I've stated several times that I write this blog as motivation for myself as much as for anyone else. I also reiterate that I'm a normal, mistake-makin' human. I've been doing fairly decent on the nutritional aspect of getting as fit as I can become post-baby. However, yesterday had a little pit fall. I went to help a friend with her son that had just had surgery and asked her if she needed me to bring anything. She asked if I cold bring her a chicken sandwich from Wendy's. "I've got this," I thought over and over in my head as I reminisced of the juiciness of their Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, a favorite of mine and probably the only food I really craved towards the end of my pregnancy which really was only five months ago. I thought about the veggies I had packed away in my bag for a snack and I thought about the hard, six mile run I had the night before. I didn't want to jeopardize that. I ordered the chicken sandwich and when the man asked me if that was all, "and two Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers" just flew out of my mouth! I think I actually covered my mouth in shock as I said it and when he asked if that was everything, I contemplated telling him to forget the cheeseburgers but it was like a scene from Liar, Liar when all Jim Carey's character was trying to say what color the pen was. It was like the foodaholic inside me reared up with a vengeance and had a firm grasp on my vocal chords! Not only had I got one JBC, but TWO! As I left the drive-thru, I felt guilty. Like, really guilty. Then I got to thinking, "Why do I feel so guilty about this?"
As women, we are flooded with images daily of what beautiful women should look like. Even on Pinterest when I see a blog about fitness and nutrition, it's about how the person eats the same meals over and over and they seem so plain. Oatmeal, grilled chicken breast and salad, fish and veggies. That is so boring to me and I don't think it is realistic for everyone to eat that way. The problem is, we see that and their body and get discouraged because we think we have to give up everything to look that good. How sad is that?! To the people who can scoff at dessert 365 days of the year and be fine eating plain veggies when invited over to your boss' house for dinner, good for you. The rest of you, you are the majority. You are not the only person who feels like you fail in this aspect.
Healthy Relationships...with food
I think that women have a love-hate relationship with food because we love how it tastes but we hate how it makes us look or feel after eating. It's about retraining your body to crave the right kind of foods. I've learned a lot in the past few months about eating for fuel and not for satisfaction. My taste buds have adapted to my bag of veggies I eat every day to where I'm not forcing them down anymore. Things that have a lot of sugar in them taste too sweet to me. At first, it was miserable getting to this transformation and so far, one splurge hasn't made me go on any binges as they surely would have before. Life needs to be about balance, so why would eating be any different. You all know that you need to eat more veggies, whole grains, good protein but what about those days that you feel like you won't be satisfied until you have your junk food of choice? Go ahead and have it and then get right back to how you should be eating. Don't feel guilty about it because that will most likely cause another downfall. I know that in the past I've thought, "since I already screwed up my good-eating today..." and then I eat everything in sight. I will go to the grocery store and load up a basket of ice cream and processed cookies. Everyone should get to a point where they can have their one splurge food, accept it, and move on.
While I was thinking about all of this in the drive thru waiting for my food at Wendy's, I became at ease with the fact that I ordered the cheeseburgers. Now maybe I shouldn't have ordered TWO, but I made a vow to myself right there that I was going to enjoy every bite of those two burgers, lick the grease off the wrapper (I kid, I kid), and get on about my day without another thought towards satisfaction foods. Food is the body's fuel. If you really think about that, you will want to put in only the best. Little splurges are not going to matter in the grand scheme of things.
No comments:
Post a Comment