Introduction

My quest at becoming healthy started when I was about to enter senior year of high school, about 3 years ago. I was on vacation with my family in Florida and I was living life afraid. I was afraid to speak up, to wear a bathing suit around others, afraid to take care of myself, because I never felt like I had deserved it. Growing up, I had been overweight since age 10. I didn't exercise and I ate whatever I wanted, simple and plain. Food served as a consolation, a celebration, and it began to justify any other emotions I felt. I had finally stepped on the scale in Florida and I was shocked. I was 208 pounds, and a size 16 in pants, heavier than I had ever been. That day, the last day of vacation luckily enough, I made a decision to start controlling my life by learning to live a healthier and more active lifestyle, and make better nutrition choices. For the next year I had managed to lose 38 pounds and keep it off, but I never fully stuck to a new lifestyle. I was always "on a diet" or "off a diet." This February, during my freshman year in college, weighing 175 pounds and down to a size 12, I decided to make a permanent change in the way I ate and exercised. Since, I have lost another 30 pounds, and am currently a size 4. However, after becoming more and more knowledgeable about nutrition and exercise, even admittedly a bit obsessed, I have decided to challenge myself yet again, in hopes of gaining more energy, perhaps losing the stubborn "last 10 pounds," and overall, treating my body with the respect it deserves, by trying to eat fully unprocessed, unrefined foods for the next 10 days. And potentially more. Throughout this presumably difficult process, I will be uninhibitedly blogging about my experience, by posting pictures of what I eat, and jotting down my unrefined/unprocessed (tehe) feelings. I invite you to join me on my journey of eating only real foods... no one said it will be easy, but I am up for the challenge!