Passion or Obsession?

Other than my hands being glued to my laptop all day, and taking care of my kids, the gym has been an escape for me for almost two years.

One of the first things I think about in the morning is throwing on my workout clothes and driving to the Weight Club.

At first, going to the gym was solely to lose the weight I gained while I was pregnant with my daughter( seventy freaking pounds btw), but after awhile, working out and changing my diet and lifestyle became a passion.

One day I just stopped and took a good hard look at what I was putting in my mouth and how it could be affecting my mood and energy. It's not just about how many calories something is, but what harm or good it was doing for my body.

A can of pepsi is 100 calories, but so is a yoplait real fruit smoothie. Obviously the smoothie is a better choice, but it wasn't a choice I was making. I am ashamed to say, I was drinking probably five to six pepsi's a day. ( OMG YUCK!) Drinking your calories is never smart, and sugar turns into fat anyway.

When I first started working out, being on an elliptical or a treadmill for more than five minutes was painful. :( And painful to watch I'm sure. I looked like a buffalo with three legs trying to run in a stampede. The cramps, and the way my legs felt like jello....ugh! It felt like torture. Let's not even talk about my first spin class... picture me, in the last row on the verge of puking and crying. (Pathetic)

I never gave up, and kept pushing hard every day. Pain and sacrifice got me to my goal weight, and then some.

Cookies are my favorite thing in the world!! I'm the girl who could sit with an entire bag of oreo's and a big glass of milk, and just keep on dunking. I have honestly lost count of how many cookies I've eaten before. Saying no, an eating a handful of grapes instead was hard, and it seemed so unfair. Oreos are milk's favorite cookie and my favorite snack... or, WAS my favorite snack.

But I decided I wasn't just fighting to be in shape, I was fighting to prolong my life and keep my health in check. It might seem like the little things we do don't have an effect on us now, but it catches up. When your sixty and you have clogged arteries, a heart attack, or diabetes, you'll wish you made smarter choices.

Your hair, your nails, your skin, even the rate at which you age is all affected by your lifestyle and what you eat.

And you tanning bed freaks out there, you think that sexy glow is hot now? Just wait until all those harmful rays come back to haunt you. You'll look like a dried out prune if you don't ditch the hot box, and lather up with SPF 100 at the beach.

Is this post obnoxious? Maybe! Do you wish it ended about five paragraphs ago? Yes, you do! It's okay! Is it something to seriously think about? Hell yeah it is!!

The way life is in general makes it extremely difficult to make smart healthy choices. Every road you turn down is a fast food restaurant or a bar. ( Don't even get me started on the effects of smoking and second hand smoke.)

But taking small steps everyday is one step closer to a healthier happier you!! Sometimes, I feel like I want to just give up and eat an entire cheesecake with chocolate melting down the sides. But then all my sacrifice and hard work would have been for nothing.

Start tomorrow!! Instead of that Cinnamon bun or chocolate donut, try Multi Grain Cheerios's with fat free milk or a whole wheat waffle with jelly!

It's not dieting, because that NEVER works. It's just eating the way your body needs you to eat to live longer and healthier! Lot's of rest, because your body craves carbs when you are tired, and water is now your new BFF.