Hello Loves!

Our diet culture has forced us to think that the point of working out is to lose weight. Honestly, that was my whole mindset when it came to working out. Until, my anxiety started to get worse and worse especially during the start of the pandemic. I have been on and off diets since I was 18 years old. It was a never ending cycle, I would lose weight and restrict myself from all my favorite foods then gain everything back, over and over again. I would work out but mostly only do cardio like 4 to 5 times a week.  I was terrified of anything to do with weights because I didn’t want to be manly or bulky. (FUNNY, Now I am weight-lifting 4 to 5 times a week 🙂 and even less cardio) Working out always felt like a chore for me or punishment when I ate too much food. REMEMBER, food is FUEL. Now, I am 24 and it took me about a year & a half to realize what I’ve been doing just isn’t healthy. Especially being a female, when you deprive yourself and work out too much your hormones or menstrual cycle can get messed, which of course ALMOST happens to me. The resentment I had towards working out has finally just turned, seriously within the last two months. It’s not a chore and I love it. As I mentioned earlier, I have anxiety and I get really bad heart palpitations when I’m anxious. For me, I didn’t want to have to take anxiety medicine, (If it works for you, then AMAZING). It just didn’t work for me, just made everything much worse. Working out is my LIGHT to helping me MENTALLY, the physical aspects are just another plus but not a GOAL. Now, instead of the term, ‘WORKING OUT’, I want you to try to switch it to ‘MOVEMENT’. Movement doesn’t mean you need to be in a gym, it can be dancing, swimming, literally anything that helps you get your heart rate up and you are actually ENJOYING it. The best kind of movement is when it doesn’t feel like a punishment. 

 

 

 

This is why CHEAT DAYS are BAD…….

(I have fallen into this my whole life when it came to my diets)

They reinforce that food is a reward, something that is earned, Labeling of good and bad foods and create that ENDLESS restrict/binge cycle. When we restrict ourselves from our favorites food, we tend to binge on that ‘cheat day’ and overeat until we feel like complete crap……

 

Hello Loves!  Do you know what the term, ‘Body Positive’ means? I’m curious to see what you guys think it means….leave a comment below and let me know your initial thoughts behind the term, ‘Body Positivity’. Body Positivity came into our world when models, like Ashley Graham became well known. Yes, we have always had ‘Plus Size’ but that isn’t the same thing. We shouldn’t label or create labels based on the size of someone’s body. Technology has taken over our world. With its rapid advancements and changes, it has allowed us to dive into everyone’s personal lives. Many applications like Instagram have created the foundation of a specific standard of beauty.Now more than ever, we are spending most of their time on their phones, which leads to being visually exposed to non-realistic values or looks. Body positivity needs to be a well-known topic within our society. I will admit, I have good and many often bad days when I question myself and how I look in the mirror. Especially during the pandemic, when I put on jeans or anything like that. But, I always love to make a reminder, your body is meant to change! We aren’t supposed to fit in clothes from high school or anything like that. We’re human. 

“Body positivity refers to the assertion that all people deserve to have a positive body image, regardless of how society and popular culture view ideal shape, size, and appearance. Some of the goals of the body positivity movement include: challenging how society views the body. promoting the acceptance of all bodies.”

(source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-body-positivity-4773402 )

 

CLICK HERE: https://www.insider.com/body-positive-instagram-accounts-to-follow-in-2019-2018-12

 

* I shared a video of Ashley Graham on my main page…take a look :)*

5 Rules to Loving Yourself and Becoming Body Positive

Loves!

Let’s dive into the topic of FOOD.  First things first, there is absolutely no moral value to food being GOOD or BAD. It is all FUEL. I know, because of our society, cookies or sweets or chips are labeled to be ‘junk food’. But then, why were they created? If it’s not meant to be enjoyed (especially GUILT FREE) I know everyone has heard the saying, “You can eat whatever you want but it should be in Moderation…” WRONG. Let’s switch our mindset to, instead of everything in moderation, switch it to BALANCE. 

When you have a balanced lifestyle or relationship with food, you won’t feel the need to restrict yourself from your favorite foods! In the two years, I was on & off of a diet, and yes I lost weight but I wasn’t healthy mentally or physically. The second I would allow myself a ‘cheat day’, I would binge on foods I have restricted for SO long. This cycle was never ending and I truly saw no light at the end of the tunnel. I would miss out on dinners or parties because if it didn’t fall on a cheat day, I couldn’t let myself be around all the delicious food. The temptation would be too hard to handle. It was BEYOND restrictive and like I mentioned in my ‘Welcome’ post, it took a pandemic to make me realize how I was living wasn’t healthy nor a realistic lifestyle. If you are struggling with creating a better relationship with yourself and food. 

 I highly recommend unfollowing anyone or anything you see that makes you question yourself and your body. That was my first step into my journey of mindfulness and intuitive lifestyle.

@happystronghealthy.rd

@DanaMercer

@VictoriaGarrick

@binge.nutritionist

@nutritionstripped

@diet.culture.rebel

@Ariellenyssa

@Mikzazon

@Stephanie_Buttermore 

 

 

REMINDERS

Movement is key mentally, anything physical that changes our body is a plus but not a goal.

Food and Working out DO NOT CORRELATE.

The way we can lift our legs or move our hand, we can move our mind to a better healthier mindset when it comes to FOOD. 

 

Welcome to my Intuitive and Mindfulness Blog! First things first, What is Intuitive eating? Have you ever heard of it? Being in the fitness industry for about 5 years, I have been around the ideas of fad diets and weight loss programs. It took a national pandemic to make me realize something for 30 days, is not a sustainable way to lose weight or ‘get healthy’. Our society has created this over exaggerated ‘Diet Culture’, that is just so WRONG. I will break it down for you, don’t you WORRY.

Intuitive Eating was created in 1995, by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. They created a framework and principles to break away from society’s diet culture. Why are we just learning about this now though? Because our society has created all of these beauty ideals and weight ideals with the addition of fad diets. Seriously, not until there were celebrities like Ashley Graham or Demi Lovato in some cases, who pushed the body positivity movement to mainstream media.  We will discuss body positivity in another post of course. That is one of my favorite topics to dive into. 

ANYWAYS, Just wanted to say hello and welcome to my page. I can’t wait to drop some knowledge about how insane our diet culture is and that you don’t need to cut your favorite foods EVER.