When my scale hit 180 and I couldn't stand seeing myself in pictures, I knew I had to make some serious changes. I was an athlete in high school who also struggled with an eating disorder so I never really learned how to have a healthy relationship with food. In college, I was prescribed Adderall for my wicked ADD which seriously suppressed my appetite making alcohol my main source of calories (Hey! Don't judge...it was college) . Finally, after moving out to Colorado, I decided that I wanted to start regulating my ADD with diet and exercise rather than drugs. Unfortunately, I had absolutely NO idea how to start with my diet and Colorado has a ridiculously good craft beer market (i.e. empty calories). So as you can imagine, my weight skyrocketed with all the alcohol and munchies. Meanwhile, my "exercise" regime only consisted of 45 minutes of cardio 5x a week (obviously not the right path). When I really committed to this I sat down with my friend Heather who is a nutrition counselor to talk about my eating habits and what was missing in my diet (most things). I started taking HIIT classes and lifting and within weeks I was looking at major results, and I haven't really looked back since. I am happier, healthier, and I get to really explore this beautiful state instead of wheezing and huffing and puffing on hikes/skiing/ect.