Most of my life I had been athletic and in-shape. However, during college I went through many tough times that caused me to fall into fits of depression. Some of this was caused by the stresses of being a crossdresser, but much of it was also family problems and academic struggles.
I always hovered around 180 pounds, but during those difficult years I packed on a lot of extra weight. At one point in 2002, I was at my worst ever: 225 pounds. Relatively speaking, this could be viewed as minimal, but for me they were some of my worst days. What had happened to the fit and thin guy I always knew?
Through some effort in changing my diet and exercise habits, I had been able to cut some of that excess fat and so for the last few years I was steadily weighing in around 215 pounds. Still overweight, but in a much better place.
Last September, after taking a vacation, I noticed myself feeling extra sluggish and looking chunkier than usual. This, coupled with comments (not mean, just informative) from family and friends about my shape, pushed me to ponder my situation. Some said that I was gordito, some said that I looked like I packed on some pounds, and others asked when I was going to get in shape.
My usual fitness habits have included lifting weights and cardio, and I would do so consistently for a few months. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, I would soon stop going and fall back into the same bad habits as before. In college, I signed up for a gym membership and started to really tone up and feel good, but then I moved to Chicago, where there was no easy access gym to go to.
My university has a gym, but getting to it entails taking either a train or a bus (sometimes both) which can take up to 40 minutes each way. So I did go from time to time, but not enough to be able to call it a fitness regimen. Then, last year, we decided to move to a high rise apartment building, one that had a fitness center! This would certainly make it much more convenient, right?
Well, at first I still wasn’t exercising, and I couldn’t figure out why. Was it a lack of motivation or just general laziness? Something needed to give in order for me to get off and running on my pathway to optimal physical health.
Check out part two of this series here.
JessicaWhoHD
Facebook
