Making Some Ch-ch-ch-Changes!

Warning: Long post.

Yesterday was an interesting day!

I woke up at 7:00 yesterday and exercised before class for the first time.  After exercising, I came back in and ate toast with strawberry preserves and 2 glasses of OJ.  I was feeling pretty good.  I hopped on the bus at my apartment around 9:00 in the morning to go to class.  I was wearing my new linen pants from Forever 21 (Go get some!) and thinking, “Man I feel like I’m wearing PJs! This is awesome.”  Before I knew it, 5 minutes later I completely lost vision and stumbled unto a bench.  Whaaat?!  I blacked out.

This is not the first time I’ve blacked out in the past few months.  I’ve been blacking out a lot lately, so yesterday I finally decided to pay a visit to the doctor.  I assumed I was blacking out because of anemia or being too skinny.  It turns out I was somewhat right.  I am not anemic, but I have the lowest iron levels you can have without being anemic.  I also am underweight (not intentionally) and it makes me pretty weak.  Like I said in a previous post, I am tired a lot no matter what I do.  It turns out I’m tired because I’m underweight & needing more iron.  My BMI is 17.4, when it should be at 18.5 minimum.  Not good!

The time has come where I am seriously going to focus on this and try to gain the weight.  I’ve always been naturally skinny, but lately it seems to be becoming more of an issue.  I have been thinking a lot this past year about how I just don’t feel that energetic or healthy for a 21 year old.  It’s not OK that I’ve blacked out at two football games, several chorus rehearsals, and now on a bus!  I want to finally feel healthy!

The Action Plan:

I have met 1 person on this planet that I can relate to named Brenda.  She was also underweight (unintentionally as well) and fighting the same battles: feeling weak, tired, etc.  She went to the doctor too and started doing strength training and drinking protein shakes.  She gained about 10-15 pounds over a few months and says she feels so much better (She looks good too!).

So here’s the deal.  I’m going to try and eat 3 regular (healthy!) meals a day + 3 snacks.  Along with this, I will drink protein shakes (These could act as the snacks).  I will up my strength training so that I will gain weight in muscle and not in cellulite or fat.

Here’s the protein shake I’m going to use: (It is what Brenda used.)

And here’s my new multi vitamins:

For women ages 19-50, you need 18 mg of iron per day.  This vitamin has 18 mg!

I’ve been thinking about gaining weight for a while, but now that a doctor has told me to, I definitely am going to try!

Since I am going to Europe in 18 DAYS (!!!), I’m going to focus much more on this when I get back.  I don’t want to gain a pound, only to lose it the second I walk around Europe for 35 days.

I am ready to finally feel better and healthier.  This year I’ve learned a lot about my body (Check out the About Me page!) and now I feel like I fully understand what I need to do to make things better.  Yay!

- Question of the Day - 

What multivitamins do you take?

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