More Food for Thought

Please don't feel sad and sorry for me. Yesterday's post was not actually about me. It was all the bad days and old limiting beliefs grouped together in one place.

I wanted to post that story in the hopes that people might recognise parts of themselves and think about how food rules their lives. Sometimes we are so busy caught up in the 'doing' that we don't see what the big picture. We also start down a pathway with the best intentions and end up somewhere else entirely.

My days do not look like that. I eat plenty of healthy food, I sometimes have just dessert or oats for dinner, and yesterday I ate half a Magnum and put the rest in the freezer because I had had enough. Last night I ate three plates of roasted vegetables over the course of the evening because they tasted so good. I go out to dinner with my husband, I say 'yes' to the takeaway and I stay in bed if I have stayed up watching movies with Mr Katie and I need sleep more than a 5am gym session.

I was prompted to write yesterday's post by talking to Shelley about 'normal' eating and was thinking about what is not 'normal'. We are bombarded with messages about being on plan, delayed gratification and that being 'athletes' means we must forgo the pleasure of just living each moment in return for reaching our magic goal.

Let me be the first the tell you that if we spend each and every day working towards some moment in the future when we will be lean enough to be content with our body, there is great disappointment ahead. If and when you do get there, there is no time to enjoy your achievements because you are either thinking that losing a few more kilos wouldn't hurt or worried about how you are going to sustain your restricted diet and exhausting exercise program in order to prevent regaining some or all the weight you lost.

In the words of the guru of living lean and loving life Miss Liz - it's only fat. That rounded belly that sticks out when you sit down is protecting your organs, empowering your hormones and keeping you warm and comfortable. It doesn't mean you are a failure, or obese or undisciplined. It probably means you are a healthy, happy woman who is strong enough to make the choices that enable her to live a joyous life.

Strength is about choosing what is right for you. Courage is waking each morning to live the life that will fill you with pleasure and enjoyment. It might be eating cheesecake today, but it could equally be riding your bike for two hours, eating fresh fruit and veggies or simply lying by the pool.

What you look like is not really that important. Life, love, relationships and growth are what matter. Be strong enough to listen to yourself rather than the messages that tell you that you are not beautiful unless you have a six pack and separated quad muscles. You are beautiful because you are you. Fight for your right to be whomever you want to be rather than fighting with hunger or fatigue. Don't waste a minute more on worrying if you've eaten enough protein - unless you want to. If you don't want to - don't.

Strength in ALL
Powerful beyond measure
Liberate yourself