Hi Gators!
My name is Olivia Langdon, and I’m a fifth-year journalism senior (I couldn’t pass up the “opportunity” for one more football season.)
Health has been ingrained in my system since I was born. My mom was pretty strict when it came to having junk food around the house, buying mostly organic foods and even all-natural deodorant. She promoted a preservative-free diet ever since I can remember. Although the Newman-O’s never tasted as delicious as a real Oreo, I am very grateful my mother taught me the importance of health at such a young age.
Everything I know is an accumulation of nine years of yo-yo dieting, binge eating and an obsession with calories. No one should be doing any of the aforementioned extremes. It’s unhealthy, exhausting and will not take your body anywhere.
I have tried almost every diet during its “15 minutes of fame” on the market. Once I would go back to normal eating habits, I would gain back all the lost weight and more.
College threw me for a loop. After one too many nights of partying and late-night pizza deliveries, my body decided the Freshman 15 was not enough, and I gained 23 pounds by that summer. On top of the “poor eating habits of a college kid 101,” I rarely made it to the gym.
LivFit is an effort to share the concept of eating and exercising as a lifestyle and not a temporary fix. Take the word “diet” out of your vocabulary forever. No matter what age you are, it is never too late to change your life for the better, and I want to help you through it.
It’s important to find a balance for yourself and your individual lifestyle. “Once you can control your mind, you can conquer your body.”
I believe the mind is a very powerful thing. Once I made the decision to change my lifestyle, there was a complete paradigm shift of my outlook on life.
I have since lost all of my college weight gain and am in the best shape of my life. I am setting a personal goal to enter my first fitness competition in the National Physique Committee’s Gainesville Classic in the Bikini Division.
This fitness, health and wellness column is dedicated to all of you who can identify with my story and want to transform your life for the better. I will be sharing with you weekly tips, tricks and advice for all things health and fitness.
A version of this story ran on page 9 on 9/5/2013 under the headline "Intro to LivFit — Hello, health"
