Hello, everyone!
My  name is Gabrielle Kim. I know my introduction section is located on the upper right corner of my blog, but I'd like to introduce myself before I get into the details of my story. I am currently an undergrad at Cal Poly Pomona studying General Biology. I am trying to get into Medical School in hopes of becoming an Internal Medicine Physician. Despite my interest in getting into a conventional medicine field, I am always interested in natural remedies, homeopathic remedies, ayruvedic remedies, and alternative medicine. I'm always on the lookout for natural skin care routines to try out, and I'm always researching on what works and doesn't. I also love nature. I like to hike, go to the beach, and try out new outdoor activities if my physical strength permits me to. I grow lots of african violet varieties at home along with orchids, cacti, succulents, hoyas, alpine plants, and others. I hope to get into growing my own vegetables and herbs to reduce my grocery bills. :)

Before I get into posting about my progress (workout routines, nutrition, etc.), I'd first like to start off with a little story about myself that triggered me to go on this health and fit journey.

Disclaimer: I am in no way trying to depress or discourage anyone through my story. I am merely trying to show how I also went through bullying and big changes in my life to cause my weight gain, which in turn led me to start this journey. I hope my story will inspire some of you to follow through my progress and get fit alongside with me.

My story is long, but I promise it'll all come together and make sense.
I was born in San Jose, California. I lived a majority of my life there from preschool to senior year of high school. I moved to various parts of California in between, but that's irrelevant. As a kid, I never really understood the concept about body image. I knew some kids were fat and some kids were skinny, but I never had any opinion about others based on their body. It was only until my uncles and aunts started to mention that I was getting fat that I understood that body image was a big part of society. The first two jokes about my fat belly were tolerable, but as I got older and the jokes became more and more consistent, I started to feel discouraged and self conscious about myself. I questioned whether being fat was something that defined a person. As I went through my middle school and high school years, I went through many rejections, which led me to think that nobody liked me because of how my body looked regardless of the real reasons why.

In my junior year of high school, I got very emotionally hurt. Through these events, I became very depressed for the next following years. Through my depression, I found out that I had hyperthyroidism. Conventional medicine physicians told me that I either had to inactivate my thyroid gland with radioactive iodine, or I could get my thyroid gland removed surgically. These two options gave me only one choice of taking hormone pills the rest of my life. I couldn't accept that fate, so my dad and I researched on any alternatives. We came across an alternative medicine clinic in Toronto. We called them and asked if they had any remedies to my condition. I was told that they could easily relieve my condition, so I stayed in Toronto for about 3 months to hopefully cure my thyroid. After 3 months, my thyroid gland wasn't swollen anymore, and I no longer experienced the symptoms I experienced when I had hyperthyroidism. I took a blood test and my TSH levels were back to normal. I rested 3 extra months from school to try and mentally prepare myself for school again. Through the thyroid treatment, I lost weight to 118 pounds from 125 pounds. My skin was healthier, and my whole body just felt healthier overall.

If you don't know, hyperthyroidism causes constant jitteriness, lack of focus, and you're always tired. Your heart is always pumping at a fast rate, and your metabolism is very high. I couldn't focus in school with this condition, which in turn affected my grades. I couldn't get into any universities that I wanted to get into. But through a stroke of luck, I got accepted to University of Missouri - Columbia. So I moved to Missouri and studied at the university for about 3 years. Moving to Missouri was a big change in my life, and it took a lot to try and adjust to my new environment. The adjustment to harsher weather conditions from a place where it was always sunny was very hard to do. Students whom I tried to become friends with had a different sense of humor, and they seemed to always be on edge (maybe for competition). I got into a student organization at my university, and I was bullied. After about 3 years of being at this university, I decided that I had to go back to California. Missouri University was a great school, but I feel that it just wasn't right for me.

I transferred to Cal Poly Pomona and decided to study one extra year to fulfill the GE requirements and Biology degree requirements required by the state of California. Cal Poly Pomona was so much easier to adjust into. I received a lot of support and help from many people, and there were a lot of opportunities given to me.

This is where I started to gain weight. Missouri has great restaurants that you can find, but in my opinion, Southern California has a larger selection of restaurants, and the food seems to taste better. That's where my problem started. I got overly excited that I was back in California, and decided that I should try all the famous restaurants that I could find. In my teens, I never got past 125 pounds. So I thought it was impossible for me to gain more than that "maximum". But when I constantly went out to eat lots of processed foods, lots of sugary foods, and foods packed with salt, I saw a rather fast increase in my weight. When I reached 135 pounds, it didn't really hit me that I should start cutting down on fast foods. It was only until I reached 148 pounds that I realized that I can easily get to 150, 160, and then maybe even up to 200. I always told my friends that I needed to lose weight, but I never really committed to start working out, cutting down on calories, and eating healthier.

I started to feel a lot unhealthier by 148 pounds. My right side of my face started to swell, my right arm and legs felt like blood wasn't circulating well enough, and my brain was always foggy. Small cardio workouts made me feel like I was going to pass out. Even when I reached that 148 pound mark and felt unhealthy symptoms, it still didn't make me start on a workout regime. It was only until I found a crush, that I realized that there is going to be someone in the future that I want to look good in front of. I realized that I now have a purpose to try my best in looking my best.

Through my journey of trying to lose weight, I found a very inspirational person who helped me to stay accountable and gave me lots of ideas on how I can improve my nutrition and keep going at my workout regime. If I hadn't met this person, I would've never started to commit to a consistent workout regime. I signed up for a 21 day challenge to stay committed, and it has helped me to keep a consistent workout regime because I know there are many people watching me progress on this challenge. So to not disappoint them, I find myself staying committed no matter what. I've been slowly getting a little lazy, so I decided to post blogs on my progress so that the world can be my accountability partner.

So, that's the end of my story. It took a lot of thought and courage to actually reveal my life story to the public via a blog, but I'm hoping that my story will help inspire others to follow along my healthy and fit journey, and to help me stay committed. Your story may not be exactly the same as mine, but I'm sure you have your own story to share about why you want to start your own healthy and fit lifestyle journey. For those of you who are wanting to start, but can't find the time and motivation, I strongly recommend going into a challenge group on Facebook, and trying to stay committed. There are a lot of great online coaches there who will help you to stay accountable. For those of you who have already started your healthy journey, keep going and I know we'll both reach our goals soon!

I know this post is very long, so I thank you all for reading through the entire post. I'd love to hear your own stories on your motivational "triggers" that caused you to decide that you needed to make a change in your life.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions! :)