this is it.

This is me at my thinnest.

First entry, yay! I had the idea of creating a blog to keep some sort of track over my weight when the always useful Pinterest led me to Mama Laughlin's blog, and after skimming over a couple of her posts it hit me: what better way to keep constantly motivated than to keep a blog? But before going on, I guess I should fill you guys in a bit more about me. 

 My name's Cristina, I'm 24 and a soon-to-be college graduate. When I was a kid, my mother signed me up for swimming lessons that turned into competitive swimming at age five, and for the next eight or so years I had intense, daily training and was enrolled in constant swimming competitions. At first it was nice, because I had a ton of friends and nothing much to do with my afternoons (what kid does?) but as I got older, having to sacrifice most of my afternoons (and for a while there, part of my mornings as well) for swimming became annoying, and I ended up resenting my coach, the pool, my mother, and basically anything that had to do with swimming. When I hit 13, I finally called it quits, and dropped out. At this point you're probably wondering so what? Well, the thing is during all those years, I grew used to eating whatever I wanted. With all the energy you need to swim, all the fat and carbs and sugars I ingested were gone in a second, and the first few years of adolescence I had a rocking body. Once I quit though, all the excercise was taken away and I was left with constant hunger that led me to eat twice what the rest of the girls my age ate. 

 This was the beginning of a crazy rollercoaster that has been building up over the years and created my biggest insecurity: my weight. High school was probably the worst time, I gained so much weight that by the time senior year rolled by I was two pant sizes bigger than in junior high and when prom pictures popped up all over Facebook, I looked like a hippopotamus in a dress. Seriously. I managed to control my weight a bit more during my second and third year in college, and I actually lost so much weight I looked like a different person, all because of a very strict diet. But by the time December rolled by, the free pass I gave myself for the holidays turned into an entire year of indulging myself with whatever I pleased. I gained back all the weight and then some. 

 Currently, I've realized I need to go beyond the 'lose a couple of kgs' mindset and actually change my eating-related behavior entirely, for both health and aesthetic purposes. For once in my life, I want to know how it feels like to be considered skinny, and to try on whatever I please without wondering if it will fit. This blog will keep track of my progress (or lack of it), and hopefully it will provide the much needed motivation so I don't give up along the way. Easier said than done, right? Anyway, I'll post pictures as I go along, coupled with skinny recipes I try out, and maybe even an excercise regime (when I actually get myself to it). 

Wish me luck!