I'm a self-proclaimed singing, soccer-playing scientist. I've been a nerd since I could remember, an athlete since I could walk, and I've struggled with my weight my whole life.  Making the transition to life without the structured workouts and daily hours of soccer practice was a rude one for me, and I definitely failed during undergrad at putting my health first.  I still struggle with prioritizing and balancing the healthy aspects of my life with my responsibilities as a student and an employee, and fun times with my friends. I totally and completely recognize that this can be a struggle, and I'm still working on this balance. so I hope to be able to share with you things that have worked for me.  I have experienced my own success story via Weight Watchers, found fantastic workouts at Beachbody, and pinterest all the time to find good recipes.  I started this blog with absolutely no intention of making it what it has turned into. But, I was so inspired by other people's lifestyle blogs that I felt compelled to share my own story.

My story...

I've never nor will I ever be a stick thin girl. I'm not built that way. I'm curvy, athletic, and it has taken me 25 years to say that I absolute love my strong soccer player legs.  It was something that was hard to get past in high school, but I had plenty to distract me from that aspect of my life. I was one of those perpetually active high schoolers - participating in musical theater, multiple choirs, AP classes, and varsity sports.  I was a nerd, a jock, and self proclaimed goodie-two-shoes-choir girl. (Who else caught that American Pie reference?)

I have played sports my whole life, but none was more important to me than soccer. I had played since I was 5, and it literally was my life all throughout junior high and high school. Recently someone told me - "Ellyn doesn't play soccer. She lives soccer." True story! During my 4 years in high school, I literally played multiple hours a day, 7 days a week every fall.  Soccer consumed all my free time. Through school, club, and select teams I was constantly playing. It was never an issue of what I ate because I burned it off, and I needed the carbs and what-not to keep me moving.

After I stopped playing competitive soccer in college, my lifestyle took a dramatic change, but my eating habits did not.   I made so many unhealthy choices when I was an undergrad.  I drank too much. I fell victim to the exceptionally convenient buffet style cafeteria. I subscribed to the chicken strips and fries diet. I too often utilized the convenient and accessible market place for my pints of ice cream to drown out the disappointment of that test that didn't go well, or that argument with my roommate. And though I had fantastic friends whom I will never regret having in my life, many of them were enablers of this unhealthy lifestyle.  Pretty much the freshman fifteen, turned into something more along the lines of the freshman thirty. And though I would bounce back a bit every summer, by the time I graduated from college, I was at the heaviest I've ever been in my life.

School was my excuse. I was working toward a double-degree in Microbiology and Genetics. I was working in a lab part time. I was volunteering as an assistant soccer coach. I was a busy girl, and I used that as my excuse not to work out or eat healthy.  I deserved all the treats and drinks I was allowing myself - and that's what I kept telling myself.