So I eventually graduated college one spring, got a job, and moved into a new apartment. I was never really taught how to cook growing up, and it definitely wasn't a skill learned during my college years. I knew the basics of how to boil water and read how much time a frozen dinner had to be microwaved for, but that was pretty much it. I figured that since I work in the health field, I wanted to be the image of health, which (to me) meant being fit and thin. I wasn't really sure how to go about this mission, especially since one of the ladies I worked with would often bake DELICIOUS cakes throughout the week and leave them in the employee lounge. Then after work, I'd be famished from trying to eat minimally at breakfast and lunch, so I'd often drive to the nearest "fast food" type place (ie Qdoba, Jimmy Johns, Chipotle, Panera, etc). Was I telling lies when I said I never ate fast food because the places I went to didn't have a drive-thru? Hmm...
Well, summer came around, and I was feeling pretty bored with my lackluster life. I wasn't sure how to handle all the time on my hands after graduating since I no longer had professional fraternity and social sorority meetings, in addition to all the other clubs and organizations and volunteer work I did as a collegiate. Sure, I had friends and a social life, but it's not like we saw each other every day anymore since we no longer had classes together or lived only a 2 minute walk away from each other. Shopping became an expensive habit. So, I joined a gym near my apartment complex. I was too embarrassed and shy to try to use the weight machines, and I hated treadmills and stair steppers, which means I only used the elliptical (and sometimes the bike). Obviously, doing that for a few months ends up being quite repetitive and BORING. I also came down with a horrible case of bronchitis that fall, and I was left with an awful cough that refused to go away. Do you think I went to the gym while having trouble breathing and feeling sick and tired and coughing 24/7? Uh, that's a big fat NO. So I stopped going to the gym and gave up.
Fast forward a year. A friend and I made plans to go on a cruise. She was way thinner than me and was one of those people I thought was crazy for actually LIKING to work out and go running. I refused to be seen in a bikini next to her unless I had a total body transformation (we even made jokes about wearing modest swimwear in the likes of this: http://www.modestswimwearsolutions.com/swimsuitpictures.htm). Through her co-worker, I was introduced to the idea of a Shakeology cleanse (which we thought would be a great idea to help us lose those last couple pounds and feel confident while sipping drinks poolside). This was my first exposure to a company called Beachbody.
Being the Google-Freak that I am, I immediately went online to learn all that I could about this Shakeology and Beachbody company (Did I want a body that was ready for the beach? Heck yes!). I liked that they were home workout programs and figured that would be ideal for me. I wouldn't be self-conscious about getting all gross and sweaty because I was in the privacy of my own home. I wouldn't care if I couldn't complete the workout or had trouble with moves because there was nobody else to judge me or compete with me. Plus, the Slim in 6 program I purchased promised a great body in only six weeks! (The cruise was about 8 weeks from that point). It was perfect timing!
I completed the program, and I definitely saw a change in my body (was that almost a six-pack shining through?). Unfortunately, as per usual, I didn't work on my diet as much as I worked on my body. So while I saw results, they weren't as dramatic as they could have been had I followed the included diet with the program. But hey, I figured any improvement was better than nothing, so I took it.
After the cruise, there was nothing worth trying to maintain my new body over, so I gave up (again) and stopped working out. I just didn't see the point in getting all sweaty and pushing my body if there wasn't a a superficial reason behind it. Plus, by then it was fall/winter and that means layers and baggier clothes to cover up my wobbly bits. Bad logic? Of course.
Obviously, by this point, I was in a cycle rut. I assumed this would be my unwanted future. Luckily, little did I know, there would be a "Revelation" coming my way :)
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