Meet me

The Basics:

Name: Bri
Age: 23
Marital Status: dating a hottie
Education: Senior studying Mass Communication at Dixie State University

A little background:

Being healthy has had varying degrees of importance in my 23 years of life. When I was a little kid my parents weren't very educated about healthy eating. We ate sugary cereal and packaged snacks like most little kids. And like most little kids I got stomach aches semi often. When I was 8 years old my dad and mom started a health program called Fit for Life. The basics were: when to eat what, what foods should and shouldn't be eaten together, and staying away from packaged and processed foods. From then on we were only allowed to eat fruit until noon. Lunches were usually simple sandwiches with some veggies instead of chips on the side, and for dinner we mostly ate salad. My parents would fill our whole kitchen table with salad fixings like you would see at a buffet and we would make our own salad. My dad learned how to make healthy cookies that really did taste good (which is rare!) and away we went on our healthy lifestyle journey.

I distinctly remember realizing that I didn't get stomach aches anymore. It got me fully on board with the way we lived. I never resisted too much anyway; kids are so adaptable that I totally considered us normal even though looking back I know what a big change my parents made. We would do cleanses every year that involved us only drinking lemon water for a whole day. Then for the rest of the week we were only allowed to eat fruits, veggies and rice. In the middle of the week we took an "indian bath" which involves sitting in a very hot bath for as long as you can handle, getting out and getting wrapped in sheets that had been in the freezer, and then into bed with blankets piled on top of you. It sweats out the toxins in your body. During the week we also had to take a lot of herbal pills that are for cleansing out the system. The point is, we were extreme- at least to society's standards. And when you grow up in that extreme of a situation it tends to stick with you. I'm so glad it has.

I haven't stuck with the Fit for Life program through all these years (my parents haven't either) but it was a very good place to get a grasp on what it takes to live the lifestyle I want to live. I haven't been perfect in my college years either(surprise, surprise). I never gained the classic freshman fifteen but a couple years out of high school I wasn't happy with my life here in Utah. It was bad enough that I moved to New Zealand to be a nanny. During this time of unhappiness I gained a total of 14 pounds. It was a combination of not eating right, eating too much, and not exercising (funny how that will do it huh?). The 14 pounds is gone. When I moved back in 2011 I didn't have a car (I sold it to buy my plane ticket) and biking all over town took it off pretty quickly. I'm a happy camper these days, but there is still always excuses when you're in college as to why you can't live the healthy life you just know you will when your schedule calms down. Yeah right. This blog is not only to try to help other college students work toward living a healthier life starting now, but it's for me to push myself to make the changes I need to to get to the peak of living healthy. It's not about dieting to get into a smaller size jeans, it's about a lifestyle change that leaves you having energy, loving yourself when you look in the mirror, having the confidence it takes to excel, and putting only the best ingredients in your body that you know won't harm you. I just really believe it's worth it.