My Nutrition Journey... Part 1

I would consider my fitness and nutrition journey to be pretty typical: a rollercoaster full of “ups” and “downs.”  Throughout the years, I’ve gone through bouts of being really in tune with my workouts, really in tune with my eating but inevitably getting off track or just frustrated. 

We live in a world of constant information overload and instant this and instant that.  We want to have our cake, eat it too, and also be skinny and glamorous.  

But in the last year, I finally found myself in a good groove: eating and working out in the right way for me.  I hit a place of clarity and understanding what works best for my body and my sanity.  I’m going to take you on a little journey, and explain how I ended up where I am today, living in harmony with my body and lifestyle.  

My whole life I’ve struggled with my weight - with literal highs and lows. I was lucky to grow up with good role models in a family of active people, but this also created a dynamic that fueled my challenging journey: feeling like I was the least fit of my family.   I joined Weight Watchers in high school because I was frustrated with how I looked and felt, and it seemed like a good way to monitor eating habits.  I would lose weight, get comfortable, and stop tracking my food... and so the weight would creep back on.  A few times, like the summer after my freshman year of college, I went on crazy fitness binges: taking diet pills, working out like crazy and dropping a bunch of weight.  This, besides being extremely unhealthy, was not sustainable.  So the weight came back on.  

My sophomore year of college I found myself in a major slump.  I was lethargic, and at first figured it was just typical college stuff: staying up too late, studying too much, partying too much.  But then I starting breaking out in hives.  It started out small, but noticeable.  I would go the doctor and they would give me Benadryl, ask if I changed my laundry detergent, never making a big deal of it or investigating much.  No real answer.  Then it started getting worse.  I remember waking up one night with hives covering most of my body.  They were in my mouth, on the bottoms of my feet.  I was freaking out.  They gave me more Benadryl.  

I finally consulted with my family doctor back in Maryland.  She is a MD who also practices homeopathic medicine.  (https://www.cometawellness.com/) For anyone in the area, I can’t recommend her highly enough.  Within a minute of me explaining my symptoms, she said, Alexandra it sounds like you have food allergies.  Wait…whaaat? So she ordered a blood test.  BAM.  Gluten, Dairy and a myriad of other random foods.  Ok, so this wasn’t that long ago, but long enough that gluten free was not yet trending.  When I was out to eat and ordered, for example, a burger without the bun, people would say, “oh you’re on the Atkins diet?”  No!!! I would get so annoyed.  Also, let’s be real I was 19.  So I ended up eating a lot of garden salads with grilled chicken and a side of fries.  Not really the most well rounded diet.  I stayed mostly well on track for some time.  Until I was met head on with what would become my gateway drug… my kryptonite.  I remember I was at  friends graduation party.  A day time BBQ.  So many snacks.. not gluten free.  I’d been eating Nut Thins for years.  They were fine, I’d forgotten what real crackers tasted like.  There wasn’t much food I could eat at the party, so I thought what’s the harm in having a couple Ritz crackers.  I tasted one, the buttery goodness melted in my mouth.  I think I blacked out in a gluten filled haze.  I might’ve eaten a whole sleeve of them.  That was it, once I tasted it I needed more.  I thought I’ve been so deprived and look - I’m fine!  Sort of.  

As I got further into my twenties I started working out more.  I did the typical classes, scattered workouts, lots of cardio, tried running.  Over the next couple years, I noticed huge improvements in my strength and confidence.  My weight however, was still fluctuating.  Sometimes I would be really “good” and other times, I would eat and drink too much and start “pudging” up again. I would slip in and out of being gluten free.  I don’t have celiac disease.  And my symptoms were definitely there, but not blatant.  Once in a while I would get a hive.  I would go through tired phases.  I was generally bloated, but I came to know this as my norm and didn’t think much of it.  

I started working with a personal trainer and following tons of fitness Instagram accounts.  I was measuring out my food, being super diligent and even going through weeks of eating only chicken and sweet potatoes, totally restricting myself.  I thought well, this is how I have to eat to look and feel the way I want.  Sure, I lost weight, but was it sustainable? Nope.  And was it enjoyable? Heck no!

I was miserable, not really meeting my goals, and felt like I was punishing myself for not being naturally thin.  I knew I had to change something, but wasn’t sure what.  In my next post, I’ll share the second half of my story, and let you know what worked for me.