Much of my time spent during my senior year in high school involved working out and staying  healthy.  I never set an actual goal; I was just never satisfied with what I was doing in my life.  I found that much of my dissatisfaction was rooted with my health and diet.

As I progressed into this lifestyle, I slowly began to learn more about myself and gained more confidence.  Today, I have lost 35 pounds and when I see an obstacle, it doesn’t feel like a giant wall anymore.

One of the first steps I took was a concept from Benjamin Franklin’s  13 virtues: temperance, or not to eat in excess.  To further prove my point, Barbara Reyes, the assistant director of Health Education and Promotion at UTSA Health Center, said “to lose weight, first assess your eating habits.” In most cases, students tend to overeat. 
Dr. Elizabeth Stanczak, executive director of health and counseling agreed.

  “Today people tend to overeat because they eat very fast.”  Our brains need time to know when we’ve had enough food in our stomach.  Stanczak recommends eating  in the company of others and avoiding eating in front of the TV.

Stanczak suggest a social point of view to combat overeating, but I used an unlikely source to guide my life. In my senior year, I was taking an economics class, and I used one of its concepts in my diet: opportunity cost. 

The way I interpreted this concept was you can only be at one place at one time.  When I ate in excess, I would feel sluggish both in mind and body. If I buy for a meal, whether I finish it or not, I already paid for it. 

So, I should do whatever I want with my meal to make me happy.  And that means eating moderately. The bottom line is not letting previous costs, which you can’t get back, affect the opportunity cost of the future.

Lastly, I made a conscious decision to eat breakfast daily.  I concentrated better in class, and I never starved during the day. , I was happy.  Reyes could not have further emphasized how important it is to eat a breakfast every morning.  A student tell her she would skip breakfast and lunch and consequently eat a large dinner.  This is not good because eating one meal a day leads to overeating. 

At the same time, when we starve, our body forces us into “survival” mode to conserve calories and energy thinking that it won’t get any more food.

I also quit drinking energy drinks. I did not quit for my health; I hated the edgy feeling after a caffeine high, especially when I was in class. It actually helped me lose a significant amount of weight.  When we use energy drinks to stay up and cram for tests, we forget sleep—an essential part of staying healthy. 

Reyes said sleep is essential for our metabolism. No sleep results in a  a slow metabolism. Stanczak said, when taking a test, keep the same state of mind as when you studied. 
This means you’re going to need more energy drink for your test, which in the end means a harsher crash.  Whether you use energy drinks or not, always get a good amount of sleep.

Eventually, I figured that losing weight isn’t about making strict rules and following them like an Olympic athlete or about onetime decisions like eating a salad once because you felt guilty about eating at McDonalds the night before.

 It’s all about the lifestyle that you choose,  and if health is important to you, it would be wise to make healthy choices everyday

But shedding pounds wasn’t my No. 1 goal. Losing weight is not an agenda you should follow.  It’s a benefit that comes with the decision of leading a healthier lifestyle.