Where I have come from: Health and Exercise-wise

My name is Grace, and I was in Weight Watchers in middle school. My Aunt Rachel had lost 100 pounds on Weight Watchers and had reached her goal the summer before I went into seventh grade, and the Art Teacher that I volunteered for had also joined Weight Watchers and was an example for me as I was very overweight for a twelve year old. I joined Weight Watchers at the end of October in 2003, and after a year of staying with the program and writing everything down that I ate, with a couple of relapses and plateaus, I lost a little more than 45 pounds and was considered healthy on the BMI scale. I made Lifetime membership with Weight Watchers and could attend the meetings free as long as I stayed within two pounds of my goal.
High school came around and though I made sure that I exercised, I slacked on the writing down of what I ate, and put on a little bit of weight. Then I would exercise and eat right for a little while and then lose five to ten pounds. But then I'd be happy again--probably a new boyfriend or down a size in clothes, and I'd slack off and gain a little bit of weight again. This whole situation would then rinse and repeat.
There were a couple habits I picked up on the way. On Weight Watchers, there is a points system, and depending on your weight and the amount of activity your normal lifestyle includes, you get a certain amount of points. Vegetables are mostly 0 points, thus a free food, and thus I would/do/will eat large portions of vegetables, and now it's habitual that I eat a lot of veggies to fill up my stomach.
I discovered Splenda. At first it was just supposed to be an ingredient in Weight Watchers recipes that we'd copy down each week at the meetings, and then I started using it in my milkshakes I made for breakfast, and then in oatmeal, and then I started to have a habitual addiction to my homemade hot chocolate water (which is cocoa powder, Splenda, mostly hot water and a little bit of cold milk).
When I started going to University of Akron, I'd buy a diet Mountain Dew, or a low carb energy drink, and by the end of the two years I commuted there, I was drinking two diet Mountain Dews, or other carbonated drinks each day--I really had no self control in the area of drinking these drinks.
Then my friend Wendy and I started going to Dunkin' Donuts to get iced coffee--it started with those coupons for free drinks. We branched out to the local Starbucks, and then we would hang out at Target. When Pulp showed up in town, we'd go get smoothies. They were amazing. I was pretty much addicted to the sweet drinks. I somehow exercised enough to make it okay, and maintained my weight.
I've been eating whole wheat and whole grain, natural sugars, and anything that is an alternative to an unhealthy option. But my motives were all wrong. This past semester, I realized why I should eat healthy, and that reason was not to be sexy. Although eating righteously does have a certain appeal...
I eat local food to support local economy, I know where it comes from, and I know that people are taking care of the plants and animals--it's not in a factory. I buy food at a co-op because I know it supports those it is surrounded by, and even though it's more expensive, it's better for the world long term. I avoid high fructose corn syrup because they derive it from corn. Which is a vegetable. I don't eat meat because I know that the meat was produced using excessive amounts of water, and that the cows were in pens that were squeezed tight and were suffering their entire lives. I buy fair trade chocolate and coffee because I know that the people in the other countries were not slaves in their own trade.
That's why I eat healthy. I exercise, not to lose weight, but to meet people. I walk places to become familiar with the community, and to take my time with life. I run to communicate with others. I move to get places. It's not about losing weight or being thin, or having a six pack. It's about finding a healthy routine in life that benefits me in the long run, so that I can live long and prosper with what life is about.