When we first moved on campus, my roommate and I were dying of boredom. There wasn’t much to do because of COVID restrictions so we decided to sign up for the gym. In high school,I used to take six dance classes a week and I played on the varsity tennis team. Since quarantine began, I haven’t been nearly as active and I have noticed changes in my body because of it. I would like to say that putting on a little bit of weight didn’t bother me, but I definitely struggled with my body image and found myself slipping into unhealthy eating habits because of it.
I never planned on starting to go to the gym consistently, but it naturally happened. At first, my roommate and I were going because we wanted a reason to get out of our room, but then we fell into a routine of going every other day and I started to enjoy it. I had never gone to a gym before, so I stuck to the treadmill and elliptical because I knew how to use them. I like having a break from doing school work to listen to music or watch Netflix while I run.
Over the past month of exercising, I have noticed a lot of changes. I first saw my sleep improving. I have always had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep through the night. Last semester I got into an awful cycle of staying up until five in the morning and taking naps between Zoom classes. My sleep schedule got a little better over winter break, but I still had trouble sleeping and felt tired all day. Within the first week of working out, I was already sleeping much better. Now I don’t experience nearly as much trouble falling asleep and the quality of sleep I’m getting is much better.
I have slowly started to see my body go back to looking like it used to. I do not weigh myself, but I have noticed that I lost a bit of weight just from looking in the mirror. I am really proud of myself for healthily losing weight. I have struggled with food insecurity for years and I am glad that I proved to myself that I can look the way I want while also eating a normal amount of food.
In just a little over one month of going to the gym, I am so happy with how much my physical and mental health has improved. Girls need to know that going to the gym is nott just for “getting skinny”. Eating disorders and exercise addiction are so normalized for teenage girls. Being healthy is not defined by what your body looks like but by how you feel. I am proud of how much progress I have made with my fitness so far and I cannot wait to keep working on my physical and mental health.