I hope everyone is having a carefree, happy weekend!
I am so happy to have less of this..
And more of these..
Best. Purchase. All. Month.
I am just itching to tell you guys about all my weekend musings (there was a whole lot of food-makin'!), but I'll save that for tomorrow/Tuesday. I'm going to talk about something a little deeper than peanut butter and chocolate. ;)
As many of you know, I keep a ridiculous number of journals/notebooks. If you'd like to take a look into one of them, check out this post.
About two years ago, in my early-writing years, I put together a little spectrum in one of my notebooks. I was fed up with an unstable relationship with food and exercise and I wanted to find a happy medium. I thought to myself.. What does a happy medium with food even look like?
Being the visual person I am, I drew it out in front of me.
Here's my little "health spectrum":
If you can't read some of that, I apologize - age 15 is where my neat handwriting turned into a bit of a crazy scrawl (why waste time picking up your pen if you have to right??) - I've noticed that it actually looks a lot like my mother's too, which is weird. Is there a handwriting gene? Maybe I just admire her penmanship so much ;)
Basically at the top we have one "extreme"..
"This is where it's easy to be" - Not Caring At All
I wrote things like..
Exercise.. who cares? Doesn't matter if I'm hungry or not.. No body image at all... Loving no control... Doesn't matter what I eat... Doesn't matter how much... Relieves my tension... It just tastes good... Why eat fruits and veggies?? Unhealthy dinners like cookies or ice cream...
This is an easy, but hard spot to be in. It's a spot where I feel a lot of people leave themselves..
I must add though, if it works for them, and they don't have a issue with those things I listed above, no problem! That's great! I'm not here to judge everyone and their habits.
I just know that for me, this is a yucky spot to be in, because it leaves me feeling stressed, lethargic, and just plain crappy. (Again, that's me, someone else may be completely different).
On the bottom, we take a 180 to the other extreme..
Again, I wrote "This is where it's easy to be" - Caring Way Too Much
I say this because for me, it's easy to find myself in a control-cycle. It is, by no means, easy on my mental health, but I find that I am able to get wrapped up in it without much trouble.
This extreme includes things like..
Sacrificing fun occasions so I don't have to eat... Loving control... No high calorie foods. Period... CALORIES- burned, eaten, allowed to burn... negative body image... Burn it off later... Restricting... Doesn't matter if I'm hungry or not... I HAVE to exercise... Doesn't matter how good it is for my body, as long as it's low-cal...
Much like the other end, this a hard place to be. I can honestly say that all of these thoughts have crossed my mind before, and not a single one of them makes me feel uplifted or truly happy. I'm sure I am not alone in this either.. These thoughts are associated with control, obsession and insecurity -these thoughts suck.
But luckily, there is a happy spot in between all the craziness. This spot is like a breath of fresh air, a sigh of relief. It's hard to find this spot sometimes, but this spot feels "just right".
:)
Eating til ful, eating when hungry. Treats here and there. Foods that give me ENERGY.. energy to exercise. And exercising because it's good for me. Fruits, vegetables, healthy snacks. Not worrying about the calories but eating how much I'm hungry for. Good body image. Loving myself. Exercise gives me energy. Moving my body enjoyably.
This is a wonderful place to be. For some of us, it takes work every single day, but the payoff is so awesome!
Life has ups and downs, and we may visit the extremes every once in awhile in times of stress. That's okay. I know where I want to be, and I know what that happy medium looks like. That is what is important in the whole scheme of things.
Here's to a happy, balanced day for everyone.
Adios! :)
what a great exercise to do! I think people forget that there can be the happy medium. it is really hard to find though
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. It takes work to find, but the payoff is tremendous!
DeleteI definitely was the type of person to have dozens of journals and notebooks around at all times back in the day. I still love going back to them and re-reading what I was feeling and doing any given year. I love the idea of finding that happy medium with body image!
ReplyDeleteThat is the best part about keeping journals! Seeing where you once were.. what you once thought. Thanks Lisa!
DeleteThis is absolutely terrific love! Seriously, wow, I am so impressed with your insight and self-knowledge, especially at your age. I think your happy medium looks awesome and very happy indeed :)
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you Caitlin! That is truly the best compliment, in my opinion. :)
DeleteMan, this is my absolute goal-- to be in that perfect medium all the time. It makes me so happy to hear you actively trying to maintain that good balance, it's too easy to slip and slide into one of the two extreme categories.
ReplyDeleteIt sure is! It's a great goal to strive for, with wonderful rewards!
DeleteI had this really long and insightful comment written on my phone but then it wouldn't let me post it. And then it disappeared. SO here's the shortened version: I think that while the easiest one in theory is the moderation, it's the most difficult to get to. Sure, I can eat like crap for days on end and stuff my face with cookies and cake- I did it this weekend. Was it difficult? No. Does it feel good? No. But then once you get into the habit of overdoing it healthily, it also is easy to maintain. Once you get there. Striking that balance is so difficult, and it shouldn't be. I'm glad you shared this and I can't wait to hear what you cooked up in the kitchen this weekend :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! I HATE when that happens.
DeleteI loved how you phrased that.. "the easiest one in theory, most difficult to get to." That's perfect. It's so hard to get there, but it's all about the journey right? Thanks girl :)
So happy for you! Love this- it's such a great idea:) And dark chocolate + PB= heaven
ReplyDeleteThey are so awesome! Better than the originals!
DeleteI love this post! I'm all about finding that happy medium point too. It is definitely something that takes work every day but I feel like knowing it takes work and that it's not easy will make it less of a challenge because we know we aren't fighting alone. That's so cool that you can look back in journals like this. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteOh, I think everyone in the HLB community strives for this. It totally takes work! Thanks Alex!
DeleteReese's are my favorite thing in life. And I love that little spectrum! I really struggle with finding balance too, although I'm a MILLION times better than I used to be. Just gotta keep working towards the middle!
ReplyDeleteThey are easily in my top 2 favorite candy bars haha. I couldn't agree more, Jessie!
DeleteAwww I LOVE this :) You have such a good mindset on this kind of stuff, it's really admirable. And I think that it's really mature of you to realize that what is "good" or "bad" for you isn't the same for everybody... and you tell them that! I think sometimes it's easy to get caught up in other people's opinions and adopt them for your own, even if it's not necessarily what you truly believe in. Sometimes it's really easy to lose sight of what you DO believe in, as silly as that sounds. It's obvious that you have a good head on your shoulders and are really focusing on what's important -- doing things that make you feel good, not bad.
ReplyDelete