First of all, let me go ahead and get something out of the way. It should be safe to assume that anyone reading this knows that as a 19-year-old college student, I am not a licensed dietitian or fitness expert. However, let me go ahead and give a disclaimer just in case. What I'm about to talk about is solely based on my own experience these past few months with fitness and eating habits. This may not work for you, and you should always check with your physician before engaging in a rigorous diet/exercise plan. Make sense? OK, good.

Now, with that out of the way, let's start to talk about my health journey this past summer. I have always been someone that's been relatively confident in myself and my body. Aside from the occasional days of feeling self-conscious, I have generally been consistently happy with my body. With that being said, increasing my personal strength and fitness has been a goal of mine for a long time. Anyone who knows me personally can attest to the fact that I'm not crazy about working out, and I have the upper body strength of a wet noodle. I usually made excuses about why it wasn't a good time to work on building up my strength, but I was given the perfect opportunity when the Freshman Fifteen happened to me. I didn't even realize that it had occurred until l stepped on the scale at home and saw that I had brought home more than just my suitcases.

At the end of June, I saw the rest of the summer stretching out before me, and knew that I had time to make some changes in my life. I knew, too, that if I started during the summer, I would have a good foundation for some healthy habits that I could bring to college with me. So I started doing a few small things in the way of my eating habits and exercise routine, and have lost 15 pounds so far! This is only the beginning of my journey because I want to get stronger in addition to losing the weight. However, I figured that I would talk about a few of the things that have actually worked for me!

1. Totally rethink the way you eat.

OK, so I know this one seems insane. How are you supposed to totally change your attitude regarding food and the way you consume it? Believe it or not, I didn't realize just how jacked up my eating habits were until I tried to change them. I would snack constantly, without ever really paying a ton of attention to what I was eating. I would indulge in sweets with reckless abandon, and not think twice about it. In order to lose weight, I knew I would have to start looking at foods that had health benefits in addition to being super filling and satisfying. For me, counting calories works. It keeps me accountable and is an easy way to see what I'm eating throughout the day. I like using the app MyFitnessPal because it gives you a complete look at all of the food you're eating as far as its nutrients. I'm also a fan of the app YouFood, because it allows you to document your meals with photos, and I'm a super visual person. I guess the main thing is just that I stopped seeing food as something I could indulge in mindlessly, and more as a way to give my body what it needs. Instead of just having lots of snacks throughout the day, I try to have a filling breakfast, and then a healthy morning snack. I follow this up with a healthy lunch, an afternoon snack and then dinner. I also try not to eat after 7:30 pm because this helps me avoid cravings.

2. DRINK WATER.

This tip is a game-changer. And I didn't realize how much water my body needed until I started tracking my intake. Drinking a glass of water before a meal, and another one during, will help you eat half as much food and still be full. No joke, often times when your body is telling you that it's hungry, it's just thirsty! There's no magic number for how much you should be drinking, but try to drink a glass before every meal, and any time your body could possibly be telling you it's thirsty. If you're high strung like I am, and need actual numbers, Plant Nanny is the app for you. If you input your gender, weight, height, and activity level, it will give you a personalized water goal per day. When you drink a glass of water, you get to water a super cute plant on the app! It's incredible. And notice that I said drink water. Not just any old beverage that you choose. This means you should probably cut out juice and other sugary drinks as much as you can. And no soda. Like, not at all. Not ever. If Coke can clean blood off the sidewalk, or strip paint off metal furniture, imagine what it can do to your body. Um, no.

3. Find accountability buddies, but choose wisely.

When you first decide to lose weight and get stronger, you might feel so empowered that you want to tell everybody and their brother about it. When you start to see results, these feelings will definitely get stronger. However, be careful who you tell about your fitness journey. If you choose to confide in a friend, make sure it's someone who will motivate you and keep you accountable, while also encouraging you instead of manipulating you into giving up. When I first decided to start to become healthier, I told some of my close friends from college about it. They've been there with me every step of the way, offering encouragement and motivation. Even better, they've agreed to go with me to the gym once we get back to school. My mom has also been a huge motivator for me since she is also on a journey to take better care of her body and be healthier. Basically, have people there on your side that will help you instead of hindering you. If someone tries to convince you to have a "cheat meal" every day, they aren't somebody you should probably be chilling with when you're trying to get on your fitness grind.

4. Find an exercise you like, and do it three to five times a week.

For me, exercise was the main area I wanted to work on. When I was younger, I used to dance competitively. As a result, I worked my butt off and didn't have to worry too much about exercise because it was just part of something that I loved. As a young adult, this is something I've struggled with. I am not a fan of running, and I'm too antsy for yoga. However, my life changed when I discovered the Fitness Marshall's dance video's on Youtube. He makes videos with routines that are easy and fun, to current music that I love to jam out to. The videos are about three to five minutes long, and before I know it, I've done about twelve of them without even realizing it. Before finding his videos, I would dread exercising because it wasn't anything that I enjoyed. But working out with his routines, as well as taking walks in the morning and hiking, has helped me really like to exercise! So, find something that you like and do it a lot, because sweat is your friend. I've recently also tried to start adding in strength training one to two times a week because strong muscles are awesome. I have gym equipment at home, but there are tons of body weight exercises you can do, too! As a quick side note to this, find a way to track your steps. I bought a MisFit Flash on Ebay for $20, and it's a really good dupe to the more expensive FitBit trackers (I'm ballin' on a budget here people). However, there are tons of free apps you can use on your phone also that do the same thing!

5. And finally, don't treat your health journey like a diet.

You're not on a diet. Diets don't work, and they make you feel deprived and super sad. Instead, treat this like a lifestyle change. I know, that's the tritest and overused catchphrase these days, but it's so true. If you want to have that cake, eat it. If you go out with friends and skip a day of workouts, that's fine. The only way you will have sustainable weight loss and experience drastic changes in your fitness is if you incorporate small changes and stick to them. It's a slow process, but giving up won't make things come any faster. Commit, stay motivated and realize that you're changing your life for the better. You're getting healthy and losing weight one day at a time, one meal at a time, one workout at a time, and one step at a time. You can do it! And you will be so glad that you did.