Freshman 15 and St. Patricks Day!

I used to be really really skinny. Seriously. No lies. I was one of those kids that was as thin as a stick and couldn't gain weight if I tried. This continued all through high school. I even had my 12th grade Aerobics teacher tell me I needed to gain weight and seek counseling for my weight issues. I never had an eating disorder. I was just skinny, and weighed just 95lbs the day I graduated high school.

Man- do I miss that. :)

"What happened?" you may ask... well- guess what? The freshman 15 you hear about... NOT a joke. It's real. And it's scary and vicious. I don't know what the deal is, or why it happens... but it does. I'd like to read a study on it. I'm sure someone has done one.

Here are my theories as to why I gained over 20 lbs during my freshman year of college (Yep, TWENTY... not fifteen.)
A. Meal plans... I almost felt like it was money wasted if I didn't eat the 3 meals a day offered on my meal plan.
B. Dorm room fridge(aka, Pizza Roll central) There isn't a lot of healthy snacks that I could have eaten, so I my diet consisted of Pizza Rolls. Delicious, but not healthy.
C. No physical activity (aka, I'm lazy)... Our school offered an awesome PE/health complex but it was probably a full miles walk (or more) away, and it was half a mile to the parking lot to get into my car to be able to drive to the gym. Ha. So... besides the fact that I did a LOT of walking to/from class I also spent a lot of time doing other things besides working out.
D. I dated a guy who was overweight and followed his habits... (mistake).

Those are the main reasons/excuses. I don't know exactly what happened but I know that when I came home that summer I was over 120lbs... That is a HUGE jump in a year for someone who had such a tiny frame.

Since then I have fluctuated in my weight, but still haven't gotten under that 120 since before I went away to school. And that's okay. I have finally (5ish years later) accepted that I will probably never again be a size ZERO. I don't think I should ever be a size ZERO. I have boobs now (well... kinda...) and that's exciting. I am okay with my weight. I do not love it, and would love to break that 120 soon, I'm working on it. Yoga has been a great motivation for me to at least get to the gym and now that the sun is out and it's almost Spring I may try this whole running on a track idea. I really hate treadmills. Like... HATE them. I ran on the track yesterday, threw on my Pandora radio on my Palm Pre (which I love) and I ran 6 laps!

Ok, maybe I didn't RUN 6 laps, (which is 1.5 miles, thank you very much) but I tried! Lap one, I ran all the way around the track. Then I dry-heaved and almost threw up while I walked lap 2. Lap 3 I ran the last half of it, walked lap 4, ran all the way around again on lap 5 and ran half of lap 6. I think that is pretty dang good considering I don't really run. So. Today I am going back to the track, and I hope to run at least 3.5 of the laps. Three cheers for me!

And here is a little shout out to the wonderful readers I had lunch with today that said they enjoy my blog. It made me smile. Who doesn't love compliments? Thanks Kathy, Caitlin and Lauren! I like reading all of yours too!!!

Oh. And today is St. Patrick's day which I love! My favorite St. Patty's day memory is from the 1st grade. My teacher was Mrs. Hoek and she was awesome! Anyway... on that day while we were outside on the playground a Leprechaun, (yep... a leprechaun) came in and destroyed our classroom! He tipped over chairs, threw books all over the room, and drew a picture on the teacher's big paper (remember the big paper all the teachers had and would make lists and such on... yep) Anyway, there was a picture of a Leprechaun with his tongue sticking out drawn on whatever important list we had made that morning! And the best part was there was a trail of gold glitter that led to the window! Mrs. Hoek was awesome.

I also remember going home that night and my mom had the house all clean and I took clothes and threw them everywhere then told my mom "The Leprechaun" did it. She didn't believe me. :)

Happy St. Patty's day!

Chelsea

Oh... and I'm posting a picture of me on our Senior Trip to Disney World, I am super thin. Size zero pants, and note I have on a belt. Funny, right?