Food. Such an essential aspect of life, but how it can make it so difficult. I am number three out of four siblings. I was always the heavy one. I remember being put on a diet as early as 7 years old. My weight was never out of control, I was always able to stay on a heavy normal side. When I hit high school, things changed. Eating disorders were a norm, and I too fell victim. I put so much pressure on my self to loose weight. I maintained a normal weight throughout high school and most of college. I met my husband to be right before moving away to Tallahassee, Fl for Florida State. We had a four year long distance relationship, which made things really hard. We moved in and got married shortly after graduating (I ended up getting a 2nd bachelors in nursing from UCF after graduating FSU). Being married and comfortable got me in an easy routine of watching TV and eating. I gained so much weight I did not even recognize myself. By the time I got pregnant with my daughter, I was already 40 pounds heavier than I had ever been in my life. Pregnancy, of coarse did not help. Once I had my beautiful daughter, Ava, with the help of breastfeeding and sleepless nights, I lost all the baby weight plus some more. I was feeling good about myself again. Five years later, it started to happen again. I felt that weight slowly coming back. I made a decision then, I will love myself enough to make a change. In 2011, I started logging my food intake and actively exercising. I ran, biked, and did cross- fit at home. I lost 40 pounds and have kept most of it off. I started working last year full-time, so I can not exercise as often as I like. I still made that promise to myself and I will not forget it. Love yourself. It is that simple.