The Cereal Diet

One morning, I woke up completely decided to change my life. I was tired of being called names, being told how bad I was at keeping a normal/healthy weight and decided to follow what the "experts" always said: Eat less, move more. 

Little did I know that it wasn't just about that. I had no idea about the nutrients my body needed in order to keep me healthy and my metabolism running smoothly. I can honestly say that at that time, ignorance was bliss. 

So, what did I do? I thought that maybe eating 1 bowl of cereal a day would be enough to reduce the amount of calories I needed in order to lose weight, and, moreover, that dancing would be my exercise of choice! Yes... Dancing! For those who know me, I don't like dancing. I don't dance or anything (Well, alright... I can Waltz ;)). Anyway, since I was a Backstreet Boys fan, I would dance to all their songs and learn their choreographies. I knew the steps to most of their songs by the end of 6th grade! :O 

After a month of only eating a bowl of cereal a day (about 600 calories per day), I flew to Baja to visit my mom's side of the family and I got all these amazing comments about how great I looked and how fast I had lost weight. Everybody celebrated me, while my body was the only one that was suffering. Some of the main side effects I would experience due to the lack of food and nutrients in my body was: Being tired all the time and not being able to focus on things. Plus, my skin color was pale and I would have persistent anemia.

Doctors would give me multi-vitamins and iron as a supplement to be able to counteract the nutrient deficiency I was experiencing, but they blamed the nutrient deficiency to me being a woman and having my period instead of the new lifestyle I had adopted. Unfortunately, not all western medicine doctors, regardless of their specialty and years of med school, know much about nutrition. So many times I asked them if my diet had anything to do with my heavy periods and low iron and B vitamins; well, of course, they always gave me the same answer: No.

Alas, believing in what they said and thinking that, regardless of what I ate I would be able to cover the nutritional deficit I had with a multi-vitamin or supplement, I kept doing what I was doing... Until I got to the point that I was already thin, but still looked in the mirror and saw that chubby kid. I would always compare myself and said I needed to do more because I wasn't getting the results I wanted or wasn't looking like (you name the celebrity). Then, one day, my parents sat down with me and mentioned how concerned they were about me being an anorexic teenager. This added onto the plate of frustration, because at first I was too fat, and now too skinny, which I didn't believe at all. So, I didn't care this time and kept doing the same thing, maybe adding in different types of foods but always limiting myself, which lasted all the way until my first year of university.

During my first year of university, I had a boyfriend who I thought was the love of my life... Until I got to know him better. We all have been there, the honeymoon phase: all sunshine and butterflies, I-love-yous and "I love you exactly how you are and the way you look". However, once that period was over, he turned into another one of my old bullies: The one who said I was never good enough, never pretty enough, never fit enough. This was reviving my childhood all over again! So, there I was again, trying to find the best way to lose weight and become the person the boyfriend and the media said I had to be. 

The constant frustration took me to the guidance of Jillian Michaels, who helped me start my health transformation in a completely different way...

Disclaimer: The information included in this blog is personal experience and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. At all times, if you suffer from any condition or need professional advice, it is recommended that you consult with your physician or medicine professional.