Age: 22
Intended major: Nutrition/ Food Science
Class: 2017
Hobbies: Staying active, Reading, Playing with my dogs, Going to church
Taylor gives us her insight on how to stay healthy and fit during the mist of being your typical hard-working college student. Taylor began her journey towards a healthy lifestyle when she made promise with her mother, who at the time was an alcoholic, that they would both become healthy and make major life changes to achieve that goal. Taylor calls that “the spark of motivation” both she and her mother needed. Taylors friends/family, dogs, time spent staying active and her faith are what keeps her going through any curve-ball life may throw at her. She has found a passion within eating right and staying fit.
We all know how hard it is to keep a balance between school, homework, staying active and having a social life. When it comes to making balanced food choices, it is extremely important for Taylor to keep a variety of foods in her daily diet. This way there isn’t a chance she will get tired of eating the same thing. Taylor stressed the fact that she does not believe in “dieting”, in fact according to her she believes that “diets do not work and it is a super unrealistic concept”. Her experience with dieting came from doing her first bikini competition, where she was held accountable to track/count calories and meal prep which she found led to her obsess over her cheat day she was able to have once a week; on her cheat day she would binge eat whatever she wanted in a limited amount of time. Although Taylor does not agree with that approach on dieting she was able to learn from her past experiences and share the knowledge she has gained with others.
To Taylor working out is not just about her image, it is something she enjoys doing because it makes her feel good. She sets a goal to work out six times a week but also stressed the fact that life happens and that it is okay if something came up unexpected or she just wasn’t up for the work out she had planned for that day. This last spring Taylor decided to step out of her comfort zone and push herself to commit to her first bikini competition, where she learned a lot about herself and was able to gain new experiences. There was a time through it all that she may have felt like quitting or caught herself thinking how unhealthy the competition lifestyle can be on a human body. Through it all she learned how important it was to make goals and stick with them. Working out is a way for her to work on herself, it is a way for her to have a happy and healthy body and mind!