Taking It The Next Level - Colleen's Blog part 1

I can always remember having a passion for fitness in me. As a child,
I would always do sit ups in my room, I was always active with the
neighborhood kids playing "Man Hunt" for endless nights in the summer,
and my father practically forbade 'tea parties;' he insisted we learn
how to play baseball instead. As I got older, I was on the swim team
in middle school and once I hit high school, I went right for the
cheerleading squad, succeeding in making Varsity my sophomore year and
captain my senior.

Once high school was over, though, I found it hard to keep up with
being active once I started hitting the bars more and trying to study
harder for my attempts at college. Jobs became an obligation (I now
work 2) as well as relationships with my close friends and significant
others. Trips to the gym became less and dining out became more. It
wasn't until this past summer that I TRULY got back into the groove of
staying in shape. Not only did I get my groove back in the gym, but I
also found a niche in being a "normal" girl capable of succeeding in
eating healthy, too.

The way I saw it was: If I am going to work so hard on my body in the
weight room, why should I stop there? It for sure took a while to
learn new concepts of working out--I was always intimidated being
uneducated for one, let alone being female in a large co-ed gym--but
with meeting the right people to train with and embracing these new
techniques rather than being scared (high intensity vs. low intensity
cardio, body-weight workouts vs. lifting weights, etc.), I found a
person in me I never knew was there, even despite my fit background.

Boxing, running, spinning, interval cardio, weight training, all the
knowledge of working out was embraced--that is until I would go out on
the weekend and order fried chicken at dinner or greasy 2am pizza
after a night on the town. One night I came to the realization that I
could either (a) keep working out so hard to stay the way I am now or
(b) modify my eating habits to improve, which was why I wanted to work
out so hard in the first place. The choice was obvious. The gym
became--and will always be--an obligation to me, and one that I take
pride in. Slowly but surely, I decided what eating habits would be
right for ME and MY body on MY terms.

Even though the "trendy" diet programs have plenty of success stories,
I, quite frankly, knew I was not that woman to follow any of them.
Being young, I enjoy dining out, I am just more cautious than ever
about what I put into my body (I try to stick to just sushi, or order
everything grilled with vegetables instead of french fries and will
only allow myself to dine out once a week). What a difference it has
made, too! Physically I am improving in ways I never thought I could,
like actually SEEING ab muscles, and mentally I have gained an
astonishingly positive attitude by clearing out all the inhibiting
foods, like fried/greasy items, and incorporating more natural,
healthy foods.

Nowadays, my diet is strict, but I am so used to maintaining the drive
to keep up with it that it is not hard to follow. It's about listening
to yourself instead of what diet programs or other people have to say.
Each body type is different. Everyone has their "off" days, but I take
pride in being able to brag about how I don't have that many. I
recently began portioning out my foods. A trip to the grocery store
can last anywhere from an hour and a half to two, but once I look in
my cabinets and see the success in the nutrition labels after the
fact, the time spent is SO worth it.

My secret? Low calorie, low fat, high protein, high fiber. Each
morning I cook myself a high protein breakfast and take a
multivitamin, while preparing my lunch for the day. Call me crazy, but
if 1 serving consists of 12 crackers, I am going to count out 12
crackers. Surprisingly enough, though, I can still gorge on a ham and
cheese sandwich with a handful of snacks (today I had 5, plus
breakfast, plus the sandwich) and still stay under 1,500 calories! I
never go above that. To maximize muscle growth while still being very
feminine, I see to it that my protein intake doubles that of my fat
intake. I've been doing this for a few months now, and the compliments
on the improvement of my body are rolling in, which also does wonders
for my confidence level and positive mind frame. Combining the
personal knowledge I have gained in my eating habits with the right
workouts has given me some great challenges which I have accepted and
conquered. Now after all this time, I still feel like I am just
beginning, anxious to see what I can learn next. Sure I am human, and
will always have the occasional day where I "slip up" (I will always
love buttery Italian foods!), but achieving the level of control I
have now has been quite the ongoing accomplishment--one that I love to
encourage amongst others.