All my life, I was never "the skinny friend." I always envied how skinny my friends were — looking at my arms, my stomach, my thighs, my legs, and wondering why I was so much bigger than everyone else. It took me many years to finally accept my body. While I am content with the way I look now, I want to change to boost my happiness and to boost my health.

I have tried doing weight loss in the past, but to no avail. Diets never last, working out gets tiring, and my motivation always decreases. What I didn't realize was that I was throwing myself in full force and not taking the time to become comfortable with everything I was doing. Dieting turned into cutting out everything bad for me and leaving myself hungry. Working out turned into throwing myself into super hard workouts and not taking into account for my skill level. None of these actions were sustainable.

Now that I am much more experienced and have gotten tips from professionals, I feel ready to start my weight loss journey again.

I will be taking it nice and slow, allowing myself to enjoy the process. I will still allow myself to eat the foods I enjoy — just not as much of it. Having smaller portions and filling my plate with all the food categories will leave me feeling more satisfied and with fewer calories eaten.

Working out is going to be much different. Previously, I went to the gym to workout. The gym is opening soon, but only at 30 percent capacity, so it may be unlikely that I'll be able to get a spot every day. My current plan is to start walking and running around the trails on campus as it gets nicer outside. Eventually, once I build my stamina up, I hope to start doing personal workouts whether it is outside, the gym, or in my room.

I hope this has inspired you to also start your weight loss journey or to support those who are going to! It's a huge mental battle to actually start, so once you take that first step, you'll gain the confidence to continue. I'm not going to lie, it will be hard and there will be days that you want to quit. Don't give up! Keep going, even if it's just for yourself.