Health and Exericse Social Media Accounts: How they helped me find myself.

I was always athletic as a child. Since the age of four I was riding horses. My dad likes to reminise and say, “You had a 1,500 pound animal trying to buck you off. The horse more times than not won, but you stood up, brushed yourself off, and got back on.” I was continuously encouraged to do anything and everything I wanted to. I ended up joining the swim team, the gymnastics team, and the speed skating club. I was a strong, fit, and active as a child.

Moving forward to junior year of high school I stopped doing sports. I was no longer at practice for 4 hours a day and doing 2 hours of conditioning every morning. I went from fit to what I like to call “chunky yet funky”. I continued to eat the way I had when I was doing sports which consisted of mac and cheese, lots of pasta, and McDonald’s. This unhealthy diet quickly made me put on 40+ pounds.

I found myself scrolling through Instagram and Facebook where there are always plenty of accounts that promote fitness and healthy eating. Somehow instead of discouraging me those accounts were able to encourage me. I started to follow accounts like @KatyHearnFit and @WomensHealthMag and unfollowed accounts like @McDonalds. Both accounts frequently post recipes, workouts, and pictures of confident women. I wanted to be one of those woman again so I got off the couch and did those exercises, made those recipes, and found the passions for fitness I once had for sports. Somehow social media accounts made one young woman, struggling with negative body image, into a confident and strong individual.

Beginning of high school I was still doing gymnastics and swim team.

I was always one of the fittest girls in my grade. I was confident in myself.

Then I broke my shoulder. It put an end to me doing anymore sports in high school.

I quickly put on those 40+ pounds.

On the outside I was a happy person, but on the inside I let those negative thoughts get to me.

After seeing women like Serena Williams on the @NikeWomen page, and similar accounts, I felt encouraged.

I slowly but surely lost the weight by learning different exercises and eating healthy foods. The happy person I was on the outside became who I was on the inside as well.

In one year I was able to lose the weight and become confident in myself and my body again.

Going to college I wasn’t worried about how I looked. I was able to make my own path at Colorado State University (CSU) without the stress/burden that came with me gaining the weight.

College has been a hard transition for me in terms of exercise and food, but I still strive to be the best version of myself. I find myself now looking back on those photos and being proud of the transformation I was able to make. I was able to use the social media accounts to educate myself about a healthy diet and frequent exercise.