Have you ever felt like it was just too hard to keep up with your nutrition goal? Just based off of personal experience I can say that trying to juggle school, work, the gym, and healthy eating has always been a bit of a struggle for me. Thankfully after my third consecutive year of going to the gym I have picked up the positive habit of eating lots of veggies and fruits. But things haven’t always been that way for me. As a kid I despised most veggies with the exception of corn, of course. My daily meal consisted of sugary cereal in the mornings with whole milk, wonder bread with butter for lunch along with chips or cookies, and a plate of white rice with chicken for dinner, with soda or juice to drink. As you can see, my meals really only provided me with sugar, carbs, and an insufficient amount of protein.

Another big part of my life growing up seemed to be fast food. Whenever going out on weekends, or sometimes even on weekdays, my meals mostly came from McDonalds. It wasn’t that my parents didn’t have the money to buy me healthier food; it was the fact that I was extremely picky and didn’t eat much else. An order of chicken nuggets with a side of fries was what I always wanted.

The same food that I had once loved is the same food that caused me to put a stop to my unhealthy diet. McDonald’s, as well as any other fast food restaurant, began to give me chest pains, heart burns, and intense stomachaches. It felt like my body rejected everything I put in my mouth. I quickly realized that this couldn’t end in anything good so that is where my path began. I cut out fast food from my diet and instead searched for places that offered me steamed veggies (I was beginning to grow a liking for them), fruits, and foods higher in protein such as beans and chicken which was something that I had been previously lacking in my diet.

As you can see, making a change will never be an easy task but sometimes it takes a bit of tugging to push us towards our goal. In my case it took an upset stomach and chest pains to learn that fast food wasn’t the best choice for my health, but thanks to this I can now say that I feel better than ever, I am constantly going to the gym, and I’m still eating what I love while supporting my own body.

– Kiana