MJM3 Fitness Scholarship

It is a no brainer that French fries were a heaven-sent dish. They had me in a chokehold from an early age. My grandmother even once told me the story about how at the age of two, I preferred them over drinking my bottle of milk. So much so that while she was driving and passing all the fast-food places, I threw my bottle at her windshield because she said she would drive past all the fast-food restaurants unless I finished my milk in time. But I was fixated on getting the French fries and desperate times call for desperate measures. So, “POW!” The bottle hit the windshield and there marked the beginning of my long-term relationship with fast food. When it was not French fries, it was milkshakes. Milkshakes were my comfort food. In grades 1st through 8th, I was a victim of bullying. Kids used to pick on me every day. When I tried to make friends, they used to take advantage of me, and I would find out weeks later that they had been saying mean things behind my back. Milkshakes were the bandage that I would put over my emotional wounds. Drinking a chocolate milkshake after school was my equivalent of getting a warm hug. Around the end of 8th grade became body conscious. Started to pick myself apart. I would pinch the bottom of my belly and be upset at how much I could grab. I would stand in the mirror for hours in disgust as I looked at how my back had rolls or how my stomach hung over my belt line when I stood to the side. The school I went to at the time had a uniform and required us to wear belts and I remember sitting down in my last period class feeling bloated and uncomfortable. My back ached from my sedentary lifestyle and lack of sleep coupled with my poor eating habits. The body I had was starting to work against me and I knew a change was necessary...I had tried to get into fitness once before in the 5th grade after my PE teacher told me I was overweight, but I did not stick to it because I had some family issues that led me back into my comfort eating. But this time was going to be different, I was determined to at least try to make a change. So, I started by trying to increase my physical activity, made an effort to dance at least once a day because it was an exercise that I could enjoy and commit to doing. I shed a little bit of weight, but I was still achy, bloated and out of shape. It was not until my 11th grade year when I did virtual school, that I realized “You cannot outrun a bad diet!” I began to look up the nutritional info of the foods I was frequently eating and became more conscious of what I was putting into my body. I learned that when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle 20% of it is physical activity, but 80% of it is nutrition. Since then, I began journaling the foods I eat, looking at my macros and making the effort to workout 3 times a week for at least an hour. I watched my body change for the better, through consistency. I am happy to say that I started my journey on September 28th, 2020, I am still going strong now and I have no intention of going back to my previous lifestyle.