I never thought I’d be here today, but then again, no one ever plans to put on the “freshman 15.” After losing a bunch of weight my senior year of high school, I vowed never to gain it back. But here I am, 20 years old, 180 pounds and terrified that my jeans will shrink in the washer.
It’s tough to watch movies and television and read magazines and books in which girls and women are freaking out about weighing more than 130 pounds. Bridget Jones (in her diary) was panicking about weighing more than 125 pounds saying that she would never be successful. But I’m not Bridget Jones, I’m Rachel Dozier and I weigh 180 pounds, does that mean I’ll never find a job? I don’t want to look like a supermodel, I just want my clothes to fit properly, and that’s not too much for anyone to ask.
My body took the biggest toll after I immersed myself in my schoolwork, jobs and life sophomore year. So now it’s time to take care of me. Though I joke about it a bit too much, I know that I’m not fat. From now on, fat is my new “f-word,” to be avoided at all costs in polite conversation. I just want to be healthy. In the words of Legally Blonde’s Elle Woods “exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy,” and I want to enjoy my last year of college. I’m graduating next December, which means job interviews, friends’ weddings, graduation parties and, hopefully, a new job. I want to enter into this new stage in my life as confidently and positively as possible, and that all starts with being healthy and happy. It’s time for me to get serious, and I hope that my story will inspire yours.
Tonight I jumpstarted my diet by trying out a recipe I found on the iTouch application: SparkRecipes. It’s called Tilapia Feast. Here’s the recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 large cloves of garlic (I used garlic powder)
4 oz Tilapia fillets
1/2 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS:
Heat the olive oil in a large diameter pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until somewhat softened. Add garlic and continue cooking for a minute or two. Add the tilapia fillets, overlapping thin parts as needed to fit them into the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium low heat until bubbling. Serve with rice.
It’s only 95 calories (without the rice)!
It was delicious and took less than 30 minutes to put together. Unfortunately, I waited less than an hour before heading to a workout class at my school’s gym. It’s definitely not something I recommend. The class I took is called 20/20/20. As the title indicates, the class is split into three 20-minute sections — two cardio segments (that were mostly made up of kickboxing moves requiring no extra equipment) and one strength segment. We barely stopped the entire time and I’m pretty sure that I’ll be moving a little slow tomorrow, but overall it was a great workout! The hardest part was when we paired up with a partner and used those colored, rubber bands. One partner had to wrap the bands around the other partner and hold onto the handles, giving as much resistance as possible as the other partner attempted to run across the room, pulling the weight of their partner.
It’s hard to believe that I could have gotten such a workout with so little equipment! I’ll definitely take that class again and continue to take others.
But enough about me! Have you guys taken any fun classes recently? Or tried new recipes? Let me know your thoughts and suggestions! I’m done making excuses and I’m ready to start the next chapter in my life. I hope you’ll all be a part of that!