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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

What Healthy Eating Means To Me

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My relationship with food has been all over the place. I have gone from living to eat to eating to live, and back again. Several times, may I add.

The first time it happened I was in the third grade. I had this really terrible nausea all time and it made me not want to eat. Not to the point where I stopped eating completely, but sometimes all I would have lunch would be oyster crackers and yogurt. That lasted for a couple months, then (after getting strep throat) I got better. The same thing happened in the fourth grade.

And you all know that about a year and a half ago I was eating to live again. I dropped thirty pounds refused to eat, despite my parent's insistence, and was pretty much a blob. A nauseated, frail, pained, introverted blob. To any who knows me I am none of these things (except an introvert, but at that point it was worse than it is now ;p).

I tried avoiding dairy, gluten, spicy foods, chocolate *gasp!*, and a numerous amount of other foods. Not necessarily at the same time. For a while the only things I was eating were smoothies made out of coconut milk, avocado, and fruit, cream of rice with dates, and chicken and rice. (Sometimes I would have fish or quinoa.) That was a very sad time. I dreaded every meal, because I was never hungry. I had absolutely no energy, so I spent most of my days on the couch. I don't think of that time in my life as a positive one. Even just typing about it makes me feel kinda sick.

It wasn't until I started eating healthier last spring and seeing several holistic healers that I finally started to get better. I learned what the chemicals, additives, enriched wheat flour, sugar, etc. was doing to my body and I did my best to cut all of it out completely.

That worked for a while, but I didn't really grasp the meaning of healthy eating. I felt better, just not 100% better, which is where I wanted to be.

I don't think I ever would've known what healthy eating truly is until I got my first Paleo cookbook for Christmas last year. I researched a lot about the diet and decided to give it a try in January. After about a month and a half I felt really good. Like my nausea was getting better and my stomach stopped hurting. It was amazing!

After my physical problems were solved I still held onto my emotional ones. I was scared, to put it simply. Scared of food. Which is not really a good thing to be scared of. That's not healthy eating. That was eating healthy. They are too completely different things. One makes you feel good from the inside to the out and the other is more like a chain. You can eat healthy, but not reap all of it's benefits, because mentally something doesn't click. My personal philosophy is that healthy eating is knowing what you eat, making sure it nourishes your body, and to NOT be afraid of it. If you're afraid of putting something in your body, DON'T EAT IT!

Now, that doesn't mean to be super strict with your diet all the time. That's what I was doing. It took all the fun out of the Paleo lifestyle. But Paleo is not a diet. It is lifestyle. Meaning it needs to be maintainable for the rest of my life. And it's practically impossible for someone to cut out all sugar, dairy, grains, and processed oils completely. These days I do eat some sugar and gluten-free bread, rice, quinoa, etc. occasionally. I also eat potato chips, which are my kryptonite and try as I might I cannot give them up. I'm also able to have dairy without a problem most of the time. But, you know what? I feel great.

And I think that's really all that matters when your trying to eat healthy. Feeling good and looking good. So do what's best for you. The vegan/Paleo/whatever-diet mold doesn't fit everyone perfectly. Adjust it to your needs. It's also okay to not be perfect. Humans aren't perfect. It's just a fact of life. So don't hang on to the guilt if you indulge in that piece of chocolate cake or scoop of ice cream. Let it ago and start fresh right after.

Okay, that was a long, heavy post. #sorry #notsorry I hope you learned something from it!

By the way, I'm still working on my special blog anniversary post. Meaning, I still have no idea what I'm going to do. ;) Any ideas are greatly appreciated!


Inquiry of the Day:

What does healthy eating mean to you? 

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this with us. I've been in a similar boat - my eating has been all over the map. I was finally in a happy place when I decided to go vegan almost 4 years ago, and then had 3 years of blissful happiness. I was so very happy & healthy! Then my husband was offered a job and we had to move to another country and it was stressful, and I've been doing some emotional eating. But I'm feeling more settled and hoping to get back on track.
    ps. chips are my kryptonite too ;p

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    Replies
    1. I'm glad things are looking up for you. It's no fun to be stressed and emotional eating is no good, either. Stress eating was a bad habit of mine as well. Thankfully, I've been able to push through it and I no longer eat for comfort. Although when I do stress out occasionally I blame it on not enough chocolate. ;D

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