Understanding how I maintain my physical health is deeply rooted in my entire wellness journey and a good place to start if you want to understand why I do what I do today. It’s difficult to explain the daily choices I make without diving into the origins of these habits. The core idea here is that personalization is key. One must adapt practices that suit one’s unique needs and not merely mimic others. My path to wellness has been gradual, involving incremental changes over many years.
My journey began at age 20. In high school and early college, I maintained a slim physique with little effort towards diet or exercise, except for a brief stint in track during my junior year. The summer after my freshman year was transformative; I biked daily to class and work, developing strong, muscular legs. However, as my circumstances changed—moving back to campus and commuting by car—I noticed a decline in my fitness.
At 20, motivated by my less toned appearance, I made subtle changes like eliminating cheese from my sandwiches and cooking more instead of eating out. I also started practicing yoga weekly, joining an class at a local church filled with older women. This was before yoga was popular so it was really all I could find, but I had been interested in yoga since I was a dorky 12 year old.
By 21, inspired by a “Runner’s World” book I borrowed from my mom, I began running by following the exact plan the book laid out. This new hobby eventually led me to compete in numerous half marathons and even a tough mudder race. Concurrently, I developed an interest in weightlifting, though my routine fluctuated with my life’s demands. Post-college, a costly gym membership and personal trainer helped me achieve great physical shape, but it was unsustainable financially, leading me back to sporadic running.
By 27, I had gained 35 pounds since my teens. I reached a point where I felt disgusted with myself and I started P90x and trained for another half marathon. Around this time, a friend’s significant weight loss on Whole30 inspired me to try it, and I successfully shed 15 pounds. Though I regained the weight, the experience proved to me that significant weight loss was possible.
The next year, encouraged by a friend, I entered a figure competition, which involved intense training and dieting. While I gained muscle and lost 25 pounds, the weight returned post-competition. My fitness journey continued in waves, often dictated by race registrations and intermittent hot yoga classes, when I could stomach the price.
Some time after the competition, I read Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman and was hooked on his idea of plant-based, high-nutrient eating for long-term health. I started learning from vegan influencers and eating a lifestyle high in carbohydrates and found that I gained weight instead of losing it. I wasn’t focusing on the nutrient-dense foods Dr. Fuhrman promoted and instead just focused on the foods being animal product free. This was a mistake.
At 32, with plans to have my first child at 34, I revised my lifestyle, losing 10 pounds by skipping breakfast and ending my daily 3PM snacking. I kept the weight off for the next year. I found something sustainable. I still maintained my mostly vegan eating habits and ran 2 half marathons that year. I got pregnant with my son and started Orange Theory at 9 weeks pregnant. I was very active through my entire pregnancy, but gained a significant amount of weight.
Two pregnancies and babies later, my weight was nowhere close to what I wanted and my body looked like someone else’s. I started working out just twice a week 6 months after my second son was born. I did this for a year and a half and saw results just from being consistent. I still had a good amount of weight I wanted to lose, but I started to feel more confident in my body and felt strong again.
I got pregnant again at 37, but found out at 16 weeks that the heartbeat I heard at my 10 week ultrasound belonged to a partial molar fetus (2 sperm, 1 egg) and the heartbeat was gone. Devistated, I commited to daily 30-Day-Fix workouts and focused on whole foods because I needed something else to focus on and for the first time in a few years, I was going to focus on something for myself. I fairly quickly lost all of my baby weight and a little more.
8 months later, I am still working out nearly every day. I know 30-Day-Fix isn’t the most intense thing I could do, but it works for me now. It’s 30 minutes, I can do it at home with my kids, and it never seems too overwhelming to get done. I am continuing to make little changes to improve my health even more and will continue to evolve as I learn more and my needs change. Through bloodwork and different things with my cycle, I’ve discovered what I need to supplement and focus on nutrition-wise. I find it easiest to eat basically the same way each day as creating habits is the cornerstone of my success.
Here’s my current eating routine:
Breakfast: Coffee, cold brew, or a homemade latte | Sundays I eat a hearty breakfast, but other than that, I don’t eat until lunch.
Lunch: A smoothie made with with vegan protein powder, blueberries or cherries, spinach, almond milk, seeds (changes depending on where I am in my cycle), vegan EPA/DHA oil, creatine, and peanut butter.
Afternoon Snack: Roasted chickpeas
Dinner: A balanced plate of meat, vegetables, and a carbohydrate
Supplements tailored to my needs: vegan protein powder, a women’s probiotic, vegan EPA/DHA oil, NMN Complete, Biotin, D3/K2 , and Methylfolate.
My journey has taught me a vital lesson: effective, sustainable fitness is about gradual, personalized enhancements. Slowly build habits that work in your life and that you can stick to. Don’t try to do everything all at once or you will get overwhelmed and hate your life. And lastly, change your mindset to think like someone who is where you want to be. Ask youself what that person would do and do that. If you don’t know, find out. There are a ton of books available to learn about nutrition, fitness, and weightloss journeys.
Suburban Sprout 