My Healthy Living & Fitness Journey

Living healthy and being fit is one of my most important goals this year. Since January 2nd, I’ve been doing Weight Watchers and Blogilates. There are ups and downs for sure, but it’s going great so far! Even though I’m only less than two full months into this journey, I’ve learned so much, from healthy foods to fitness. I’ve been trying new things, letting go of old – often bad – habits and it’s slowly turned into a hobby I’ll enjoy for the rest of my life. In today’s post: my healty living and fitness journey!

Let me first tell you that I have accepted my size and weight a long time ago. Truth be told, this is my fourth time trying Weight Watchers and my second – or third – time doing Pilates with Blogilates. It’s not the programs that don’t work for me; it’s 99% my own mental health that’s in the way.

2013; Starting My Weight Loss Journey

I had to scroll Instagram waayyy down for this, but I think I found some photos from the first time I went on a “diet”. At this point, I simply wasn’t happy with my body. There was this Dutch diet book called “BodieBoost” that I found through Facebook when I was 16 or 17 years old. In hindsight, that sounds so young to start dieting! I checked it out with my mom and we figured it couldn’t hurt for the entire family to eat a little healthier, and so we went for it. I managed to lose a whole lot of weight in the months I did it. It wasn’t one of those diets where you’d lose a whole lot of weight in a short amount of time. I think you’d lose like half a kilo to a kilo per week, which is good.

Blogilates

About half a year after starting BodieBoost – in December 2013, I started the Blogilates Beginner’s Calendar. It was so challenging, but so much fun! I’d done other sports in my life, but pilates really made me like exercising. I went from being stiff as a stick to somewhat flexible and strong. After a month or two, I could do a roll-up without having to use my arms! That’s still my biggest fitness accomplishment! In April 2014, it all went wrong, unfortunately… I was going through a really rough time, I struggled with eating healthy, and working out started to become a chore. I stepped on the scale weekly, but I didn’t lose any more weight. Shortly after that, I quit both BodieBoost and Blogilates.

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2015; Weight Watchers – Round One

My best friend – who I met in college – did Weight Watchers and got me excited to try it with her. I signed up for the digital program and it reignited my interest in eating healthy. At this point, I learned to accept my body, but working on it couldn’t hurt. After a huge setback, which mentally f-ed me up pretty bad, I quit. I couldn’t cancel my subscription, so every now and then I’d try again, but never with much success. When the year was up, I canceled and left it at that. I did have to take mandatory sports classes in college, so I took Zumba, Yoga, and Meditation classes.

2016 – 2020; God Only Knows

For four years, everything regarding my healthy living and fitness journey is vague. I didn’t do anything (WW, Blogilates) for more than a few weeks at a time. When I quit college and started riding my bike to work more, I realized just how much I love riding my bike; I’m outdoors getting fresh air and moving my body, which is pretty great! Living on my own for a while was good for my diet! I got to choose my own meals and usually made sure I cooked something relatively healthy while also making sure I wasn’t buying too much junk. Unfortunately, over the years of not actively working on my health, I gained back all the weight I lost in 2016, plus some more. Making me the heaviest and unhealthiest I’ve ever been.

2021; A New Journey

On January 1st, something inside me just… I don’t know how to explain it. My mental health has always been the one thing holding me back, but it’s gotten so much better since taking antidepressants, going to therapy, and overall having a more stable life. I guess something just “switched” and I felt like doing Weight Watchers and Pilates again. While I’m writing this, I’m halfway through my second Blogilates calendar. I’ve lost almost 5 kilos since the start of the year and I’m so proud. My family is enjoying the Weight Watchers dinners I cook for us, I genuinely like working out and I know better not to quit this time when my weight loss stagnates. I’m so excited about what this year is going to bring!

I’ll be blogging about my journey this year! What kind of health & fitness post would you like to see?