Lose the Freshman 15: Weigh-in day plateaus and learning from the past

With such a crazy weekend (Being a good host while  dieting is hard), it was no wonder I was sick Monday morning. My throat was really swollen and I had the worst sinus thing going on. I guess running in hail will do that to you.

My fiancé helped me call in sick to both of my jobs, and my one class  was already cancelled, so I decided to stay home. I excitedly told him all the things I planned on doing during my sick day, and he just laughed. He bet I would fall asleep instantly. I disagreed.

Turns out I slept the whole day.

Needless to say, I didn’t get to exercise yesterday. And with my excessive busy-ness and constant eating out due to lack of time and visitors (despite always choosing healthy options), I did not lose any weight this week.
 
I feel like I’ve teetered around this 13-lb mark for a while, so I’m beginning to wonder if I’ve hit a plateau and just need to up the ante a bit with more working out. I really want to be a beast and power out two hours at the gym a day, but it seems that all my classes decided to have huge project-based work turned in the same week.
 
I guess I can only do my best and fit in workouts when I can. And you know what, that is good enough for me.
 
Speaking of being good enough, I totally had a revelation last night while I couldn’t sleep since I slept all day. I was sifting through pictures on Facebook until I saw some old ones from high school. Now, I know you saw 13-year-old me before, but honestly, I remember looking at that picture in high school being like “OMG, how did I get so fat?”
 
Well, now in college, I’m looking at this high school picture thinking almost the same thing: “Day-um, girl. When did I look so good?” I mean, take the picture to the right, for example. Is it just me, or dare I say, I look good sideways.
 
Golly gee. If only 16-year-old Nikki knew how hot she was.
 
Then it hit me. I always hear adults talk about how they wish they could be the weight they were on their wedding day once they have kids. Or how grandparents talk about how they wish they could be the weight they were when they were raising their kids.
 
Is it just me, or at every stage of our life do we end up wishing we looked like we did at an earlier stage which we were most likely currently unhappy with?
 
Well, shoot. That’s just depressing.

Now, I’m all for working on ourselves to be better. Obviously or I wouldn’t be working so hard right now. But trust me when I say, you really need to be happy with yourself in the moment before you can ever bring effective change in your life.
 
So look in the mirror, realize you aren’t that bad, and then think about how you may look in the future if you don’t change your habits. Do you want a fatter version of you looking back at pictures today thinking, “How did I get so fat?”
 
Remember it’s each healthy decision that brings you closer to a happier and healthier you. Start making those today, and if you need a jump-start, sign up for SELF magazine’s program. It really teaches me something new everyday.
 
Questions, comments, concerns? Heck, do you have a picture of the young version of you? Send it my way at NikkiRoberti@HerCampus.com or tweet @Nikki_Roberti.

• lose the freshman 15
• paid