Hello Collegiettes!
You may want to sit down for this one. Slightly serious stuff, but crucial to a healthy life.
I had an epiphany this weekend. And a good one. I came back from Seattle this weekend and lost 4lbs after the scale had been stuck for a few weeks. What changed? I stopped counting calories, obsessing over every little thing, missed a few workouts, and ate that side of toast and jelly with my breakfast. Interesting? Yes. Why did I do this? I was listening to my body instead of eating a snack because I “should” or not eating a piece of toast because it is “bad”. I didn’t realize how unhealthy of a mindset this was! I consider myself to have a healthy mindset, but it is easy to get caught up in calories, macros, no this, no that, etc. Instead, I ate when I was hungry, stopped when I was full, still chose the healthy options when eating out, but enjoyed the few treats I did have. And guess what? Since I wasn’t eating just because it was the right amount of calories etc, I am sure I ate less and was satisfied for longer. So, lesson of the day is to first and foremost LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Your body doesn’t want you to be underweight or overweight, it wants you to find an equilibrium. If you are treating it right with being active and eating healthy, it will find that.
It can be super easy to get caught up in wanting to do everything perfect. I am such a planner that I would plan everything the night before, not giving my self much time to even think how my body was actually feeling. While this can be a good idea at first to establish better eating patterns, long term it is not sustainable or healthy for me. I know that this unhealthy way of thinking can lead to an eating disorder, which is a serious issue for many people. I am glad to have had a wake up call. If you feel that you have a serious obsession with health, working out, eating, stressed with food, calorie counting, etc, I encourage you to talk to someone about this. I am learning to keep in mind that moderation is key in everything. I am still learning this, but I am happy to have realized it now! I encourage you all to ask yourself how your mindset is and if you’re listening to your body! I am so glad I did – and my pants fit much better. Oh, the irony.
xo,
Hayley