It is damn near impossible to know and understand what a "healthy body" is nowadays. There are attacks on people who are "too big", "too skinny", "too muscular", "too obsessed"...I am curious to see if the percentage of people-not just females-with eating disorders (Anorexia, Bullimia, EDNOS) has risen at all over the past year or two because of how just...insane the "fitness" motivation things are getting.
Obviously, it's no secret that I LOVE to work out. I usually workout 5 days a week, with rest days falling in there somewhere. I eat. A Lot. Constantly. I DO NOT adhere to any eating methods, like "clean eating" or "paleo" or "vegan" or whatever the hell else there is to do. I simply eat well...not great, but I'd say I eat healthier than 85% of the population. (True life: I just ate 2 Reeses as I typed up the first few paragraphs & I'm thinking a glass of wine is gonna be happening after this).
I eat what I crave-which is almost always something that I know is mostly healthy and filling. (and sometimes is chocolate or deep dish pizza). I "listen" to my body and what I want to eat. I know what makes my body happy, what fuels me, and what will make me feel gross or sick after I eat it. I drink almond milk over dairy now and have drastically cut back on my Starbucks/eating out habits. I rarely consume red meat nowadays, choosing to go for turkey, chicken, or some type of fish...however, I do love me a burger or a steak every once in a while. I don't feel guilty eating a seriously decadent dessert or dinner when my father comes to town to take me to a fancy restaurant or when my girlfriends & I go out for dinner or brunch or drinks...but I do notice a difference on how I feel the next day when I get up to hit the gym or go to work or whatever after a particularly indulgent or unhealthy meal. Typically, the next day, my body is almost DEMANDING lean meat, veggies, fruits & Greek yogurt (I could single handedly keep Chiobani in business. Not even kidding.) Thus, those outings/unhealthy food binges are not a regular occurrence, simply because my body knows what works best for it.
Did I always eat like this? HAHAHAHAHAHA. Have we met? I am not the world's greatest chef. I spent most of grad school getting my calories from Starbucks purchases, Digorino personal pizzas, or various Lean Cuisines. (I can eat none of that stuff now without seriously regretting it 20 minutes later). Since I have gotten more into fitness and health, I have noticed a dramatic shift in my eating habits. You NEED to eat what fuels YOU. No more pop tarts (ok, sometimes) or empty carbs (seriously. very rarely) or Lean Cuisines (I depended on them during my internship but had to bring another mini-meal b/c my metabolism is way too fast for those suckers to actually last).
I think feeling guilty about what you eat or limiting yourself on what you CAN eat is CRAZY. Do I respect the people in the fitness world who do eat clean or paleo in order to reach their goals? HECK YES. However, it's just not for me. I like carbs. I like cheese. I like chocolate. I need like wine. I like variety (which sucks, b/c it means I have to expand my cooking skillz). I love the concept of clean eating, but sometimes I find it boring. Sometimes, I find it delicious. I could never be vegan. I like cheese (but I already mentioned that). Some of the healthy recipes I find call for bizarre ingredients I don't have on hand or are pricey, or black beans in brownies (I have been assured they are tasty, buuut I don't like black beans and I don't care if my dessert is a lot of calories. I'm too busy drooling after it to care).
There is SUCH a fine line between healthy and healthy-masquerading-as-healthy. Part of the reason I don't dedicate more time to what I eat or adhere to any of those eating styles is because I know myself. Personally, (truly, I am not trying to be dramatic here), for me, I would quickly develop some type of eating disorder if I attempted to do one of those diets. I've toed the line of an eating disorder in the past-more than once-and I don't want to ever be that close again. It would be so easy to convince myself that wine, chocolate, etc were ALWAYS BAD and then that would just quickly spiral into craziness, so I stay away. I am constantly checking in with myself, making sure I'm eating enough and well, and there have actually been days when I've had an internal debate about chocolate or not, and usually end up eating it b/c I need to remind myself that it's OKAY to indulge...more than once a week.
Those "fitspo" motivation things flying all over Pinterest or Instagram? The ones that say "The chocolate you've wanted for an hour or the body you've wanted forever?" or "Hip bones or that burger?" or whatever equally ridiculous saying are SO SO unhealthy. To me, it's almost promoting eating disorders. It's totally destroying a healthy body image. It's making it virtually impossible for women to ever be satisfied and confident with their bodies b/c everyone thinks they "should" look like that "that." To be honest, I have abs, a nice ass, and toned legs-and I still eat chocolate multiple times a week. It's possible.
RIDICULOUS. I also have a HUGE issue with those posters that say "Real women have curves/hips/booties/etc"...uhm, excuse me. I'm as real as they come (minus the hair color. That is categorically not real) & I have very few curves. I have an amazing chest, extremely narrow hips, a small (but nice-thank you squats, deadlifts, and lunges) ass, slim (but toned) legs, rather broad shoulders, thin (toned) arms...WHO decided that curves make you a real women? It's not my fault I wasn't blessed with all around curves. My best friend, who is Hispanic, has amazing hips, thighs, and a booty-but small boobs. We always joke about how we want to be able to move things around-but alas, that is not possible.
Every woman everywhere probably wishes she could change something about her body (this may or may not be true). We can't help it. HOWEVER. I am finally at a point in my life where I can look in the mirror while I'm in my bra & undies & LOVE what I see. Sure, I think I maybe need to work my core (OBLIQUES!) a little more or do more squats or whatever, but I'm happy and confident with myself. I lay out in a bikini during the summer and I am not embarrassed. It's amazing.
I've heard that I'm too skinny. I've heard that I "lift too heavy for how tiny of a person you are" (thanks mom. I told her mentalities like that are why feminists exist. She wasn't pleased.) A lady at the gym a few weeks ago told me I was her motivation. Several trainers have genuinely (not in the 'i want to have sex with you' way) complimented me on how I look recently. Yeah, that's awesome (most of it). But all that matters is that I am happy with myself. I am confident. I will continue to workout and eat well and indulge and be confident in who I am, who I'm becoming, and what I'm doing.
There needs to be more of a movement when it comes to embracing and loving your body, no matter what. If you want to workout, or lose weight, or whatever, AMAZING. If you just want to tone, yes! If you want to lose weight so you can be healthy, I applaud you and will help you in anyway. I wish society would truly embrace the variety women's bodies and let us be proud of who were are and what we look like, as opposed to us constantly being inundated by ideas that often contradict each other.
Be proud of who you are. Be proud of your body-curves or no, tall or short, toned or not toned...be confident and strong and proud. You deserve it.
There is SUCH a fine line between healthy and healthy-masquerading-as-healthy. Part of the reason I don't dedicate more time to what I eat or adhere to any of those eating styles is because I know myself. Personally, (truly, I am not trying to be dramatic here), for me, I would quickly develop some type of eating disorder if I attempted to do one of those diets. I've toed the line of an eating disorder in the past-more than once-and I don't want to ever be that close again. It would be so easy to convince myself that wine, chocolate, etc were ALWAYS BAD and then that would just quickly spiral into craziness, so I stay away. I am constantly checking in with myself, making sure I'm eating enough and well, and there have actually been days when I've had an internal debate about chocolate or not, and usually end up eating it b/c I need to remind myself that it's OKAY to indulge...more than once a week.
Those "fitspo" motivation things flying all over Pinterest or Instagram? The ones that say "The chocolate you've wanted for an hour or the body you've wanted forever?" or "Hip bones or that burger?" or whatever equally ridiculous saying are SO SO unhealthy. To me, it's almost promoting eating disorders. It's totally destroying a healthy body image. It's making it virtually impossible for women to ever be satisfied and confident with their bodies b/c everyone thinks they "should" look like that "that." To be honest, I have abs, a nice ass, and toned legs-and I still eat chocolate multiple times a week. It's possible.
RIDICULOUS. I also have a HUGE issue with those posters that say "Real women have curves/hips/booties/etc"...uhm, excuse me. I'm as real as they come (minus the hair color. That is categorically not real) & I have very few curves. I have an amazing chest, extremely narrow hips, a small (but nice-thank you squats, deadlifts, and lunges) ass, slim (but toned) legs, rather broad shoulders, thin (toned) arms...WHO decided that curves make you a real women? It's not my fault I wasn't blessed with all around curves. My best friend, who is Hispanic, has amazing hips, thighs, and a booty-but small boobs. We always joke about how we want to be able to move things around-but alas, that is not possible.
Every woman everywhere probably wishes she could change something about her body (this may or may not be true). We can't help it. HOWEVER. I am finally at a point in my life where I can look in the mirror while I'm in my bra & undies & LOVE what I see. Sure, I think I maybe need to work my core (OBLIQUES!) a little more or do more squats or whatever, but I'm happy and confident with myself. I lay out in a bikini during the summer and I am not embarrassed. It's amazing.
I've heard that I'm too skinny. I've heard that I "lift too heavy for how tiny of a person you are" (thanks mom. I told her mentalities like that are why feminists exist. She wasn't pleased.) A lady at the gym a few weeks ago told me I was her motivation. Several trainers have genuinely (not in the 'i want to have sex with you' way) complimented me on how I look recently. Yeah, that's awesome (most of it). But all that matters is that I am happy with myself. I am confident. I will continue to workout and eat well and indulge and be confident in who I am, who I'm becoming, and what I'm doing.
There needs to be more of a movement when it comes to embracing and loving your body, no matter what. If you want to workout, or lose weight, or whatever, AMAZING. If you just want to tone, yes! If you want to lose weight so you can be healthy, I applaud you and will help you in anyway. I wish society would truly embrace the variety women's bodies and let us be proud of who were are and what we look like, as opposed to us constantly being inundated by ideas that often contradict each other.
Be proud of who you are. Be proud of your body-curves or no, tall or short, toned or not toned...be confident and strong and proud. You deserve it.
