Introduction/ Background!

Hello, welcome to my blog!
    I guess I should start off with an introduction of how I started becoming interested in health, fitness, an nutrition. Growing up I was always somewhat athletic, and also had a healthy appetite. I would eat relatively healthy though I pretty much ate what I wanted, assuming the amount of activity I had would just take care of whatever I ate. While this never became a major problem, after moving into the dorms my freshman year of college I reached a point where I truly felt unhappy with my size. I was never overweight but I reached 170 lbs, though I was still working out about 4 times a week.
    Luckily for me, I had some friends who were very involved with working out an nutrition. They helped me to learn tons about what exactly I was eating and how it affected me, and before I had never really given it much thought. Over time I learned  not only how to push myself in the gym, but how to weight lift, how different nutrients affected me and many many strategies to keep my eating in check such as measuring everything!
    Eventually I become involved in healthy cooking and started writing recipes (some of which I will share with you) and did a lot of research on how to improve my health and weight.
   One of the girls in the gym noticed my dedication and invited me to a clinic to start competing in NPC competitions.  Here's more info about the NPC. And while I had no idea at the time, committing to reaching a competition as a motivational fitness goal would be one of the most difficult things I have ever done.
   After about a year and a half, and training for the competition for 9 months with a nutritionist and trainer for the last 6, I ended up loosing a total of 38 lbs, being in the best shape of my life, and placing 3rd in the tall bikini division of my competition.
  I wish to share here all kinds of interesting topics, recipes, and tips, and otherwise in this field! (Don't worry I will have much less dragged on text in my later postings!) I hope you can use these tips to better your health and inform yourself to reach your own personal health goals!