Two Lives, One Lifestyle

I’ve got to be honest, I used to think blogs were silly.  But after I discovered the world of health blogging through an innocent search for a banana bread recipe, my opinion did a complete 180.  Bring on the food!

At the time, I was struggling to get rid of a modest post-college-weight-gain/pants-tightening by tracking calories and doing a heck of a lot of cardio.  I was extremely frustrated because it constantly made me whine: “I can’t eat this.”  I have always loved enjoying food and it was taking that pleasure away.   Same thing with exercise.  As I read more blogs (and took biochemistry, read Michael Pollan, saw Food Inc., etc.) I started becoming fascinated with food for totally different reasons.  I realized I should cook for myself more, start eating more whole foods, and get creative with my workouts.   I gave up focusing on calories  in favor of  nutritious eats sprinkled with a healthy dose of not-so-wholesome treats.

I wouldn’t call eating this way a diet, but something to adapt as a way of life.  You hear it all the time but it’s the truth.  If you want the changes to stick- it’s gotta be for life.  It was not an overnight change and I am definitely still working on putting ideals into practice which is why starting a blog seemed appropriate.

So here I am, embarking on a blog adventure with Kelli.   All through college and especially this past year, we shared many conversations as we traversed similar fooding and exercising paths.  Now instead of emailing and texting each other pics of food, recipes, and Garmin Forerunner graphs, we will share with all.   I can’t promise that we will always fall into a purely “health blog” category.

Me and Kel at a winery

Background

Now, I’ll  back track a bit.  I’ll tell you ahead of time that it’s nothing too ground breaking, just how my thoughts about food and my body have changed over the years.

Growing up, my mom always cooked delicious, well-balanced meals that we all sat down together for.  Kind of how I’m trying to eat now. I’ve come full circle.

I should have seen this blog coming!

I was never a picky eater and rarely thought about what I was eating or my weight until I was getting ready to go off to college.   I was so mature, going off to college and all, and decided that to become a hot college girl, I should be skinnier and tanner.  This led to exposing my pale Irish skin to the summer sun and eating mostly bagels, ice cream (I worked at an ice cream shop), and occasionally beer.  Terrible.

Although I was bright enough to make dean’s list in my chemical engineering major, I managed to totally fail on how to eat.  My first semester of college was simultaneously my first time drinking significant quantities of alcohol on a significant basis, my first time playing on Facebook rather than on a soccer field, and my first time having a wall of cereal at my disposal.   I managed to gain the freshman um, 20 or so.. oops… in a semester (not many full body pics).  The picture on the right explains it all.

Over that winter break, I  explained to my family, that no, I would not like that cheesecake to which one of my aunts responded “But I think you look better when you’re chubby”!  What would I do without family flattery?!  I finally managed to lose most of the weight I gained over the following summer with my mom’s balanced cooking, no beer, and probably too much exercise.  Also not recommended (the exercise part).

Throughout the rest of college, I wouldn’t exactly call my life balanced though I did strike some sort of balance, as in “I should run before I eat chicken wings and beer.”  I met Kelli during my first year at Bucknell but we became very close the summer after our sophomore year, which we spent together learning among other things, how to feed ourselves without a cafeteria or mom.

The summer following my junior year, I was in Boulder, CO where I was immersed in a totally different lifestyle than I had ever seen.  So green! So healthy! So many Olympic athletes!  I was torn: I wanted to be like these super healthy, super fit people all the time but how could I do that when I also wanted to go to happy hour and eat giant slices of greasy pizza at 2 AM?   The concept of balance was still escaping me so I veered from one extreme to the other.

On the exercise front, I’ve always liked being active.  I took dance lessons, played soccer, mountain biked with my step-dad, and just generally loved to play outside and run around.  I don’t think I’ve ever gone more than a few weeks without running since I was in 8th grade though I’ve never raced (until 2010)!  The summer I went to Boulder, I found out I had a stress fracture in my knee and I was told not to hike or run right before I went to Colorado of all places.  I ended up buying a beautiful road bike though and did two triathlons the following year (one with Kelli).

I always have- and hope I always will- really love getting a good, sweaty workout.  I just finished my first marathon and can’t wait to enter more races.  Though maybe shorter ones.

And for now… I just defended my master’s degree in Chemical/Bio Engineering (and passed!).  I’m looking for work in public health or biotech, but for now I’m living in Denver with family and friends and enjoying my time!

Since college, I have focused on maintaining balance in a regular schedule.  I’m no longer tempted by the bars more nights than I would like to admit and I try to sleep more, eat better, exercise smarter, and improve my cooking.  I like to keep up on health research and to try new foods and exercise, the latter of which blog reading has definitely encouraged.  I hope you enjoy following along as we both continue to change, grow, and learn from trial and error!

Katie