Recruitment is Fun!

Recruitment is Fun!

This week, I have been participating in my sorority's Spirit Week (a week of practice for formal sorority recruitment). My sisters and I have had plenty of time to bond every day, sunrise to sunset, over sorority cheers and team building exercises. This week has been a wonderful experience for my sisters and me. However, some challenges have arisen during Spirit Week and Recruitment with my diet and exercise plans.

Because Spirit Week has been an all-day commitment, I have been exercising with Kristen early in the morning before practice. This has been a little more challenging than I anticipated, since I typically finish my workout and go straight to practice for six to eight hours. This process sometimes feels like a day-long workout. However, thanks to the diet changes I've made during my time with ENP, I haven't felt nutritionally depleted, despite the demands of my Spirit Week and Recruitment schedule.

An unexpected positive aspect of my time with my sorority sisters during Spirit Week is the encouragement they give me to stick to my workouts and diet plan, despite any temptations to "cheat" on my workouts or meals. They have been reading my blog posts and following my journey this summer, and they want me to succeed in my endeavors. They have been nothing but supportive of my lifestyle changes throughout Spirit Week, which is very uplifting.

I still have one more week of Formal Recruitment, which will bring new challenges and successes. However, I am looking forward to receiving continued support from ENP and my sisters throughout the week.

Here's a picture of my sorority sisters on Bid Day last year! Love them so much!

A Soliloquy on Weight

A Soliloquy on Weight

Now that I've been training with ENP for a little over a month, people I see who know about my training often ask about my progress. Usually, the question sounds something like, "How much weight have you lost?" or "Can you tell if you've lost weight?"

The answer I give usually perplexes them, because the truth is, I haven't really lost any weight since I started training with ENP. There hasn't been a radical drop in the scale or pressure to make a certain weight during weekly "weigh ins" with my trainers. The number that flashes on the scale in front of me is not significantly lower than it was when it started. In fact, I have been told that my goal during this journey is to gain weight.

When I was told that I needed to gain weight to meet my goals, every idea of weight gain and loss that society has fed me over the past 19 years made me very doubtful that weight gain could be a good idea.  All the commercials, movies, weight-loss wonder pills, and miracle weight-loss workouts I have been exposed to my entire life had led me (and many other young women) to believe that weight gain was to be avoided at all costs. How in the world could weight gain be a positive thing?

I needed a reality check. 

I needed to learn that weight really is just a number.

Really.

Here are some things I learned when I researched what my weight really means:

1. Your weight is a fluctuating number that is influenced by many factors in your life. Some factors, like your diet and exercise, are under your control. Other factors, like water retention and cortisol levels, are not always under your control.

2. No one knows how much you weigh unless you tell them. The number on the scale is your business, not the world's business. If you feel healthy and proud of the way you look, your weight should not matter to you or any of your peers.

3. You can gain weight and lose inches (seriously). Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you lose fat and gain muscle, you can look great and still gain weight.

So, next time I step on the scale, the number in front of me will not matter. If I gain weight through this journey, I will not fret or question my lifestyle changes. I will take pride in the way my body feels and the strength I'm beginning to gain. I am not gaining unhealthy weight, I'm gaining strength and muscle. I know that I'm making choices that benefit my body, and as long as I'm proud of the way I look, the number flashing on the scale in front of me is irrelevant. Weight is just a number. Really. I refuse to let societal pressures tell me otherwise.

Following The Plan

The Importance of Following The Plan

This week, I learned the importance of giving complete trust to the experts who tell you how to eat and work out properly. When I first started this sponsorship experience, I trusted and respected the expertise of Kristen and Sam. However, I was a little nervous about placing my diet and exercise plans in their hands because I had never worked with a company like ENP before.

As I continue on this journey, I have learned that Kristen and Sam are more than worthy of any client’s complete trust in their diet and exercise plans. In the past three weeks, my diet changes have given me more energy, helped me avoid “bonking out” during my workouts, and made me feel healthier overall.

However, when the plan is not followed properly, complications sometimes arise. Even though I’ve only changed my diet for three weeks, I notice that any deviation from the plan (eating foods with more sugar, fat, caffeine, etc. than I am now accustomed to) causes an immediate change in the way I feel. When I eat foods that are more processed or have added sugar, I have noticed that I now feel sluggish and sick to my stomach, which serves as further motivation to stick to my diet plan.

Example: The Chick-Fil-A Chicken Mini

Last Friday, my Dad went to Chick-Fil-A (formerly one of my favorite fast food restaurants) for breakfast and picked up Chicken Minis (formerly one of my favorite fast food breakfast items). As I previously mentioned, I used to believe that God himself had personally placed Chicken Minis on this earth for the enjoyment of Chick-Fil-A lovers nationwide. So, when I saw the Chicken Minis on the kitchen table, I decided to try one, thinking that just one wouldn’t hurt.

I was wrong.

That single Chicken Mini promptly ripped itself through my system like a chainsaw down a waterslide. Not fun at all. At that moment, Chick-Fil-A and Chicken Minis were off my list for good and I decided that sticking to my plan would be the best option for my new lifestyle. It really is a win-win to eat healthier foods and feel better overall.

No hard feelings Chick-Fil-A, I’m hoping this will be a civilized breakup.