Turning Challenges into Strengths: How I Became a Foodie Health Nut

“No one is you, and that is your power.”

Recently I had the pleasure of being featured in my city’s main newspaper, The San Diego Union-Tribune, in their health section. Between my current and past jobs of being a publicist, freelancer writer, newspaper journalist, and health coach, I’m usually the one asking the questions, so it was kind of funny to be the one interviewed for a change. I brought my dog Harley along for the photo shoot at one of our favorite nearby parks, and it was neat to see the article in the newspaper.

You can check out the full online version of the article here. The story touches on my workout regime, diet, and healthy living motivations, and in reading it, I started thinking more deeply about how & why I became a health nut.

When the reporter asked me about my healthy living motivations, my immediate thoughts were to talk about wanting to feel my best and live a long, healthy life. That is very true, but as I started thinking back to when my passion for healthy food, active living, and being mentally & physically strong began… I realized that it was really about transforming what I always perceived as a challenge into a strength of my life.

You see, I never have been the skinny girl. I’ve always had an athletic body type and could easily gain weight. The women that I grew up around the most were/are all 5 feet tall and much more petite than me. When I was a kid, this was such a sensitive topic for me. To add to my insecurity, my brothers were football players who were always eating everything they wanted trying to gain weight and get bigger – and struggling to do so.

I felt like the fat one, and I also felt like a weirdo because as long as I can remember, I’ve loved food. I can recall having such mixed feelings about food, because on one hand, my family has always been very into food and cooking, and a lot of our family gatherings centered around food. But on the other hand, everyone was physically fit and also fat-phobic, so I wasn’t sure what to think. Does it make me a fat ass that I’m excited to have dinner tonight? I would ask myself.

My weight and relationship with food was something I struggled with throughout my early years. Looking back, I never once was overweight, but I think that unfortunately a lot of girls go through this period that they’re insecure about some part of their looks. I loved food, but sometimes I also felt like it was my enemy. I went through periods of eating very little and dabbling in eating disorders. I would punish myself for eating things, but no matter what I did, I never felt quite good enough.

I had always played sports, and after high school gym time and sports were over, it seemed natural to me to keep up an active lifestyle. I went to the gym to weight train and do cardio, and also started taking boxing classes, and it was then as a young college student that it really clicked that exercising makes me feel good. I made the connection, and from then on, I craved those endorphins and always made it a priority to exercise. I can honestly say that now as a 30-year old, I’ve never in my life had a long period of time when I haven’t worked out. It’s just a part of my lifestyle – an innate healthy habit that I continue in whatever capacity I can, no matter what’s going on in my life.

My relationship with food also began to change for the better in college – and has since continued evolving. While my roommates and friends would eat ramen noodles and crappy food from the cafeteria every day, I did my best to create healthy meals from my apartment. I had already been a vegetarian for half of my life by then who never had a fast food habit, and the healthy habit of cooking meals at home had been something I grew up with my mom and grandma. It was different in college than before because no one was making my meals or telling me I had to eat my broccoli – I was just doing it because I felt like it was the best way to live. I think at first I was eating healthy purely because I didn’t want to be fat, but as with exercising, I realized that it makes me feel good too.

As I got older and came into my own more, I realized that being a foodie isn’t something to be embarrassed about just because I’m not a super petite woman. No, I’m strong, fit, and I love food – and those things can live together in harmony in my life. That mentality of balance through active living & food became the premise for this blog right from the start.

I shed the shame that I had so oddly had felt for much of my life, as I found more people like myself in the blogging world who too would swoon at some gorgeous smoothies or get excited about a new healthy dinner recipe they created. I wasn’t alone. I realized that there is a balance to be had, and while it’s a constant pendulum swing, it’s doable to eat with joy, live with joy, and be proud of yourself and your body all at once.

After all, why should we have to choose between enjoying food or being happy with our bodies?  

This blog has always been about sharing my journey with my healthy lifestyle, because it’s just that – a journey. I strive to always be learning and evolving, and I feel like I’ve turned my challenge of having a slow metabolism into a positive in my life. I have more of an Ashley Graham body type than a Heidi Klum one, and that is perfectly fine. I no longer want to be super skinny, I just want to be the best version of me.

Having to keep up with exercise and eating right to stay in shape drove me into a healthy lifestyle and led me to becoming a healthy recipe creator, and I’m so happy that I connected the dots in my healthy living philosophy and began this blog. I love that starting this blog led me to health coaching, a whole new world of friends, freelance writing, and recipe developing for some of the brands that I’ve been a fan of for years. I feel like the dots will keeping connect for me as I continue to live purposefully & authentically.

For anyone who is struggling with their weight and body image,  I just want to say that you are capable of finding your healthy balance & of realizing that you don’t have to fit into this very specific box of what “beautiful” looks like. Find what healthy means to you. You have the power to be mentally & physically happy. It takes work and sometimes it’s challenging as hell to let go of your destructive thoughts, ideals & behaviors. But when you finally get to a place where you no longer beat yourself up for being imperfect, when you’re finally able to develop a healthier relationship with food and practice self-love… it’s magic.

No questions today, just share any thoughts below!