I’m 24 years old, a graduate student in Philadelphia studying counseling and mental health. If you go to University of Penn and love fitness, let me know! I’m always looking for fitness/workout buddies :)

I have been more or less active since college, but I did not know how to eat healthy. In February, 2012, I checked my weight and it went up to a number that I’d never seen before, and it was like a slap in the face.

So I woke up and started working out and eating clean consistently (pr, obsessively).

I learned to cook, and I learned to enjoy food. I LOVE FOOD! I try to workout almost every day. I don’t always want to push myself to my limit, but I try to do this as much as I can. After all… I’m trying to get into the best shape of my life!

I am a runner at heart. I love running outside. It’s the most beautiful thing ever. But for some reason, running gave me bad knees. Either because I ran on concretes or because I ran too much with too little rest. I promised myself that I will take good care of those knees and really take a break from running, but that is one of the most difficult decision to follow ever. It’s been  about 4-5 months since I stopped running, but my knees still hurt. I am hoping to get back into running when spring time rolls around.

I still workout though, using the elliptical to satisfy my running urge. I do Insanity to continue challenging myself, and I enjoy pilates and yoga. I also started weight training using the dumbbells in my apartment’s gym. (As a poor grad student, I really can’t afford gym membership. My apartment has a gym with very limited equipments, and I make do with whatever’s available for me.)

I currently have 6 graduate classes, 2 part-time jobs that total up to 30-40 hours a week, and an internship. And I still cook healthy, try to exercise about an hour per day 4-6 times a week. And I still get at least 6 hours of sleep every day! If I can live a healthy life style, I know you can too! You always have enough time to do what is truly important to you. Don’t EVER give up. It’s all about having a dedicated mind ;)

I’m now at a point where I’m more or less comfortable with my body. I’m not in the “best shape of my life” yet, and I’m still working on that. But it is a long-term project. I eat everything in moderation. There is no such thing as “cheat meals” for me, because… I can’t “cheat” for the rest of my life. I still feel bad about eating less healthy food (popcorn, chips, cookies, chocolate, fried food, pizza). But compared to my old college days where I eat 2 McDonalds meals plus an apple pie plus 6 pieces of chicken nugget for lunch 3 times a week (after my dance classes), I’m doing A LOT BETTER. Moderation is key.

Here’s a picture from March, 2011 in Bermuda. I have never been overweight, but I was never “fit.” At 5”3 and about 110, I’m always considered petite. But truly, I was skinny fat.

I thought it’d be interesting to put a picture of me when I was closer to high 90s and low 100 lbs. Interesting comparison. The picture below was me in Sophomore year (2009)…something traumatizing happened in my Freshmen year, and I lost a lot of weight. I weighed probably around 100lbs in the picture below.

This picture below is one month into my workout, taken some time in March, 2012.

And the pictures below were taken at the beginning of May, 2012. They didn’t really show in the pictures, but in real life I could see a very light shape of my abs! This is definitely progress. :)

This picture below was taken at the beginning of June. I *think* I can see more muscle definition on my abs now.

I hurt my knees a while ago, and I’ve rested for about two weeks. Glad that I don’t look too out of shape!! This picture below was taken in mid-July. Hopefully I will be making more progress in the months to come.

Now it’s mid-August. MY ABS ARE SHOWING PEOPLE!! OMG OMG OMG.

And check out my calf muscle! :D I’m quite happy with my progress so far.

The picture below is taken in mid-November. The back really wasn’t my focus, but working out is a whole body thing… so it sort of developed, I guess!

I’m determined to live a healthy and active life style. Forever.

JOIN ME!!! :)

And I found this picture on tumblr… This is the philosophy I live by—not only for fitness, but everything. Always trying for improvement. I just thought this is SO MOTIVATING, and have to put it somewhere.