21 Days

February 17, 2015

It is now day 21 of Paleo which means…THE HABIT HAS BEEN FORMED. Yep, that’s what they say. It takes 21 days for habits to take root, and it all gets easier after that. I have experienced this in other areas of my life. Starting college was quite the transition and after the newness and excitement had worn off, homesickness settled in. I longed for my bed and my family and just to come home to a dinner waiting for me on the stove. But surely enough, after about 3 weeks to a month of college, I had gotten used to this way of life. If anything, it’s stranger to return home now than it is to be here in College Station. I went through similar circumstances when getting in shape for high school basketball. The beginning was always rough when season rolled around, and with coach Hodge’s practice hours, it’s a miracle I wasn’t having a daily mental breakdown. Oh wait…I actually was. But sticking to a schedule and forcing myself to get out of bed and go to the gym on those bitterly cold mornings developed a habit. Basketball practice became something automatic.
Likewise, transitioning from the typical diet of a college freshman to the diet of a Paleolithic hunter and gatherer has been quite the struggle. I went from having Chick-fil-a for lunch, burgers and fries for dinner, to a veggie egg-white omelet for breakfast and lean meats and assorted fruits throughout the day. It used to be a struggle for me to go a day without a Dr. Pepper, and now I drink water religiously. Seriously, at the beginning I felt like I was going to drown in all the water. Going out to eat with friends was extremely painful. I could taste all the foods I used to eat and crave them immensely. Chips and queso, pizza, cookies, ice cream, enchiladas, spaghetti, BREAD. I ached for those tastes again, but I fought the temptations like my life depended on it.
It’s hard. People ask me what my secret is behind the motivation and how I have been able to say no to the foods that surround me constantly, especially being on a college campus. Honestly, the secret is that there is no secret. We have been told our whole lives that the way to lose weight is to eat right and exercise. And that’s really all there is to it. There isn’t a magical process, and if you hear about someone losing weight without having to work hard, it’s probably too good to be true. Eating right and exercising is a HUGE discipline. At first, all of my thoughts revolved around what I couldn’t eat anymore, what I was missing out on, and how my hours in the gym could’ve been spent hanging out with friends or reading chapters in my textbooks. But at 16 pounds lighter and a shirt and pant size thinner, my thoughts have evolved into how much better I feel, the energy I have, and the progress I have made and will continue to make. Seriously, it’s crazy. My face that is normally broken out has cleared up, I have such a renewed mind, and all the exercise has released endorphins, making me generally happier. It is an incredible feeling to look in the mirror and see such significant results in only 21 days.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have tons of temptations. Just today I was tempted to eat the chocolate Hershey’s kisses that had been in my bag, taunting me since Valentine’s day. When I strongly debated eating just one, I thought of my goal to have reached a total weight loss of 20 pounds by the end of this week, and I decided to get rid of the temptation. I gave the entire entire bag to a classmate. Although I was strong in this example, there have been some slip ups, like the scoop of ice cream I had two weeks ago and the coke I had at the movies when I visited home. Slip ups are going to happen, but it is most important to correct those mistakes and focus on staying committed, rather than indulging in other negative areas.
So yeah, it is possible to eat right and exercise while living on a college campus. Luckily I have an awesome group of friends to support me and a best friend on the Paleo diet as well! I am so glad I persevered through those first 3 weeks because the benefits outweigh the challenges in every way. 21 days down, a lifetime of healthy living to go!