Posted by Healthy Bitch Daily on Feb 5, 2013
Yesterday we talked about how stress is a bitch that kills.
I don’t know about you, but stress nearly got me during the holidays. Not because my fiance and I had about five different damn parties in six different cities to go to, and not because of the gobs of freakin’ money spent on presents.
It was the food.
I stressed myself out with the food. I checked my waistline every time I passed a mirror. I could feel myself going overboard.
Society nowadays is so weight obsessed that we guilt ourselves when we eat un-perfectly. Buzz words like “cheating” and “guilty” are used and we make ourselves feel bad—almost criminal like—when we have a bad diet day.
Sure, it’s important to have a healthy diet and make good decisions. But we all know that stressing ourselves out and giving ourselves food guilt is super unhealthy, goddamn exhausting, and, ultimately, counterproductive.
A negative body image makes you more susceptible to depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and an obsession with weight loss. These symptoms can then lead to an eating disorder, which is highly serious and can sometimes be fatal. If you don't have an eating disorder, but you feel like your body talk could use a nudge toward more praise and less shame, then it's time you work on it.
This is something I need to work on for myself, too, so I’ve made a list of things we can all do together, tootsie:
1. Watch your mouth. Get rid of all the negative, piece-of-crap terminology concerning food. No more saying that you're cheating on your diet and being bad. The self-guilt has to go.
2. See the good. Open your gorgeous peppers and see that the way your body looks has absolutely nada to do with the person you are on the inside. Learn to love your amazing body for all the kick-ass things it can do, but don't glorify it as being the only thing loveable about you.
3. Give society the finger. Break down the twisted image of what today’s society says is acceptable. Who thinks Marilyn Monroe is a total babe? Everyone, obvi. Yet, by today’s standards, she would be overweight. Pssh.
4. Don't judge. Learn to accept all shapes and sizes around you. If you're being judgmental then you’re only hurting yourself.
Furthermore, to keep yourself from getting bogged down with the food guilt, remember the following:
-Stick to your diet 99% of the time and that 1% of indulgence will be utterly insignificant. Trust me.
-When you decide to indulge, take your time eating. Savor that shit. Be happy. And make sure it’s worth it. I look at it as a money system. Ask yourself: Is the “money” I’m spending on this brownie, cookie, etc. worth it?
-To avoid surprise and disappointment, plan to stray from your healthy habits a little more during vacations, weekends, special occasions, etc. Life will inevitably offer you something you don't want to turn down (like wine and cupcakes). And those are so worth it.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
What's your biggest obstacle to getting over food guilt? Let us know in the comments below.
Barbara Styles, Guest Blogger
While she was born and raised in the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix, AZ), Barbara is one of the palest people you will ever meet. An avid Disney fan, she is a sensitive Pisces who loves drifting through her days reading horror novels and working with elementary school kids in a Literacy Lab. Cooking is more than just a hobby, she has an expensive Certificate in Patisserie and Baking from Le Cordon Bleu and works at Sweet Painted Cakes. When she's not off working or visiting family, she is at home with her two dogs and two cats and her fiance Patrick, whom, without, she'd be a crazy cat lady.
I don’t know about you, but stress nearly got me during the holidays. Not because my fiance and I had about five different damn parties in six different cities to go to, and not because of the gobs of freakin’ money spent on presents.
It was the food.
I stressed myself out with the food. I checked my waistline every time I passed a mirror. I could feel myself going overboard.
Society nowadays is so weight obsessed that we guilt ourselves when we eat un-perfectly. Buzz words like “cheating” and “guilty” are used and we make ourselves feel bad—almost criminal like—when we have a bad diet day.
Sure, it’s important to have a healthy diet and make good decisions. But we all know that stressing ourselves out and giving ourselves food guilt is super unhealthy, goddamn exhausting, and, ultimately, counterproductive.
A negative body image makes you more susceptible to depression, isolation, low self-esteem, and an obsession with weight loss. These symptoms can then lead to an eating disorder, which is highly serious and can sometimes be fatal. If you don't have an eating disorder, but you feel like your body talk could use a nudge toward more praise and less shame, then it's time you work on it.
This is something I need to work on for myself, too, so I’ve made a list of things we can all do together, tootsie:
1. Watch your mouth. Get rid of all the negative, piece-of-crap terminology concerning food. No more saying that you're cheating on your diet and being bad. The self-guilt has to go.
2. See the good. Open your gorgeous peppers and see that the way your body looks has absolutely nada to do with the person you are on the inside. Learn to love your amazing body for all the kick-ass things it can do, but don't glorify it as being the only thing loveable about you.
3. Give society the finger. Break down the twisted image of what today’s society says is acceptable. Who thinks Marilyn Monroe is a total babe? Everyone, obvi. Yet, by today’s standards, she would be overweight. Pssh.
4. Don't judge. Learn to accept all shapes and sizes around you. If you're being judgmental then you’re only hurting yourself.
Furthermore, to keep yourself from getting bogged down with the food guilt, remember the following:
-Stick to your diet 99% of the time and that 1% of indulgence will be utterly insignificant. Trust me.
-When you decide to indulge, take your time eating. Savor that shit. Be happy. And make sure it’s worth it. I look at it as a money system. Ask yourself: Is the “money” I’m spending on this brownie, cookie, etc. worth it?
-To avoid surprise and disappointment, plan to stray from your healthy habits a little more during vacations, weekends, special occasions, etc. Life will inevitably offer you something you don't want to turn down (like wine and cupcakes). And those are so worth it.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
What's your biggest obstacle to getting over food guilt? Let us know in the comments below.
Barbara Styles, Guest BloggerWhile she was born and raised in the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix, AZ), Barbara is one of the palest people you will ever meet. An avid Disney fan, she is a sensitive Pisces who loves drifting through her days reading horror novels and working with elementary school kids in a Literacy Lab. Cooking is more than just a hobby, she has an expensive Certificate in Patisserie and Baking from Le Cordon Bleu and works at Sweet Painted Cakes. When she's not off working or visiting family, she is at home with her two dogs and two cats and her fiance Patrick, whom, without, she'd be a crazy cat lady.
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