Have you ever gone through a weight loss journey? If so, did you take advantage of it? I know I did for sure, and I completely regret it. I have always been overweight since elementary school and I came to my senses when my doctor informed me that I was pre-diabetic during my first year in high school. I used to eat big portions of rice every day when I got home from school, but everything changed. My meals went like this: one pear and the school's breakfast (it varied so let's say mini pancakes), crackers or gummies for a snack instead of lunch, and a big plate of broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Yes it doesn't sound like a good plan to follow since I skipped lunch but my metabolism is slow so this plan helped me. I lost 20 pounds in eight months, went from 180 to 160 pounds, and I felt really good, also not being prediabetic anymore. Then I maintained this weight for another year, however, my third year in high school went a bit rough.

My class schedule was a bit different than a typical student's schedule. I had no lunch period only because I changed one teacher around, but I first thought it'll help me not think about lunch so I didn't worry about it. After half a year of eating a snack instead of lunch, I started to eat the school lunch every day during my class, making me gain about five to seven pounds within five months. It wasn't a drastic weight gain so I just told myself it's normal to have those weight gain moments. Once senior year came, everything went downhill.

I was enjoying my last year in high school during the first semester with all of the senior activities given. You probably knew that COVID-19 was spreading around in the beginning of January in Wuhan, China and then it slowly started coming towards the west side of the world. For health and safety reasons, all schools were shut down in March and the courses were moved to online learning. Since I was home all day every day, eating something helped me stay out of boredom. Also, a lot of the supermarkets were either closed or very limited on items due to grocery hoarding so I didn't eat very healthy food every day. By May I checked my weight and I put on 15 to 20 pounds. I also became prediabetic again. No it wasn't put on within the three months we were in quarantine. I was gaining little by little during my senior year so it was slow and then once quarantine became a thing, the extra weight came in quickly. Of course I was upset with myself and actually cried since my hard work went to waste within a few years. So I decided, let's start over again and slowly get the hard work in. Just because we can't go out doesn't mean we shouldn't utilize the free time we have at home, unless you have a job or physically can't move around.

I want to leave this message for everyone who is like me. You can enjoy food as much as you like, but remember to balance what you consumed. You can have a nice, tender steak sirloin one day and then eat savory vegetables the next day. There's also the internet to help you with your food choices and research. When you have free time at home, or it's a nice day out, do some exercises or yoga, or even just go on a nice 20-30 minute walk in the neighborhood. The most important thing to remember is to drink water as frequently as you can to keep yourself hydrated and energized. But also, love yourself no matter the negativity thrown at you. This is your body and if you feel like losing weight, go right ahead, we will all love you no matter what, as long as you are healthy and happy.