I came home this summer with a new goal in mind: healthy living. My diet choices were reckless during my first year and, at home, I finally had total control over what I ate. It was the perfect time to enact positive change.
Unfortunately, my momentum ended after about six hours once I realized a salad is not a meal and I have the self-control of my dog, Buddy.
Most nights, I would get takeout or reheat something and eat it with mac and cheese. Saturday afternoons meant chicken nachos at the neighborhood market. On Tuesdays, I made use of the Emory dining hall, which is complete with a pizza bar, taco bar and dessert bar. I indulged in queso dip, BBQ and ice cream whenever the impulse struck me.
While I managed to squeeze in frequent exercise, fruits and veggies to offset the tornado of garbage I ingested on a regular basis, I was in desperate need of reform.
I got a wake-up call when I arrived at my new apartment in August. I immediately noticed that the frozen waffles, leftover pizza, Oreos and Cape Cod chips I would see every time I wandered into the kitchen at home were replaced with foods I literally couldn't pronounce. Homemade granola, bags of organic baby spinach and fat-free Greek yogurt dominated our kitchen. I found a bag of Chia seeds on the counter and still haven’t figured out what they are. One night, my roommate made a bowl of avocado, papaya and quinoa for dinner. Yes, you read that correctly — she made that for herself and not a bird feeder. We have hemp milk, maca powder, spelt pretzels and dried lentils in our pantry, and I’ve been advised to stay away from concentrated juice and store-bought tomato sauce. Our friend across the hall won’t eat anything she can’t conceivably cook herself — meaning she avoids preservatives, chemicals and added sugars all at once. Most staggeringly, I’m the only one who buys bread.
Now, don’t worry, my friends are human. They can throw back Boylan burgers every once in a while and won’t say no to a night-run to Arch’s. But, in their daily lives, they’re conscious of the food they put in their bodies, aware of what they should stay away from and considerate of how much they’re eating.
They made me wonder: can someone with a questionable degree of willpower maintain a healthy lifestyle?
I’m determined to find out.
Each week, I’ll make an adjustment to my lifestyle, track its effects and share my experience. This first column is just an introduction; in those that follow, I’ll share the details of what it’s really like when a busy college student starts making healthier choices. Some changes will be harder than others — for example, sleeping eight hours a night, drinking a gallon of water a day, eliminating Netflix and daily, impactful exercise will have vastly different effects on my routine.
But, I promise I won’t shy away from this commitment. There’s many things I want to know: how sustainable are these adjustments in our fast-paced environment? Does it make a noticeable difference in how I feel? Can I actually do this for a week of my life? I’ll authentically answer each question and honestly report the inevitable struggles alongside the victories.
I can’t wait to see how this experiment works, and I invite you to try it with me. To kick off the year, I’ll go one week without refined or processed sugar — any sugar outside of fructose or lactose, which naturally occur in fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
Anna’s column runs biweekly. She can be reached at a.wickham@cavalierdaily.com.
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