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A Wakeup Call
Like lots of high schoolers, Teresa Loveless of American Fork, Utah, ate whatever
she wanted. But then she got seriously ill. “I caught a viral infection in my
mouth coming from the acids in my stomach,” she said. “The doctor told me that
it’s something you can catch like the common cold, but because of my unhealthy
eating habits I contracted it on my own. I had mouth sores, and my throat swelled
up. I lost 15 pounds in two weeks, because I was unable to eat anything. I was
very weak and slept most of the time. After the infection went away, a side effect
is mono, which I never fully developed but had many symptoms of.”
Teresa’s diet was the cause. “Most of what I was eating was fast food and greasy
food like potato chips. I often skipped breakfast and would have a bag of chips
and a candy bar for lunch. I would either skip dinner or eat fast food. My mother
would make dinner, but I was a really picky eater so I wouldn’t eat much of what
she fixed. Instead, it was off with the friends to Micky D’s. Basically, there
was no nutritional value in anything that I ate.”
A Change for the Better
Today, a little over a year later, things are much better because Teresa has
drastically changed her diet and built regular exercise into her lifestyle.
“My eating now consists of lots of fruit and veggies,” she said. “I never,
ever skip breakfast. I usually have a bowl of raisin bran,
a piece of fruit, a bagel and some orange juice. Then for the rest of the day I eat a
few small meals. Like I’ll eat breakfast at 7 am
then around 9:30–10 am I’ll have a banana and some yogurt, then at noon
I’ll have a sandwich with carrots, celery, maybe a little side salad filled with veggies. Then between 3–4 a favorite
would be celery with peanut butter, or a small baked potato. At dinner I’ll
have steamed vegetables, maybe a small chicken breast with some bread.”
“I try and get all of my carbos and my protein and
make sure that I’m working out. I don’t believe in low fat anything. I
figure that for years we have eaten all these things with fat in them. Today we have
many low fat foods yet ironically people are more overweight than ever. So I think
low fat foods aren’t the answer. I stay away from all carbonated and
caffeinated drinks too. I eat chocolate once a month if I feel like it. But,
for the most part I stay away from sweets and sugar. I just try to stay on a
balanced diet and drink plenty of water!”
Teresa now plays volleyball with a group of friends and even competes
occasionally. She runs every other day for one hour. And recently she set a
new goal (though she’s temporarily hampered by an ankle injury) to run the
St. George Marathon in Utah in October.
“For the most part, I follow the workouts exactly,” she says. “I do add a
little variety. Every Tuesday I go to a kickboxing aerobic class, just to give
me a little change. I’ve read many
books about running and nutrition and that has helped me find what works
best for my body. A result of exercising and eating well is
my whole body feels better. I get up and eat a healthy breakfast and I
always have energy and feel ready to go. I can go further and do more than
I ever could before.”
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