini body." I also have been on Richard Simmons (diet and video workouts), SugarBusters, Body for Life, and South Beach. I am sure that I have enough diet books that if I did weight lifts with them, I'd have that bikini body. Or if I spend that money on a tummy tuck.

I got tired of waiting for January First or a Monday or the first of the month to start living healthy. About three months ago, I took charge and decided that I was tired of being overweight and unhealthy and I committed to living a healthy lifestyle. I joined weight watchers and continued going to the gym regularly. And I am going to writing about my experiences of living a healthy life. I welcome your comments or questions.

History
I did not come from an active family. I am an only child with older parents that think a good time is going out to dinner or driving around the national park. When I was eight and in elementary, kids would call me fat and make fat jokes. I was a bigger child and would eat to fix the pain that kids caused.

My mother is one of the best non-healthy cooks ever! She used to bake dozens of cookies, pastries, and cakes. She cooks latin food and chinese food and fried chicken. It is hard to say no to a 8 oz piece of fried chicken with 1.5 cups of mashed potatoes and a good scoop of gravy! As a child, I figured that if I ate the same or less (but never less) than my mom, I was doing well controlling what I ate. But by no factor did I exercise or run or play to burn the amount of food I ate off. So I grew up sendintary and eating as a pass time.

As I got older, I started diets like SugarBusters and Richard Simmons. These were not a lifestyle option, rather they were something that I went on hoping to lose weight so I could just eat myself heavy again. I joined a city fitness center in junior high and high school. I did well for a few months after buying the membership, but never really followed through. My stamima would increase and then it would just hit me like a brick when, after 8 months and a whole lot of food later, I wasn't able to run a 10 minute mile.

In high school, I started working for a bank located in a grocery store. Nothing like having junk food 50 feet away. I ballooned up to 210lbs at age 17. I was 210lbs and a size 18 and there was no sign of decreasing. I started dieting on the Zone then I fasted for religious purposes and I went back to 190lbs. Just in time for college. I maintained my weight but still had a very unhealthy and inactive lifestyle. My last year in college (2007), I became obsessed with the gym. I would go to two or three classes and run for 40 minutes a day, I became vegetarian, and just lived exercise. This touches on another part of weight gain: addictive behavior. When I was upset or stressed, I didn't turn to food, I turned to running. I didn't eat much. I replaced one obsession with another. This was a healthier choice, but it was not the healthy balance that life needs. I joined Gold's Gym and thought that if I was working out 2 hours a day, I could eat anything! But it just doesn't work that way.

So here I am. Working on a healthy balance and just not results.
Next time I talk, I want to discuss what I am doing for eating and exercising, what I look for in a gym, what I consider for ways to become/stay active, and some recipes!