Happiness

My main motivation for starting Sweet T and a Honey B was so that I could create a one-stop-shop for all of my ideas and all of the things that make me happy. I love being able to take an idea and turn it in to something that makes me feel good- whether that be a tasty recipe, craft, or a little something to brighten up my home. There are a lot of things I credit this motivation to and I am eager to share them.

In honor of ‘Throwback Thursday’ I want to provide a little background on when and why I decided to begin living a healthier lifestyle. I entered my freshman year of college in 2009 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. There were lots of mixed emotions starting school. I was excited to begin a new journey, room with my best friend, and experience the (still) most gorgeous campus I have ever seen. I also was terrified of being on my own, guilty leaving my mom who now would live alone for the next four years, sad about being four hours away from my boyfriend, and not confident in myself at all. Let’s just say it my mom was the one having to calm me down before she pulled away from the campus that first day. 

I look at pictures from late high-school years and early college and it’s no wonder I wasn’t confident in myself. I clearly wasn’t taking care of my own body. When you already have not-so-good eating habits and then add in cheap beer and unfamiliar territory/faces at college parties-it doesn’t help the situation. My homesickness was almost paralyzing and the only way to help that was to turn to food and drinking too much at parties. If I wasn’t out drinking with a group of people I wasn’t always comfortable going out with, I was crying on the phone telling my mom I didn’t know if I was going to make it the next four years there. Your freshman year of college is supposed to be amazing- and mine wasn’t turning out that way. 

Then came Melanie. Someone I owe a lot of my happiness to. I met Melanie on the quad of one of the dorm buildings during Orientation the summer before school. She was from Dallas and I was in awe someone could come that far from home when I was scared to move there from Chicago. We bonded instantly and exchanged phone numbers so we would be sure to have a friendly face on campus during those first couple of weeks in the fall. She ended up being in my math class that consisted of 250 freshman. I think it was fate. 

One of the nights during first semester that I was particularly unhappy, I stayed in while the girls on my floor went out for the night. Melanie called me up and told me her and some of her friends from her floor were going to film a ‘music video’ to N*Sync’s “Pop” around campus-all while wearing ridiculous neon clothing and asked me to join. I am pretty certain I was on the bus up to her side of campus before I even hung up the phone. Neon leggings and all. 

I will always remember that evening as one of the most fun nights I had in college. Music Video filming, watching a movie in Mel’s dorm, and a sleepover was exactly what I needed. Melanie quickly became one of my very best friends and I still think I would have left IU if it wasn’t for meeting her. 

I won’t lie and say this is when I changed any of my habits. My comfort was still food (mainly the Baked Ziti from the Sabarro in one of the buildings on campus). Freshman and Sophomore year came and went. I stuck close to Mel, declared a business major, and got involved in a few activities on campus. Though, by the end of Sophomore year I was getting sick of being out of breath when making the long treck to the business school and I was sick of being called ‘fat’ and a ‘cow’ by random guys at parties. It obviously didn’t and doesn’t matter what these kinds of people say- but it was time to change something. 

At the beginning of Junior Year I decided to begin Weight Watchers. My mom had suggested it as a way to start keeping track of what I was eating but it was also a program that gave me the freedom to decide how I wanted to spend my allotted food points. Low and behold, Melanie got to campus that fall and told me she had joined Jenny Craig in order to begin her journey. Again, fate. Having her as a motivation is a big reason I was successful. I brought my food to her apartment for dinner and she would have her Jenny Craig meal. We also bonded over our newfound love for brussel sprouts. 

Junior Year is when I started finding my true happiness. Weight Watchers was the best decision I have ever made. The second best decision was joining Theta Phi Alpha, a new sorority on campus. I found a group of girls (yes, Melanie was a Theta Phi too) that made me feel confident in myself, that I could be myself around, and that enjoyed craft nights just as much as parties. I found another best friend in Ali and spent much of my time Junior Year with her. She also had joined Weight Watchers and we were killing it together :). I found myself spending most of my time with Mel and Ali and to this day I don’t think I could go more than a day without texting them. Little did I know these girls would be my lifelong friends, sisters, bridesmaids, and biggest supporters. 

I lost about 40 pounds on Weight Watchers during the last two years of college. This incredible program and a couple of cheerleaders named Melanie and Ali gave me more than the satisfaction of dropping a few pant sizes. They gave me a knack for turning any recipe in to a bit healthier one, a love for a good sweat after a run or weightlifting session, and most importantly-confidence in myself. I found happiness in taking care of myself and surrounding myself with people that make me feel good. I’m also beyond blessed to have a husband (remember that high school boyfriend? Same one!) that loves me unconditionally, supports me, will eat anything I make for dinner (he joined WW in college too!!), and only judge me a little bit when I make my 3rd trip to Hobby Lobby within a week. With all of this said, I still love food (Have you TRIED the chocolate covered popcorn/cashew mix from Whole Foods? YUM). Though, WW taught me the importance of moderation and paying attention to what you put in your body to make it run the best it can. My goal in writing STHB is to share a lot of the foods, tips, and tricks I use on a daily basis (especially busy days) to keep my body running. I’ll share the ways I channel my creativity through living a physically and mentally healthy lifestyle and hope that it brings a little sweet to your day too. 

–TB

 

Some photos from early college. 

 

And some from late college to now.