I especially wanted to write down this post during the vacation season, because i do know what percentage folks struggle with our bodies and food during the season of indulgence. My mission on this blog and in my personal life is simple: eat real + nourishing food, move your body, attempt to avoid the processed stuff, but also don’t forget to measure your life and luxuriate in it.
Having a history of an disorder and body dysmorphia has engulfed a passion within me to share my story albeit i'm recovered and time has past. Admittedly, it’s always interesting to write down these Wellness Wednesday posts, as they take me back to a harder time in my life, one that I can barely remember anymore.
I wont to tell myself that it had been so important to measure a life that only includes the so called ‘healthy’ foods which i need to exercise every single day to satisfy the ‘healthy’ criteria. i used to be uneducated on the way to nourish my body and didn’t understand that enjoying ALL the foods out there was even an opportunity .
The holidays would come around and I’d slam diet cokes to suppress my appetite and save calories for a slice of pie. I’d eat an equivalent 5 boring things every single day, half them filled with low carb ingredients I couldn’t even pronounce. I weighed myself multiple times each day . I counted calories. I exercised the maximum amount as possible. i used to be thin, starving, depressed and self-conscious.
The truth is, I wasn’t healthy in the least . i do know now that health isn’t only about what proportion you're moving your body or the foods you're eating. It also includes your psychological state . you'll have a fridge packed filled with vegetables, all the smoothie boosters, eat plant based, exercise 5x every week , but if your brain isn’t healthy, then you’ve got some work to try to to . I call it the art of balance, which seems to return from both practice and patience.
These days are brighter and easier because my mindset surrounding food has changed. i actually enjoy my time with family and friends during the vacations . I make my famous cinnamon rolls every Christmas morning and luxuriate in an enormous fluffy one. I drink about 1-2 Spindrifts each day because i really like the bubbly (it’s delicious soda water + real squeezed fruit). I don’t count calories or worry about my weight. I even have salads and sandwiches (bc an honest sourdough is LIFE) but also eat dessert almost nightly (hi tahini brownies). I’m not worried about what I can eat a restaurant menu. I still workout but do more of what i really like and challenge myself within the gym with fitness goals rather than weight loss goals. I’m 20 pounds stronger. I even have muscle mass. I’m confident. I’m happy!
I know many of you ask how I need to this place of balance and luxury with food and my body. i buy emails about it often. the reality is, it wasn’t easy, nor was there a magic pill. I didn’t awaken at some point and choose to form one big change that some people say happens. it had been the tiny little things that basically began to make an enormous difference.
It was deciding to prevent weighing myself and discard my scale, which offered me self-compassion and a way of freedom. it had been quitting diet coke and replacing it with soda water , which not only hydrated me but stopped me from trying to regulate my appetite. it had been ensuring i used to be eating (and eating enough) once I felt hungry, because if I didn’t, I knew i might binge later. it had been nourishing myself after a workout rather than waiting hours to eat, which helped me balance my mood and helped my brain function and my body recover. it had been being okay with not understanding the maximum amount — this gave me more of a balance in life and taught me self care. It’s saying yes to donuts on the weekends, which was such a fun little moment I shared with my husband. it had been enjoying the vacations , which sometimes included less exercise, more wine + cookies and in fact , good-for-the-soul deep belly laughs!
There were all of the tiny little changes, that helped me find out what proportion I had been missing. These positive choices gave me a way of relief from the control, more freedom to be myself and in fact , taught me both self-compassion and therefore the ability to be gentle and forgiving. It led me towards my mission of enjoying all types of foods, but having attention on ones which will provide my body with nourishment.
Bottom line: It’s important to undertake and not create restrictive rules around food and your body. It’s those restrictive rules that make it impossible to understand and relish within the life you've got . There are numerous wonderful things in life that we miss out on when we’re worried about having control about what goes in our bodies or the amount on the size .
This season I encourage you to ignore the mentality still out there that we'd like to ‘get back on track’ with food and exercise with zero calorie, zero carb and 0 sugar this which . rather than putting labels on things (good vs bad foods) or removing the items we love (and that always help to balance us), I encourage you to feature things that help us feel good during and after the season: ensuring you're cooking nourishing meals, eating many veggies, healthy fats, fruit, bittersweet chocolate and water. Personally my favorite is Spindrift because it’s naturally flavored with real fruit and helps me drink more and stay hydrated. Also don’t forget to concentrate to your body cues and eat once you are hungry rather than depriving yourself to ‘save calories’.
My motto: if a cookie or a donut helps you are feeling balanced love it does on behalf of me , then absolutely enjoy it!
If you discover yourself feeling obsessive, anxious or having guilty thoughts surrounding food during the vacations , step back and take a couple of deep breaths and write down your feelings. Practice the best sort of self-care: self-compassion or the power to like , forgive and understand yourself even with any so-called flaws. Offer yourself up kindness and love and remember that you’re human.
Here’s to treating your body more sort of a friend, and fewer just like the enemy today and each day regardless of what the season. You’ve got this!
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