30 days of self love – eating naturally
Posted: September 16, 2010 at 9:00 amI’ve shared before how right now a lot of my favorite healthy foods don’t hold the same appeal as when I’m not carrying around a two ton stomach pregnancy. I do, however, continue to make a concentrated effort to eat as healthfully as possible. That decision has nothing to do with weight gain or how others perceive my eating habits. I simply know that eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, lean proteins, etc helps me feel better and live a higher quality life.
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I have certainly been in a place where I could care less where my food came from as long as it helped me reach my daily caloric intake goals. Even when I focused on eating enough calories to fuel my body, the calorie count still reigned supreme. I didn’t consider reading the ingredients of nutrition labels over the other statistics. I didn’t think about where my food came from. I didn’t determine a food’s worth based on its wholesomeness – an apple or a 100 calorie pack at lunch were interchangeable.
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I had already given up those food rules of things being “good” or “bad” but the calories still defined how they fit into my eating habits. After my fitness competition, when I could freely give up calorie counting (and coincidentally a bit later picked up reading blogs), I began to change how I viewed food. Not only did I want to fuel my body with enough food, but also with valuable energy.
I knew my body deserved respect. I wanted to care for the body God had given me. It could do so much for me by surviving years of binging, enduring months of brutal competition prep workouts, carrying a child, and beyond. Why should I not give it my best? And wouldn’t it make sense that the best I could give my body came in the form of the foods God gave us?
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That was how I personally become to understand the importance of giving my body the best quality and choosing the apple over the 100 calorie pack every time. Only I have the choice on what my body receives nutritionally. I still don’t view things as “good” or “bad”. I still will have processed items without any guilt. Now, however, I desire the wholesome foods because of how they support my body, instead of how they support my personal goals or body image. I am still a work in progress and have a lot to learn. Nevertheless, I also know that I will make that progress and continue to honor my body with natural, wholesome foods. Because it deserves it.
- Have you experienced any shifts in how you view food?
- What are the biggest influences in your food choices? Without getting preachy, my personal reason lies in trusting God. He gives me so much…including my body’s wellness. To keep that wellness it only makes sense to me to trust God’s food to feed it as well. Just as His word feeds my spirit and joy in life.
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Check out these bloggers who shared their personal 30 DSLR thoughts on their blogs!
Tags: self-love reflections
I’m right there with you, Tina. I definitely went through the phase of ohhh I can’t eat this banana, it’s got too many calories/points compared to this easily trackable 100 calorie pack. Nevermind the fact that that 100 calorie pack of crackers will do nothing for me nutritionally, while that banana would give me things like potassium and a good boost before my next run. I’m definitely to the point where I look for foods that are wholesome and nutritionally sound and will offer me a boost of energy. That’s not to say that there’s always going to be that balance between always eating UBER healthfully and giving into a craving now and then. Which you and I both know are very important, pregnant or not! 🙂
•Have you experienced any shifts in how you view food?
Absolutely!! Growing up I never thought about what I put in my mouth aside from I wanted something that tasted good and would fill me up.
As an adult I became conscious of how food is fuel and all the nutrients we need to make and keep us healthy and strong are in food.
•What are the biggest influences in your food choices?
My biggest influences would be my food intolerances, which have been a COMPLETE blessing! Since I can’t eat wheat, barley,rye,dairy,eggs, or casein, I’m forced to eat minimally processed and mostly real, whole, pure food.
Of course there are exceptions, but the food intolerances have made me uber aware of how food effects our bodies and brains and how to choose the foods to nurture both 🙂
I think thats so interesting. At the blogger dinner I went to awhile ago we talked about that a lot. A few of the ladies I went with have different food intolerances as well and they view it as a blessing. Looking out for your health really makes you view things differently.
I never directly thought of linking loving my body to feeding it well. Interesting connection!
When I’m hungry I always think, okay what can I eat that is nourishing, not just for me, but for the babe too. I think it helps me make better choices.
Pregnancy helped me change how I view food a lot as well. I had a much better balance with food after M and have kept learning and appreciating what food can do for me since then. It’s such a blessing.
This is great, Tina. Food as fuel is so beautiful and so simple, but when food has become anything BUT simple, a means to an end, something to control, something that defines how we feel about our bodies… it gets more complicated. I am trying to view food as fuel and also as something that is meant to be enjoyed. Oreo cookies aren’t really doing anything for my body, but the act of eating them brings me pleasure, so I will continue to do so. But to FUEL ourselves with nutritious options and then just leave a little wiggle room for the fun stuff is the balance that I am working on.
I 100% support eating oreos or whatever else for pleasure. I know I do that as well. We should never feel deprived! I think it really helped me to start thinking that eating those healthier options wasn’t depriving me of something. It was actually adding something (a better quality of life).
I have found that as I have begun to eat healthier and not stress over what I weigh I tend to enjoy more fresh fruits and vegetables. Since I am eating less of these (over)processed foods I am also looking for whole foods that have no chemicals put on them.
One of the reasons I have changed my eating habits is,that if I am ever blessed with having children, I don’t want to pass on the issues with food that have plagued my family.
In starting school for the year, my goal is to lose weight. I told my friend the other day that I was fat and she came back with an emphatic, NO you are not. And I said, I’m not saying that in a self-hating way, I’m saying that in a I deserve to treat myself so much better than I have. I deserve to feel than I currently do and that means accepting that I could afford to lose a few. And one of the ways I’m doing that is by making healthy, wholesome choices in terms of food. Out with the french fries and soda that I spent the summer eating in excess and in with plain yogurt, lots of fruit and veggies, homemade granola and hummus and soups and chilli. I do believe in everything in moderation and don’t want to deny myself anything but in order to achieve my goals, I need to recognize food as fuel, not as a reward for a job well done or comfort on a bad day or a way to ease boredom or a study buddy and I need to make better, wholer, healthier choices. It’s a process but I’ve started and accepted that I will have set-backs and am proud of my accomplishments so far.
This is great!! You want to care for yourself and that will be the biggest motivation. Keep your focus on that and I have no doubt you will continue to make those better choices and reach your goals. 🙂
It’s been a long process for me to eat better, and I’m still not as good as I should be! I used to go get fast food for most of my meals, how I never gained a ton I don’t know. I’ve been trying to cook more at home and trying to add in more veggies and fruits. I still eat the bad stuff, but more in moderation.
And that stuff isn’t “bad stuff”. It’s simply not the best stuff. 😉
I eat things that are in no manner wholesome or healthy or doing anything for my body, but I enjoy them. The focus should be on providing the best for ourselves as often as possible. Never about depriving.
I was def one of those girls whoe had struggles woth food. I still do on some days, as I am sure you do as well. For years I was told my boyfriends and family that I wasnt good enogh, skinny enough or smart enough. I am sure you can imagine what that drove me too. I look back on highschool and want to cry because of all the things I missed. The parties and outings with friends I skipped because of the food that would be there and the fact I was ashamed of being seen. The times I denied myself ice cream while out with my girlfriends. The nights I cried myself to sleep praying to wake up beautiful. Those are all things I cant get back. I am still learning, but I realize now that GOD DOESNT MAKE MISTAKES. In His eyes I am perfect and beautiful, so am I saying that God messed up? NO WAY! I just need to see myself through His eyes.
I still sometimes lose focus of the “healthy” and turn back to the low calorie, no fat crap. I KNOW it shouldnt be about that. I know I need to fuel my body. I am an athlete. I need food that will provide my muscles with the energy and strength they need. Habits are hard to break though. That is when leaning on Christ really helps
Certainly feel you here. It’s a constant process in changing a bad relationship with food. Old demons will still come up in my thoughts. But with God’s strength I’ve learned they don’t control me and that I can determine whats best for me. 🙂 Great post!
I am most influenced by WHERE my food comes from and HOW it is made — I look for local (or sustainable), organic, and minimally processed as much as possible. I am not a fan of 100-cal stuff…or bagel ‘thins’ etc. because I am left hungry when I eat them! I ate Dannon lite ‘n fit yogurt and used Splenda on a daily basis a few years ago, but once my mom introduced me to Greek yogurt (before the wave of popularity) I never went back to the artificial stuff. I started using normal raw cane sugar again at that point too. I don’t calorie count but do try to eat lots of fruits and veggies. If I realize I didn’t eat enough of the good stuff one day, I will balance by eating more the next. 🙂
My view of food is still shifting! For a while it was a way for me to restrict myself, to punish myself. Then, it was a reward and I ate when even the smallest thing made me happy. When I was on Weight Watchers I would eat Fiber 1 bars, junky cereals and sugar free pudding because they were “low points” — now I eat foods because of their nutritional value.
Now I see it as fuel — it helps me live my best life possible.
I absolutely love that quote – it’s SO true. Personally, my view of food has shifted enormously over the course of my 22 years. As a pre-teen, I was a competitive swimmer and ate pretty much anything I wanted to. At this stage in my life, I never gave 2 seconds thought to whether or not it would make me gain weight, clog my arteries, spike my blood sugar, etc etc. I was 100% carefree when it came to food.
When I stopped swimming, the food definitely caught up with me and that was when I gained weight. In my ‘weight loss days’, my goals with food were to get as much as I could for as few calories as possible. My meals consisted of TONS of fruit and veggies, some lean protein, and very minimal fats. Although this was certainly a healthier way to eat than I had been doing before, I still wasn’t focusing on what the foods were doing for my body – sure, I was getting about 10000% of my daily vitamin A and C requirements, but I wasn’t getting any of the healthy fats that are required in a balanced diet.
Now, my perspective is probably the healthiest it’s ever been. I eat foods because I know they’ll make me feel good. My focus is on getting enough of everything – including healthy fats, calcium, vitamin D and iron – all of which I was lacking before. Food blogging has definitely contributed to my enjoyment of food, and reading blogs of others (like you, Tina!) has certainly contributed to my healthy perspective.
PS. Sorry for the essay-esque comment!
I loved the comment. I read evry one and always appreciate peoples’ thoughts. Thanks for sharing yours.
And I don’t know of a single high schooler who thought about foods clogging their arteries. LOL
This is exactly how I feel. I don’t eat healthy to meet some low calorie count or lose weight; I do it so that my body is nourished as its meant to be. I used to eat whatever, paying more attention to calories instead of where the food came from. Now I’m much more conscious of whole foods and what they do for my body. (And, conversely, what bad foods do to me.) Of course, I still need to master my sweet tooth. It’s my downfall.
Dang that sweet tooth! It’s my downfall too. As evidenced by candy corn pumpkins. 😀
one of the biggest things i’ve embraced as far as eating better is realizing that there are some foods that might taste fabulous but make me feel like crap..physically i just don’t feel well. i still embrace my cravings but try to make a conscious decision to eat things that make me feel well 90% of the time. so far so good 🙂
I know I feel more energy when eating better options. I don’t necessarily feel bad or get stomach aches or things from other foods but I can tell I’m not at my optimal self. Great point!
I never focused on whole foods while swimming because I needed soooo many calories that I pretty much ate everything in sight. My turning point came after my eating disorder, when I realized that natural foods taste delicious and make me feel good. I still eat whatever I want, but, for the first time, I WANT whole foods.
I think when we don’t have all these feelings of deprivation and restriction we can really see what whole foods do for us. And then we want them more. Our bodies are so smart. I know after a weekend of more of the unhealthy items, I want to load up on fruits + veggies the next few days at least.
[…] Posted on September 16, 2010 by daysonebyone| Leave a comment This prompt from 30 Days of Self Love over at Faith, Fitness, Fun comes at an appropriate time for […]
I wrote about this a little more at my blog, but I was just put on a temporary restricted diet yesterday, and so I’m thinking about food a lot.
I did go through a calorie counting and restrictive dieting period. It is sad to me to think of myself at that time- I want to give myself a hug. Food brings so much pleasure to my life now, and its like I didn’t want myself to enjoy something without worrying about its “number.”
A connection to the earth is an influence on how I eat. I enjoy the change of the seasons, the way the earth slowly changes the foods that are available to me, how each season has a taste.
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Ugh calorie counting. Some people can easily take to it (like Weight Watchers) and have huge success and not let it consume their lives. I was not one of those people. All day all I could think about were numbers and forgot to enjoy my food! I tracked on an online website and spent hours at work check it and scrutinizing it. It was consuming my life and taking the joy out of everything I did.
Once I stopped, I felt so free. I’d enjoy an apple for what it was worth and not how many calories it contained. I ate when I was hungry and enjoyed my food. I got excited about eating out again and not freaking out afterwards. Such a turnaround. And the best thing: now I CRAVE healthy food, instead of processed food!
Phew…just finished catching up on your last four posts. I am so glad you “found” your blogger groove…and sorry about the dentist!
I loved this post so much. I went through a similar transition and now I hardly ever read the labels and just go straight to the ingredients.
I liked what you said about God’s body and God’s fuel. I am going to email you something about God and Food that I hope you will enjoy.
~Missy
Wow … another great, thought-provoking post. I’ll probably write my own blog post about it later, once I’ve had time to reflect.
Off the top of my head, my view of food is still constantly shifting. Now that I’m following the CarbLovers Diet, I’m eating more of the whole foods that I should have been eating on Weight Watchers (but eschewed for low-points junk).
I also put up a post about finding joy. (I know, I know — I’m at least a day late and a dollar short there …)
Your posts just keep getting better and better 🙂 I have to say this one is so far my favorite. This was very eloquently written, and I feel that everything that you have written is exactly how I feel. I believe that we have been blessed with foods in nature by God, and were placed there for a purpose, to properly fuel our body. Anything outside of what is naturally there has been created by people, and for me I try to avoid unnatural things as much as possible. Now, grant it there are things that I have that are unnatural but that’s ok too. Like I said I try. The two biggest influences that I have on the choices I make are the blogging community 🙂 and my own body. I trust both will provide me with the information that I need to make informed decisions on what does and doesn’t work for me.
The blogging community is great, huh? We can really learn so much from each other.
I love the “eat lightly, breathe deeply.” I have found that yoga/pilates has helped curb so many cravings.
Oh this is by far my favorite post yet. That might also have to do with the fact that a newly developing passion for me is our relationship with food.
So, my MO is this= 15+ years of restrictive, emotional eating now with almost 2 years of intuitive eating. But the past 2 years of learning about intuitive eating has had it’s fair share of a few binges, dieting slightly crawling back into my life and bouts of emotional eating. To say we are always learning and evolving is an understatement! 🙂
Here is what I love about how I feel in my soul and what you shared today: we are here to respect our body. We are here to nourish our mind, our body and our spirit. Nourishment comes in the form of many things- one being food. I am ever so slowly beginning to live this and realize that what I put in my body is not only my choice but something I desire to do WELL! I feel well with natural, healthy foods. End of story! Do I still love the sugar, white flour foods? Yep! Always will! But I decide to pick other foods the majority of the time so I can feel alive!
Your last few sentences sum up my approach to food completely!
I just got back from the Naturopath, where he was emphasizing to me how important it is to keep on eating regularly and not go back to starving myself, to allow my metabolism and adrenals to recover. That seems so right on for this post, since I have generally eaten extremely healthy food but not necessarily in healthy ways (like extreme self-deprivation). I have two articles due today and a writers group this afternoon, so I may not get my blog post done until late and it may not be a long one, but I’m glad to look in here and start brewing it in the back of my mind!
I’ll comment back when I’ve written it.
love
Ela
hey tina, I have a lot to say about this topic, so I’m doing a big write up on it on my blog tonight.
I’ll look forward to it tonight. 🙂
Excellent topic!! I went through two different periods: one where I didn’t give a damn what I did to my body and ate crappy food as a result. Another where I wanted to have a certain aesthetic, thus focusing on only calories and macronutrients. Neither did great things for how I FELT in my skin, or how my body performed in every day life. Both represent my level of self-love at the time. Nowadays I make food choices based on treating my body the best I can. For example, in my current situation it would be really easy for me to go out drinking every night with my friends. Rarely do I ever splurge and have more than two drinks, because it completely hammers my body. I love myself enough to not want to do that to my body anymore!
My eating habits have been all over the place – from eating whatever I wanted to having a kid and suddenly having to worry about my weight…to watching calories obsessively…and now to finally being at peace! I am no longer obsessed and I am happy. I eat what I want for the most part and don’t stress and I am at my lowest weight since high school.
I got in the best shape ever after M and its when I stressed about food less. I actually hated going back to calorie counting a lot for the show and was so ready to just focus on eating better foods for me afterwards.
Oh boy, have I experienced a shift in how I view food… YES, YES, YES!! 🙂 I love proudly saying that b/c for so long I was spending hours planning out what I would eat, trying to keep the calories as low as possible, blah blah blah. I was obsessed with becoming smaller and smaller and would FREAK if somebody got in my way. Now, wow… I live in a whole different world. I’m flexible, I eat what I want, when I want… I get excited about eating with other people. Life is so much better. Something else that’s gotten better is that even though I might eat more now, I actually eat much more healthy. I used to not eat avocados, olive oil, nut butters, greek yogurt b/c I could find diet foods with less calories and fat, but they were not healthy for me (100 cal packs, splenda, etc). My motivation for how I eat right now is 1. My baby 2. My own health 3. My emotional health – I don’t deprive myself of what I really want (within reason) b/c I know it’ll only backfire. It is such a freeing feeling to finally get in this place where I am eating naturally!! 🙂
Amen to including emotional health! That’s why I don’t fret when I choose something that isn’t top notch. It would just mess me up emotionally. Overall, I know I choose the quality options as much as I can.
I have had many food view changes. I’ve had times were food was something I controlled and other times were I let food control me. Recently though, since I started studying FND, I’ve changed my views. I love studying with people who love real food. Today I had lunch with one of the girls. Just talking about our love for food was fun. I like being in the middle. I’m a girl who loves to splurge but I’m also a girl who love real food more.
I think I do it in part for my belief that eating well means I can be my best. I can work my best and live my best. I also do it for my someday. . . healthy food insures my someday will be.
I have definitely made a food shift in the past year and a half. Back then I was dealing with disordered eating, partially a result of my strick adherence to the Weight Watcher plan of low-carb and low-fat eating. I absolutely feared fat and was soooo conscious of my carb intake in whatever form that may have happened. After moving home from undergrad I became more relaxed about eating and began to embrace food again. As I discovered food blogs, I discovered a love and passion for wholesome and nutritious foods. I began to experiment with healthy cooking recipes and reintroduced fats into my diet through nut butters, flax seeds and avocados. I am currently transitioning to a pescatarian diet and am feeling better about making food choices for conscious and kind reasons. Its a wonderful thing to treat food as something that can nourish not just your body but your mind and your soul, too 🙂
I want to get better with this. While I do eat whole foods, I still eat a lot of processed crap.
I somehow missed the calorie obsessed stage that most girls/women go through. I have always wanted to be strong and healthy. I have had healthy eating habit almost all of my life. I had a shift when I first moved to Japan and discovered some of the junk food. After a year of that I went back to normal and got healthy again. My main motivation is to be healthy and strong. I studied sport science in university and try to use that knowledge to live a full life. I’m at a stage where I can eat whatever I crave because I crave healthy food almost all of the time. Even in pregnancy I have been eating whatever I want (basically raw vegetables because it was over 30 degrees Celsius for two months straight here).
That’s awesome that you have always had the desire to fuel yourself properly. I guess your knowledge and a strong upbringing helped set you off right. And now you get to pass the same onto your little one. 🙂
I love what you said about an apple and a 100 calorie pack being interchangeable….that was me for a long, long time. You wouldn’t believe how many 100 calorie packs I went through! (Not that they are “bad,” but I was just caught up on the ‘100 calorie’ in the title). My views on food have definitely changed, I think, for the better. I eat fruits and veggies because I know they make me feel better, but then I LOVE my ice cream, too. Both have their place, and I’m really trying to work on what I know my body needs versus what I think it should have.
I love that you posted this since I have recently been throwing out food “rules,” like counting calories. I have found that I overall try to eat foods that will be good for my body and that I enjoy. I haven’t been trying to restrict sugar or bad things like corn syrup (I watch for aspartame because I gave that up a couple of months ago) so I can get used to just not counting calories and get used to listening to my body and making good choices sans caloric amount. I plan on paying more attention to ingredient lists once I feel comfortable enough with the changes I have already made. The biggest influence on how I choose food is if it will benefit my body in some way. Of course not everything I eat is beneficial for my body (dark chocoalte kitkats=yum!), but it’s nice to know that I can eat something like that now without stressing out about it too much and without sacrificing something healthy by trying to stay in a certain calorie range.
I’ve done the same thing. I don’t think you can completely overhaul your way of eating and have it become a lasting habit. I think its great that you want to focus on bettering your relationship with food first. You still focus on quality foods overall so paying attention the nitty gritty details of things right now isn’t absolutely necessary. I know if I tried to do too much right away I would get flustered and likely end up with the “good” “bad” mentality again and right back where I started. I’m still learning and getting better about checking labels, choosing different products, etc. I still have a long way to go too. I think its about progress and constantly striving to give oru bodies thee best we can at that time. Thanks for sharing!
Tina, I had several motivators for beginning my healthy food journey, all of which took place around the same time.
I have had high cholesterol most of my adult life. By the time I was in my forties I decided it was time to grow up, bite the bullet and accept that I’d probably need medication to lower it. But I love my non-medicated body. So I gave myself six months to see if eating healthy, exercising, and losing weight would make a difference. It did. I am still medication free.
In addition, I wanted to give myself the chance to be who I wanted to be, and that meant not fat (okay, healthy.) I was single again, and well, guess vanity played into it a bit. Truth be told, I just wanted to look good (better…)
But, as I began my journey to strengthen my spiritual and physical self, it began to feel like I was abusing something that wasn’t mine. God gave me my body and I wasn’t being grateful enough to take care of it. It was time to respect God, and myself.
By the way. Love the new (old) blogging style! Thanks for continuing on our 30 day journey!
I never counted calories exactly, but I obsessed about them anyway, and labeled certain (most) foods as “bad”. Now I respect and listen to my body and the most important thing in my food choices is eating as natural as possible. Which, in our society, means being defensive and keeping the “bad stuff” (unnatural additives, sweeteners, preservatives, etc.) OUT. I am also learning to listen to my body and simply eat when I am hungry and stop when I am not. It should be intuitive, but for so many people it is not. Love your self-love series!
I am definitely starting to change my views on food. Before, I would take whatever the label said as fact, along with whatever the diet trend of the time was–so if a food said low fat or healthy I would believe it.
Since that period of time, I have become a bit more educated on the importance of whole foods, and I have found the “rules” there are a lot more reasonable than anything you might find in the diet aisle. It’s a little hard to switch completely to whole foods, since right now I’m at home with my family who don’t really have diet issues, but I am moving back up to school soon, so I hope to at least start there.
Wow…what an emotional issue! Just by reading the comments, I can tell this one hits home for so many of us.
I have long been on the bandwagon of healthy eating for the sake of treating my body well. There are certain things that I don’t even WANT to put in my body and do not crave (deep fried foods, for example). However, I still have “fat” on the brain and my inability to let my body image issues go ends in bingeing….where I let logic and the desire to treat myself well fly out the window and pile loads of crap into my body!
I’m trying to be nice to myself about food…I’ve stopped journaling food, counting calories, etc. I let myself eat treats like cheesies and chocolate covered anything. But just when I think I might be getting better, I fall off again. What is the emotional satisfaction of digging my hand into a huge bag filled with junk food? Small amounts just don’t do in these situations. I’m so frustrated. How on earth does one begin to move beyond bingeing?
I’m not sure what my response is supposed to be! I love being reminded that my body does so much for me that it’s important to treat it well, and I’m actually doing really well with food this week, but I just never trust that I’ll be able to keep it up long term. Argh!
First of all, you need to TRUST and BELIEVE that you can overcome it. I used to think it would never change for me either and then it became a slipper slope to a moment where I could more easily give in to binging. I would think “well, I’m never gonna have the power to stop it so might as well do it”. Once I started really praying and believing that with God’s help and the strength he put in me, I could resist some binges. Not all. I still slipped up. But I could break out of it more often. That reaffirmed me and then I could stop myself more often.
It also sounds like you turn to binges when something emotional hits. Really try to find some other outlet for stress, hurt, etc. I know its hard. But you CAN do this. Give it time and really fight for yourself. Even picture yourself as a close friend, a family member you love, etc and fight as hard as you would fight to protect them from harm.
I know this likely doesn’t help a ton, but just know I’m thinking about you, praying for you, and here for you. And I believe in you.
Thank you Tina. This 30 day journey I feel has been helping me. I guess I need to start focusing on the times I CAN and DO turn away from a binge instead of worrying about when my next one will be.
I think you and this whole community are amazing. I honestly feel like this blog is an answer to my prayers and as frustrated as I may have sounded last night, I feel hopeful. I’ve already come a long way in the last year and it’s made me realize that I won’t stop fighting. This blog is just giving me tools to fight “nicer”! Thank you again!
[…] Posted on September 16, 2010 by tarynehanson Today for 30 Days of Self Love, Tina discusses her switch from obsessing over calorie counting to eating […]
[…] I want to talk about 30 Days of Self Love and Reflection. Today was all about eating naturally. When I started really trying to control my weight I was so […]
Here’s my blog post – I tell quite a lot and hope it’s not too much or boring!
http://ulteriorharmony.blogspot.com/2010/09/reflections-on-self-love-eating.html
thanks so much again
love
Ela
I have been in that calorie counting phase before… it is tedious, time consuming and it makes food less fun. Don’t get me wrong it has a time and place, but I was at the point where I obsessed over it. Luckily I was able to get out of the potentially harmful habit after 3 months before I became too involved. Post-calorie counting I focus more on fresh foods, because I know they are the best things for my body and they are more “pure” than other processed foods. Like you I still have my fair share of processed and unhealthy food, but I have a much better balance now than I used to.
I have recently done the calorie counting (I’ve lost over 100lbs since Jan 2009) and don’t think I could have lost that weight without calorie counting. Through that process I have explored more healthy choices and focusing on nice fresh foods and trying to eliminate many of the processed foods. I still eat processed foods, but do feel I have a better balance now.
I certainly agree that there is a use for calorie counting, as long as it can be done in a non-obsessive manner and the focus on wholesome foods still prevails. After this baby when losing baby weight I will have to be mindful of calories and I will openly share about it on the blog. I know, for me, I can get too caught up in numbers so I won’t track all the time, but I will still be mindful. As long as our #1 focus is caring for our bodies and providing them the best we’re doing good. Sometimes calorie counting plays a part of it…especially when it works to help you reach a healthier place. 🙂
As my health problems became more and more apparent I started caring more about where my food came from and less about if it just fit into my daily calories and points. Since I made the shift I feel better about myself all around and not just because of the food.
Taking care of health can be such a motivating factor! I’m glad you’re feeling better. 🙂 You deserve to feel your best. Thanks for all your fabulous comments today!
<33 clean eating. i always FEEL best when i EAT best. xo.
And you certainly keep up with your clean eats so well! 🙂
[…] Such was the case with Tina’s Thursday post, all about eating naturally. […]
[…] Uh-oh. This isn’t going to be pretty. Maybe I should start with a disclaimer; or a rating like PG. Or more appropriately, UE (unhealthy eater), or some equivalent. Healthy eaters and nutritionists out there will cringe at my responses to today’s blogging challenge which is about Eating naturally. […]
Hello, my name is Deborah and I am an unhealthy eater….
This topic wasn’t a good one for me cos I don’t eat the things I should eat: fruit and vegetables etc. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been eating ‘healthily’ as I would describe it since starting this current diet program but I seriously need to eat veges more often and eat fruit – sometimes.
I’ve never been a healthy eater but am much MUCH better than I used to be. I do make some effort to put decent things into my body now.
But doing this task reminded me that I still need to improve. So, I will buy some apples and use some more veges.
http://dietschmiet.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/30-days-day-16-eating-naturally/
Deb