Meet Kelly (Kel)

Hi & welcome

Hi! & welcome to my blog, Healthy Kel, a place where you can find healthy(ish) and colorful recipes, meal inspiration and some insight on how I try and live a healthy and happy life!

A little background on me

It started when I was in elementary school

I’ve struggled with my weight since I can remember and was put on my first diet when I was in elementary school (ugh). Even though I have always been active and played sports from when I was a kid, I struggled with my relationship with food. Many foods were off limits so I was binge them at friends houses or secretly when my parents weren’t home. I hated vegetables because my mom only served us the one’s that came in cans (I am scarred from green beans forever). It wasn’t until my senior year of high school when I tried Weight Watchers (now WW) and lost over 25 pounds on their program. I felt so confident as I went into college. Then in college I gained the Freshman 20.

In college my weight yo-yo’ed about 30 pounds. I was an athlete and played lacrosse but I did love to drink and eat all the foods. I definitely hit my highest weight after studying abroad in Italy and eating my way through Europe (zero regrets there). When I got home I tried different diets (paleo and vegan) to help me lose the weight. I was always looking for a quick fix because I was not about to give up my nights of drinking and drunk eating. Spoiler alert, none of them worked. I’d lose a few pounds and gain them right back.

Life post college

My eating habits didn’t get any better post college either. I graduated and started my career in public accounting and 2 times a year we had “busy season” aka working 75-100 hours/week. I’m a stress eater so those busy seasons usually had me gaining 10-15 pounds (especially with NYC take out). I would then go try another diet to help me lose that weight only to gain it again.

Even when I left my job in public accounting, I still didn’t have a great relationship with food and never felt comfortable in my body. I was in my mid-20s in NYC and couldn’t figure out how to balance a healthy lifestyle while still having fun. I would eat “super clean” during the week and come Friday night, would binge all the treats through the weekend and wonder why I wasn’t feeling great.

How I lost 30 pounds and kept it off…

It wasn’t until my job at J.Crew where they were offering Weight Watchers (now WW) at work. I was about 20 pounds overweight and figured I’d try it again since it worked so well for me in high school. WW had just rolled out their Freestyle program and I loved that the zero point foods encouraged healthy eating.

Over six months I lost a little over 30 pounds on WW. I realized that no matter how “clean” I ate during the week, I can’t binge eat treats on the weekend and expect to lose weight. I found that if I ate “treats” during the week that fit within my points, I didn’t feel deprived or want to binge them. Realizing that no foods have to be off limits really helped shift my perspective on what it means to have a healthy diet.

Where I’m at today

A little over 2 years later, I am no longer on WW. I am technically still a Lifetime member and have access to the app but I can’t remember the last time I tracked an entire day. I know what foods makes my body feel it’s best (lots of produce, grains, lean proteins) and that it’s ok to eat a cookie on a Tuesday night. I eat dessert nightly but always make sure I get in a few servings of veggies daily.

What to expect here

I eat a pescatarian diet so those are the recipes you’ll see around here as everything I post I eat. I don’t love complicated recipes and hope you find all my recipes approachable and delicious. I won’t post something that wasn’t absolutely delicious and truly believe that prettier food tastes better.

Bear with me as I get all my recipes from Instagram (if you haven’t checked it out, follow me!) on here but feel free to always send me any questions you may have! I love connecting with all of you!