Personal Health, Personal Decisions

In October of 2006, I realized I was very unhealthy and needed to change the way I was living.  I decided to change my lifestyle because I wanted (and still want) to be healthy.
Since then, I've lost over 50 pounds, but gained 10 back in the last few months.  I have lost many inches, reduced my clothes size by half (was wearing size 16, now size 8), and am so much more physically active.  I still want to lose more weight and become more active, but I know I've gotten over the most difficult hurdle to health.
I have a personal blog about my Quest for Health, which you are welcome to check out, but I only post to it once in awhile.

What did I do?

It was time to be healthier. I didn't want to go on a diet because diets are temporary--I wanted to make permanent changes to my lifestyle. I began researching different programs online and came across sparkpeople.com. Now, this site works great for me, but everyone has their own preferences. There are other sites and programs out there that might work better for you.

This is what I did:

• Tracked the calories I consumed.
• Tracked the calories I burnt.
• Began and followed an exercise schedule.

Those are just the basic things I did. I also began reading articles and learning more about nutrition and fitness. I learned how to balance my diet with the right amounts of carbs, protein, and fat.

It wasn't easy, and it still isn't.  I often want another piece of chocolate, a second serving when I'm already full, or to spend the day lounging.  But when I choose healthier foods, eat healthy portions, and get out into the world and move, I feel so good about myself.

What do you do to incorporate healthiness into your life?  Big or small, it all counts.