fun at the fair & eating hypocrisy
Posted: October 10, 2010 at 2:59 pmBloggers of the Day!! (chosen randomly from your comments)
- Food In Real Life – Jamie has been a friend of mine through the internet for a few years. She’s a genuine person with a lot of passion for healthy living.
- A Fit and Spicy Life – I’ve known Mellissa just as long as Jamie. She is such a great person. She loves traveling, wine, and giving out amazing recipes!
- Mangiare Buono, Vivere Bello – That means “Eat Well, Live Beautifully” and describes Steph perfectly. She posts killer workouts too.
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I hope you all have had wonderful weekends. Sad to think they are coming to an end. As you may have read, I had a fabulous start to the weekend yesterday morning. After a delicious breakfast (pumpkin stuffed french toast), some chill time, and an hour long walk with the family, we headed out to the fair!
I love county fairs!! This was the first time we went together as a family. I had more fun than I expected. Likely from seeing my little M enjoy herself so much.
The fair had so much to see and do. We started off with the mini-zoo to let M peek at some of the animals.
I think she would have stared at that zebra all day. But, we had other plans for her.
She didn’t feel too certain on her first two rides, but by the end of the day, she kept asking to ride things again, again. Sorry, baby. Fairs are dang expensive!
Amidst all the teacup, sky bucket, motorcycle, and horse riding, we also meandered through the little country sections of the fair grounds.
Too bad, it was too hot to try some fresh cider! We had to have some fair food and what better to choose than the classic choice of funnel cake?
I already can’t wait until next year! It’s one of those Southern things about me. Just like my cravings for BBQ, which is what we had for dinner last night.
The BBQ dinner came with an unexpected side, however. Not the cole slaw or sweet potato fries. Those are pretty standard. Something else.
At first, I couldn’t tell what bothered me. I knew I didn’t feel guilt. After all, I had a healthy breakfast and lunch, then my dinner was kept to reasonable portions. I only ate the meat with a some of the slaw and not even half of the sweet potato fries. I enjoyed it all. Through talking it out with Peter, I figured it out. I feel as though I am in eating limbo. I have things I want to improve with my dietary choices, such as being more mindful of ingredients and choosing whole foods more often. The issue? I have no motivation to do so right now.
It’s so odd to mentally want to do these things and get back to eating in a more 90/10 ratio of quality food over things that don’t offer much nutritional value. Yet physically, sweets and really hearty meals sound incredibly appealing and I go with it. By no means do I not eat enough quality food. I know I do. On some level, however, I still don’t quite feel like myself and it gets to me that during pregnancy I somehow lack the drive to just do what suits my personal preferences outside of pregnancy.
When I add all that in to writing a healthy living blog, sometimes I feel hypocritical. I guess because I know my normal, I feel a bit like an imposter sharing my current lifestyle as healthy when I know its not really MY healthiest. No matter what, I always believe in balance. Pregnant or not, I still indulge in treats without guilt. In a few months, I won’t drastically change into this all or nothing person who never eats anything processed or refuses to eat some funnel cake or BBQ. Believe me!
I guess I am trying to say…I’m ready. I get excited thinking about having the motivation and desire for my regular lifestyle. I await the days where my mental and physical cravings coincide. I enjoy learning more about fueling my body properly for my passion of working out and having fun along the way. In truth, I know I am not a hypocrite. I’m simply a person with one small piece of the whole puzzle missing. It will return soon and I cannot wait to share it with all of you.
- Have you ever felt in limbo over something?
- Do you like going to fairs? What’s your favorite fair food if you have one?
Tags: family activities, healthy eating
I always try to think “If I made the choice to do it, enjoy it” because if I’m going to feel guilty about it, then I don’t do it
Totally agreed. And that’s the thing thats so weird. I don’t feel guilty at all. I just feel weird. Like not 100% me, but not able to really change it just yet. It’s so hard to describe. It only makes sense in my head. LOL
I’m in a bit of the same spots as you are right now. I think I’ve finally got some motivation to just eat HEALTHIER if that makes sense. I think over indulging in pizza, BBQ (I had the exact same meal yesterday), and Mexican left me feeling sluggish. Healthy foods really do help ya feel better.
Yummy funnel cake! Gotta hand it to you, because I don’t think I could survive fair rides if I’ve eaten anything. =)
Oh my gahhdd i love zebras! And funnel cake! I do get guilty after eating something super indulgent but in the end, you live life once right?! Plus some days you eat super healthy and other days you give yourself treats. But in the end, it all balances out. 🙂 Glad your weekend was fun!!
I always admire your lifestyle. You eat incredibly healthy, yet you balance with guilty treats, which is why your blogs is one of my absolute favorites! I think its SO great that your always so honest with your readers. Don’t be so hard on yourself ladyy!
you have one of the most healthy and balanced approaches to life – and you honor what works for you in the moment, which evolves and changes!
a funnel cake and a BBQ is fine (and you know this!). you also wouldn’t be happy eating a funnel cake and BBQ EVERY DAY, right?
😀
you all look happy and beautiful, having fun!
I think that’s what I really need to remind myself of. That things change and I’m doing what works for me in the moment. Thank you for sharing that thought. It really helped to hear that. 🙂
Oh my can I relate. You have described much of my life for the past few months! Too much to write in a comment but yes, limbo is a perfect description. And I don’t really have a reason why other than that is simply where I am right now. I am still working towards what I would tell a friend or client in this position: that embracing the ebb and flow of life will help you move forward. That this is where you need to be right now. To reflect and think on it but not to let guilt, shame or doubt creep into your mind.
The excitement and anticipation that you feel towards moving through this limbo place says to me that you will have one awesome experience once that time is right! 🙂 For now, soak up where you are because as always- we will often wish we could go back! 🙂
I’ve been in limbo for awhile now, so I know exactly how you feel. It’s frustrating to know you want to change things but just can’t at the moment 🙁
I love the big caveman turkey legs at the fair! And candied apples 🙂
I absolutely love Fairs…but not so much the fair food. I find that there are usually two types of fair food vendors. The “caranival carts” that travel around the country from fair to fair – I avoid those – yucky. Thankfully there is usually another choice – booths by local vendors, restaurants, and charities – those are the ones I seek out. Not only is spending my money at those booths support for the locals, but their food choices are usually fresher, healthier, and showcase the local food traditions.
I totally understand that feeling. Sometimes it hits me during the holidays 🙁
I can totally relate to how you feel. I feel like eating is 100 percent mental. You choose what will be on your plate by the way you are feeling at that moment. I have days were I eat so clean, but felt so yucky and “fat”. And the days I slip and eat terrible things, I actually convince myself I look thinner then I did when I ate good so I should keep on going. Does this make sense? I just want you to know, you are SO not alone on this subject!
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I feel like that too. I want to eat more whole foods and less processed crap and i know that my body will be grateful if I do it, but somehow, I still eat the fake stuff.
I also feel like that in regards to alcohol. I drink a lot less than I used to, but I want to stop binge drinking entirely and I find myself doing it sometimes despite my better judgement.
And I think thats what is so frustrating. That we have the better judgment but sometimes choose to ignore it. It’s part of life, I guess but still can get annoying. I feel ya!
Oh, my. I’m totally in limbo in my writing life. I’ve been reading over all my stories and can’t pick one to settle into.
And I love the fair. My favorites are elephant ears and pork tenderloins.
Woohoo for blog love! 🙂
I hear ya on being in limbo. I’ve gone through phases like that. This too shall pass and you will figure it out. I think having true balance in your eating is knowing that times like this happen and its OKAY!
That picture of M on the chair with the flowers is really precious btw!
I know what you mean about being in limbo, it is different but since I’m training for a half marathon on my long run days, I feel so hungry and always end up over doing it with food. I have yet to find a balance of feeding my body right and not over doing it. It’s slightly frustrating, but I’m working on it.
I totally understand where you’re coming from…I’m kinda in the same place. I KNOW that I typically eat healthier than I have been during pregnancy but I have no desire to eat big salads for dinner and oats every morning for breakfast. Like you too, I also think I’m doing good at eating a variety of healthy foods with ample treats thrown in. It really has been nice and I’m not going to freak out that I’m having sprite, lemonade, and gatorade instead of water :> Pregnancy doesn’t last forever…why not enjoy it!? You’re doing a great job. Love the pic of you and M 🙂
Gosh, limbo is such a tricky place…in terms of food. To me it feels like a fine line between wanting to improve my food choices and experiencing feelings of deprivation. I try to stay right in that gray area where I feel satisfied with my healthy choices but am not striving for perfection to allow for some processed/sweet treats!
I LOVE the fair! My favorite are the big swings!
The pumpkin-stuffed french toast from yesterday looks incredible! So sorry you’re feeling conflicted about your food choices and cravings right now. Just relax and enjoy your pregnancy as much as possible–your body is telling you what it needs right now, and you’ve just got to go with it. My best friend is currently pregnant, and although she has never had any tolerance for hot or spicy foods before, she’s been covering everything she eats in it lately! She poured fire hot sauce on chocolate pudding last week 🙂
PS–My favorite fair food is definitely a funnel cake. It’s been years since I’ve had one, but your picture got a craving going in me!
I’m in total life limbo right now, with a job change and a huge move!
You certainly are!! And probably suddenly being out of training for such a big event adds to that feeling too. This just came to me…when we know the limbo and changes from the norm bring good things we shouldn’t let them bother us. Your changes and limbo will lead to great new opportunities. Mine are leading to a baby. We should accept them. 🙂
You are so far from a hypocrite! You are just honest. I love reading your blog because you always keep it very real. We don’t all have the drive and motivation to eat perfect all of the time. What fun would that be? I love cooking and eating healthy but sometimes I just crave a twix bar and there is nothing I can do about it!!
M looks so cute in all of the pictures at the fair!!
Ah I love fairs! This looks like so much fun!
You take gorgeous photos 🙂 My favorite food at the fair is funnel cake too. I only have it once a year, at the fair, and I feel like that’s a good balance.
Is it sad that what jumps out to me is the funnel cake?! That’s perhaps my most favorite food… I treat myself to it when the fair comes around here and woopee, it’s this week!!!!
Enjoy your funnel cake!!! 😀 I loved sharing one together as a family. It’s a once a year thing and was so good.
Not a hypocrite at all, it’s the rule to go nuts at the fair!
I can really relate with this right now. Since my wedding and during marathon training I feel hungry a lot and often don’t crave the healthiest foods. Of course when I eat good things I enjoy them and feel good about eating them, but chocolate chip cookies just sound so much better.
So I don’t think it is hypocritical at all. Sometimes our bodies just aren’t quite in tune with our minds. I wish it knew what it takes to sync them up 🙂
Thanks you!! Looks like y’all had a great time!
When it comes to “health” everyone’s definition is different. No one can eat “healthy” all the time. I feel that health should signify balance, not one extreme or the polar other. There may be an occasional funnel cake or BBQ – but they don’t compose every meal – they are simply highlights of a well rounded diet.
I’m loving all the helpful perspectives you guys are sharing. It’s really helping. 🙂
I love fairs! I go to the New York State fair every year. They have chocolate milk for 25 cents – that’s my favorite part!
Fair means one thing to me and you covered it! Funnelcake! Yippie!
I can absolutely relate to this “feeling in limbo” that you had. In fact, It’s something that I’m constantly making a conscious effort to FIGHT at all costs! Like I mentioned in my last post – it’s just FOOD. There shouldn’t be any emotional or mental feelings attached to that! Having an awareness of what’s “healthy” and what’s not makes it so easy to deem foods as being good or bad – which then deems *me* as being good or bad. I refuse to get caught in that cycle, though!! And I think that that’s an especially important topic to be addressed in the healthy blogging world. So thanks for this <3!
I actually think I felt close wo how are feeling while i was pregnant. I konw I still ate healthy, but I also indulged a lot more than normal. Hot Tamales and Whopper Jr. were my BFF’s!! I did crave and eat tons of fresh fruit more too, but it just was not up to my normal healthy liviing with a few treats here and there. I came to a point where I was READY as well.
No hypocracy- just keeping it real! 😉
I am not a fan of fairs at all! They do have some good and interesting food choices though. I would eat an elepahnt ear–all 1,000 calories of it. Haha! I might share it…. maybe.
I haven’t been to the fair in so long I don’t even remember the last time. My dad used to take us when we were kids often. I completely understand your limbo feeling. The thing to remember is that you are still eating healthier than the majority of the population. You’re also staying active.
Thanks for the reality check. I do still eat mostly healthy. And I don’t succumb to the “because I’m pregnant I get to eat this” mentality. Even though pregnancy does leave me craving unhealthier things, I still don’t use pregnancy as a pass to have a free for all and go completely overboard.
Everything in moderation! If you want bbq and fries eat it but also have an apple and some veggies. At the end of the day it is all about balance 🙂
Funnily enough, my breakfast had apple and my lunch had veggies. 😀
It looks like you had an awesome day at the fair! Feelings about food can be so conflicting sometimes, but I think that you are doing a great job working through those feelings instead of just ignoring them. Remember that you are doing great things for your body, and that changes can be gradual. You are making great decisions for yourself each step of the way.
I don’t think you should get down on yourself Tina. All of this just proves that your human. Even though you strive for a healthy lifestyle, it doesn’t mean that those moments of wanting something outside of that will ever go away.
Tina — I personally believe that eating some processed foods now and then is ok. It is normal (for me at least!). I agree with other readers who talked about “balance” — which is what I see on your blog. NO guilt about food, ok?
My favorite fair food? corn dogs hands down!
I love the pics of M at the fair! She’s such a sweetheart! And I’m glad you were able to enjoy funnel cake…it’s by far the best fair food out there!
Cheers for eating without guilt! I’m excited for you to return to your “healthier” eating too…All in time and when YOU are ready. 🙂
i know exactly what you mean…and i think that’s totally normal! i think you should eat what you want and in moderation…that sandwich is great and you balanced it all throughout the day. no big deal!
I definitely know what you mean. For me, I have such an all or nothing personality, that you can best believe I’m eating very, very clean and whole foods or complete junk. Thankfully it’s clean more than junk, but still – I really beat myself up for it. I think it’s so important to remember you are active and healthy, and I think it’s perfectly normal to have those times where we veer off our normal path (of what we normally would eat, or even the workouts we normally do). The important thing is to remember that you will always get back to your “normal,” in due time. And I am so with you in that I could never, ever permanently give up things like funnel cakes, either. I mean, how often do we get the opportunity to have a delicious funnel cake, anyhow? 🙂
The fair looks like fun! I wish we got outside for a minute the past week, but it seems to have flown by without going out…I actually had to go stand outside for 15 minutes yesterday for some sun and fresh air!
As for the food. Tina, it is completely normal! I was telling HEAB about my food cravings, especially with my 2nd pregnancy. I think your body needs more sugar (not over kill, but more) and fats. When I was nursing, it was worse! I was so hungry and I think all the sugar in the milk was pulling from my body! I would eat 2 brown sugar pop tarts almost every time after nursing or if not that, then I would eat about 2 cups of frosted mini wheats (dry). Don’t feel bad about it at all and what you share now will help other people understand what they are going through later on too! Seriously, you know what your body “needs” and you have to listen to it through all stages. I can’t say I don’t miss funnel cakes and food is about so much more than just fuel sometimes. There are memories that are created and those are important parts too! I think you can live a healthy lifestyle while still enjoy “not so healthy” foods! Everything in moderation! I hope you have a great day today! Thank you for your honesty and all that you share!
Thank you so much for this response, Sarena. 🙂 You really hit the nail on the head with the exact encouragement I needed. Pregnancy (and nursing) really do get us all wonky with food. I’m hoping I will be able to nurse again and it will be like with M. With her, I craved healthy stuff after the first month or so. It was like a flip was switched. LOL
Tina, you most definitely should not feel like an impostor. You are healthy, beautiful and so balanced. I think that you are real and you most definitely are an amazing part of the healthy living blog world.
I loved seeing your pictures from the fair. Little M is so cute. 🙂 I haven’t gone to the local fair this year, but I did go apple picking yesterday and it definitely got me into the fall mood.
Thanks for sharing your unmitigated fun at the fair, followed by your less comfortable thoughts around it.
I actually think that the fact that you’re continuing to write a healthy living blog, whilst being beset by lack of motivation in the same, and the whole pregnancy taste-alteration trip, makes your blog and experience a whole lot more powerful. You are having a true, genuine, authentic experience of yourself and what your body is drawn to. You don’t always feel good about or approve of it, but at least you’re not suppressing it or denying it to yourself or others.
I am full of admiration and hope that you feel better in yourself and take some pride in your authenticity.
I’m about to write a blog about supposedly healthy food choices that also don’t feel so good.It’s such a tricky thing for so many of us, and yet here’s hoping that we can find ease and simplicity within it.
love
Ela
Forgive me – I’m in catch-up mode so just reading this now. I TOTALLY know what you mean but you know what (and I think other bloggers echoed this), you are doing what’s right for you right now. You will get back to what feels “right for you” right now after the baby comes but for now, listen to your body and your cravings and go with what works. You’ll bounce right back, I am SURE of it!!
I have only ever been to the fair once, and I was incredibly disappointed. It cost money to get in AND money to do every single thing inside : /
It just seemed like a big fat waste of cash. I don’t exactly have 100 bucks to blow in one day.
That zebra is pretty cool though.
I was on a bike ride with my mom one afternoon and in someone’s backyard we saw a ZORSE.
Half zebra, half horse.
It was pretty wild.
[…] of why I love blogging is to not only gain support and motivation from others (like in my recent Eating Hypocrisy post – THANK YOU for all those comments by the way), but also to give it out. With that goal comes […]