Hi and welcome to my Profile!

I'm 17 years old and graduating from high school this May.

I am pretty sure I want to study nutrition and become a Registered Dietician, probably specializing in Sports or Clinical Nutrition.

I was born in Israel and I am going to live there next year because I will be taking a Gap Year before starting college. In Israel, I will be volunteering for the Magen David Adom (Israel's Red Cross) and in a hospital.

I am a big fan of workout out and eating healthy, but I also make it a point to enjoy my life and not let my weight loss and fitness goals interfere with my life.

I am a passionate ballet dancer and I will always love dancing.

My goal weight is 127 and I'm taking my time to reach it. Of course I would like to reach it as soon as possible, but I also want to be healthy, keep the weight off, and stay sane. Calorie Count estimates 8 months until I reach my goal weight assuming a Moderate activity level and about 1800 calories a day.

I don't freak out about calories in vs. calories out so much as I just try to eat healthy and follow my body's hunger signals. I will be monitoring my weight and logging food, but it'll only be rough estimates, just so that I can get a general idea of where I stand. Basically, I am trying to be able to keep track of how I am doing without thinking about it every second and without it preventing me from going out with friends because I don't know exactly how many calories is in that slice of pizza. So, estimates will do, and I will use my weight trend to help me evaluate if I should make any changes.

I aim for weight training 2-3 times a week and cardio 3-5 times a week. For weight training, I usually take a class at my gym. Cardio consists of HIIT, Tabata Protocols, low-to-medium intensity/long-duration, swimming laps, long walks, biking, etc.

Many of the things I like to do also involve being active, but I don't really count those as exercise. Of course they contribute, but it's just part of my lifestyle and it's things I enjoy doing that make me happy. For example, I have my ballet classes, I like swimming for fun, ice skating, hiking, biking, etc. with friends. I might count long walk with a friend or a long bike ride as cardio, but it's just something I do with friends for fun!

I don't ban any food from my diet (used to mean 'eating habits' or 'what I eat on a given day') and I am not "on a diet" (see my username!) I let myself enjoy and indulge in moderation, and while I don't limit myself to any specific foods, I do try to eat healthy: plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains rather than not, mostly natural sugars (I rarely add sugar to anything but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the occasional slice of cake that was made with added sugar), I avoid sweeteners (I don't know if I have a reason for that, I guess you could say I try to eat mostly minimally processed foods and whole foods, less chemicals), I eat healthy fats (and, every once in a while, a not-so-healthy fat), I like dairy and I do have 2-3 servings a day most days, and I eat animal and non-animal sources of protein (yes, I do sometimes eat a nice, juicy steak and I also eat the yolk of an egg when I feel like it.)

I like to write in a journal, whether in a notebook on paper or on the internet for all to see, and I like having good friends. Support from others is something that we all need and so I am always willing to help and be helped by others in times of need.

So, that was just a little (or a lot) about myself and I hope I've thouroughly explained myself to curious members who would like to get to know me better :)

P.S. I think I will post pictures at some point, probably when I start noticing a different in my body (so I will try to get Before and After pictures -- who doesn't love those??)