It's Not Easy Being Lean

In high school, I truly enjoyed my daily dosage of Otis Spunkmeyer's cookies in the lunchroom cafeteria. In fact, during my senior year at LHS, I loved eating lunch there. Those cookies played a tasty role in my pleasure of having lunch provided at our school. Three cookies for a dollar and a thing or two of milk and I was in heaven.

In college, my options tripled. At the Ellicott Dining Hall, where I had most of my meals during my final three years at The University of Maryland, cookies were a popular treat. Though there was so much more. I'm talking bakery here, kids. There was one semester I bought a huge vat of chocolate ice cream and kept it in the freezer in the student lounge on my floor of my residence hall.

Oh, the milkshakes. And the cake! They had cupcakes, too! My goodness, my memories of my college years emphasize so many experiences, and one of them is the delectable treats I consumed. The funny thing is that I never gained the popular "Freshman 15" or "Sophomore 60." Kidding about the 60 lbs.

I didn't gain much weight due to a variety of reasons. My age, genetics (thanks, Mom!), the quantity of fattening foods which I consumed (limited), and of course - the physical activities I experienced. I recall consistent times I went to the gym every other day for resistance training (lifting). I remember playing racquetball rather frequently at times (cardio). I may have even ran at some point. For sure, I rollerbladed throughout college as well.

How'd I look? Just fine. In fact, I looked pretty good, but knew that I could feel and appear much better. After graduation, I didn't belong to a gym and didn't have an exercise routine. During some winters while in the NYC area, my closest friends were apple sauce, mozzarella cheese, "Pastina" (pasta), and hot cocoa. Without the exercise, my genetics must have come to the rescue.

Fast forward many years and you would have found me rarely having dessert after meals. You would have also rarely found me watching television. And surprisingly or not, you would have found me not exercising. This year, I begin running consistently and joined a fitness club. I started doing yoga consistently, too.

As the year comes to an end, I have come so far compared to whom I was physically (and mentally for sure) at the start of the year. While I've cut out running to prevent knee-issues, I've replaced it with 30 minutes of cardio work at the gym. I've increased the weights while doing my resistance work. Additionally, during a short period where I wasn't physically active, I did notice my body appear, well, getting sloppy. I immediately started exercising again and noticed the changes over a few weeks.

Before I consider consuming something highly fattening, I hope to think briefly, "Which do you prefer feeling - strong and lean or thick and mean?" Clearly, I know which types of food can make me happier than others. Do you know which ones will make you happier? I'm beginning to believe you are what you eat. For example, do you want to be firm and bright like a carrot, or soft and thick like a cupcake? Think about that the next time you reach for your next treat.