Hello!

This is my first ever blog post! I have to admit, it's scary and exciting all at once. The reason I decided to start this blog is because I've noticed that I really love reading about other people's journey to finding themselves and how different people are living their fullest lives. Whether they've lost over 100 pounds and have kept it off or they completely switched their career path from something mundane that pays the bills to the exciting and fulfilling career they've always wanted. I've come along way in my own life and I thought maybe I can inspire someone like I've been inspired by others. I can't honestly say that I'm living the exact life that I've always dreamed of. However, I'm learning to love the life that I have and stop comparing it to what life "should be". I'm on a path to understanding what makes me happy, how to overcome self-doubt, and how to truly accept myself.

I will be posting about a number of things. One of the biggest is probably going to be food. I've had a love/hate relationship with food my entire life. Growing up, I thought I ate "healthy". Looking back, I now know that I didn't even really know what healthy was. I've learned a lot in the last 5 years about what healthy means for me. It means something different for everyone. Just because one method of eating and working out works for one person, doesn't mean that it'll work for you. You have to learn to listen to your body and stay true to yourself. I've been able to maintain a healthy weight for four years because I've finally found a way to eat and workout that makes me happy. I discovered that once I mastered my relationship with food, I started to be able to focus my energy on other areas of self-improvement. Instead of worrying about what I'm eating, am I gaining weight, did I work out enough, do I look fat, and a slue of other self-destructive and obsessive thoughts, I was finally able to stop yo-yo dieting and punishing my "bad" eating with cardio. I finally stopped obsessive food thinking and stopped the cycle of gaining and losing weight. I learned to cook. I learned to eat (and love) vegetables. I learned to cut out a lot of the processed foods I was eating. I learned to read labels and look at the number of ingredients. All of these changes made me appreciate the food I ate not resent it. That mindset shift made all of the difference.

It's a never ending journey and I'm still have a long way to go. I'm not sure that anyone ever truly "arrives" at the end of their happiness journey. We are constantly evolving and learning new things about ourselves. We have to embrace the journey and learn from our mistakes. That is why I'm striving to do and I hope sharing my stories with you will help you along your path as well.