February 21st

During the summer of 2016 I made the most impactful life decision thus far. This decision was a clear indicator that I was moving forward and jumping into new horizons that were to challenge me. What was this life changing epiphany? 

I decided I was going to go to school to become a doctor. Typing this for anyone to see gives me such chills. My father has always told me, "Hailey Lynn Petetti you can be anything you want to be, as long as you are being the best version of you". After talking with many influential people in my life about my change of course there was one thing I was sure of... I had to reinvent myself. If I were to try to reach my peak, the best version of me, that began with one crucial step. That step was to change EVERYTHING. This meant the friends I surrounded myself with, my eating habits, my study habits, my overall consciousness of my own health, everything had to change. Some people might think I was going a little crazy with this and that's fine. Every choice, every CHANGE I have made in my life has benefit my lifestyle. 

The biggest thing people ask me is how I went from a girl who partied and had some extra chunk on her to a young woman who works hard in the gym and in school. This blog is for anyone who wants to know how I got to where I am and where I am going. But more importantly, it is for me to hold myself accountable for my actions here on out. 

My Health:

Over the summer I went to a doctors office and he informed me that I had hyperlipidemia, I tried to act as if I was okay with hearing this but I was so embarrassed. I know there was nothing to be embarrassed about regarding that it is something people face all the time but I was embarrassed because I did that to myself. It was not something that couldn't be controlled, it was the fact that I went from an athletic healthy individual to someone who drank four nights out of the week and binge ate cafe rio the next three. With that being said I was mortified. For someone who preaches healthy living and is majoring and Kinesiology with a minor in Biology I was disappointed in myself for being so conscious the entire time of what I was doing, but continuing to fail at making the right decisions. This is where my biggest health changes occurred. I was constantly researching macros, looking at fitness youtubers, sitting with dietitians, I was absorbing all of the information I possibly could in order to make the best choices for me.  In my research I learned that for my body personally I should not consume more than 23 grams of artificial sugars a day. Let me tell you this right now... look at all of the food in your pantry and try to find something appetizing with less than 7  grams of sugar. I have THE BIGGEST sweet tooth and discovering that almost everything that I thought made me happy in life has gross amounts of sugar... lets just say that was not a happy day. I slowly learned that I didn't need all of the artificial sugars because fruit is delicious and curbed my sweet tooth just as well. Another big thing that I limited in my diet was saturated fats, trans fats and cholesterol. We do not need cholesterol, our body makes its own. However, cholesterol is in meats and we do in fact need proteins. SO unfortunately unless I was planning on going vegan, it was not possible to completely cut this out. This is where lean meats, chicken, and fish came in handy. Saturated fats are so hard for your body to break down, they pack tightly together and are solid at room temperature(think butter and lard). I didn't cut this out completely either however I definitely limited it as much as possible. In regards to my physical activity, I started out with lifting but the matter of fact is in order to blast fat, I had to kick my body into overdrive and do high intensity training. I call these my "ninja" workouts. Around two to three times a week I will do weighted exercise. The other days I will do high intensity body weight training(pushups, pull ups, handstands, lunges and so much more). One thing that has stayed constant is my rest day is Wednesday,  I focus all of my energy into studying and I give my body a break. THE LAST MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE I HAVE MADE SO FAR IS DRINKING 64 OUNCES OF WATER A DAY. ( I put this in caps BECAUSE IT IS SO IMPORTANT. My body made such huge change after I hydrated myself correctly. Everyones water intake will vary). 

I intend on posting to this blog frequently about my progress with my studies, my progress with my body and the over all making of me. As much as I would love to keep typing up a storm, I have huge midterm tomorrow at 8 am so its time to get back to the flashcards. I hope that little summary of health changes was helpful, there will be more to come. Welcome to the corner of the internet that will be dedicated to building a better lifestyle and reaching for what seems like the impossible, my way. :)