If you’re like me and the rest of the world, every year marks a new beginning in our getting healthy journey. I know it can be a long, arduous process. I’ve been on it since I started this blog. And what I’ve decided is that getting healthy, getting fit, losing weight, etc. is a very personal thing, that can’t be dictated by one diet plan or one way of life. It’s because of this that I’ve made this the year that I’m getting healthy my way – without diets, but with the help of life style changes.
If you follow along, you know that I love and believe in the concept of intuitive eating over dieting. Unfortunately, I have to face the reality of my life. I am not always going to be present in the moment to be able to accurately determine whether I’m experiencing true hunger or just trying to mask an emotion (anger, sadness, boredom, being plain ole tired) with food. It’s a fact of my life. While I value knowing the difference and being able to catch myself 75% of the time to stop myself from over eating, I know that intuitive eating has not become second nature to me yet and that’s ok. When I’m in the moment and I allow it to work, it works perfectly. And that other 25% of time when I think about it after I’ve scarfed down some food, I’ve learned to forgive myself and remember that I can get back on that horse during my next meal or during my next emotional eating trigger.
Another way of life that I aspire to is the concept of clean eating. My mind totally gets how staying away from processed foods is beneficial to a healthy way of life. My palette however still remembers the yumminess behind puffed cheetos, fried foods, icing…you get the drift. It is because of that juxtaposition and knowing myself enough to know that once something is restricted, it feels like a diet, I’ve allowed myself some compromises. While I have banned a few food groups from existing in my home this month – the chip group, the sweet group, and the bread/tortilla group – I don’t allow the same restrictions when I’m out with friends and family. Why? Because in my mind eating with others is how food was meant to be enjoyed. That doesn’t mean that I order extra bread or fried items when I eat out, because I do try to stick within a healthy frame work, but I choose not to make food the main thing that’s on my mind when I’m with friends. I instead allow myself to be present in the conversations and laughs, which ultimately, without even realizing, sends me into my intuitive eating mode. Taking breaks to laugh and talk between bites allows me to connect to my fullness levels, which results in better portion control and generally a doggie bag to take home. A win, win if you ask me.
I hope that these modifications, coupled with the fact that I love to exercise and have the privilege of doing it up to five times a week, will end in a move from getting healthy to being healthy.
So if getting healthy is your desire this year, remember to be gentle with yourself along the way and don’t be afraid to combine different concepts or to even create your own to get you on the getting healthy track.
What are you hoping to accomplish or doing on your getting healthy journey?
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Awesome post and good luck! It is definitely a personal thing and I don’t think the same way works for every person 🙂
Thanks Kristen, for me it’s about baby steps & loving myself throught it all. Happy you stopped by! Have a great week!!
I love that you are not dieting and,, instead, you are changing your mindset through self-awareness and self-care, and self-love. You inspire me!
Thanks for your kind words Elayna! You inspire me!! Thanks for dropping by, have a great week!!
Great post – I am also trying to get healthy without diets or calorie counting. I’m currently going through a ‘no-refined sugar’ period (21 days so far) and in February will probably allow myself to have one sugary treat a week. I found myself craving, making and eating cookies (mainly the dough) and then trying to make up for it by exercising and restricting eating in the following days. So I’m there with you!!
Good for you Sarah, 21 days is awesome! After all the sugary highs of the holidays, getting rid of sweets has really helped me through my cravings and learning to be gentle with myself has definitely helped realize we have a numerous chances to do better.
Cheers to your success. I hope you stop in again to let me know how your journey is going. Have a great week!
Great post Rosie! I completely understand. Exercising is the “easy” part but how you approach food is the hard part. I had a little too much fun with food over the holidays and now it’s back to basics. I’m trying to cut back completely on the sweets and start eating salads every day again. I verbally make a promise to myself so when I get really tempted it will be really hard to break that promise. I just need about 3 weeks and then my body & mind will get back to “healthier” mode and it becomes easier. I will wish us both luck cause I already broke down a little at week two! :-/
Thanks Liz, restricting food and relying on will power is just never good. I’m more of everything on moderation girl so that I can deal with it all, but do think we need to get ourselves off the sweets, chips, etc to help cut down cravings. And they do say that changing habits takes about 3 weeks, 21 days, so we’ll see. Officially on week two & like you I’ve let my cravings win a couple of times, but I always have my next meal to get back into healthy habits, which I totally take advantage of. 😉 Here’s to better health for us both in 2015.
I also like to remove over processed foods from the house or at least keep them at a minimum. It really does help. Keep it up!
Agreed, every little bit helps. Thanks Byrdie 😉