Alright, look. “Binging” isn’t the end of the world, ya’ll. (Although, the fact that I just said ya’ll might be…).
In the world of health nuts and eating healthy, today would be considered a “bad day” for me. No breakfast, lunch was a burrito from Moe’s and some chips & salsa. Dinner was a chicken caesar salad from Panera with a french (not whole grain) baguette, and I ate a bag of popcorn (drenched in Old Bay, of course) and a ton of M&Ms. Also, I ate some goldfish in there at some point.
But here’s the thing, I also walked/jogged for 5 miles today. And when I finish this post, I’m going back to my personal dance party. Also, I enjoyed that burrito while I was catching up with someone that I probably won’t get to see in a while, and I ate that Panera salad while discussing social media with my friend that happens to be the Director of Multimedia Content for a college.
And as I sat on my couch eating handfuls of M&Ms, I thought to myself, “you know, this isn’t the end of the world. I’m going to eat as many M&Ms as I want. And, I did. And you know what? I don’t regret eating a single one. Since August, I’ve lost 32 pounds, and a couple handfuls of M&Ms aren’t going to force me to gain all that weight back.
And it’s silly to think about now, but I honestly used to have a fear of that. I’d avoid anything fried, sugary, or greasy, because I was convinced if I ate it, I’d gain all my weight back IMMEDIATELY. And HELLLLOOOOOOO that’s not the case at all! It took more than one meal for me to have gained the weight, and it would take a heck of a lot more than a couple slices of pizza every now and then.
And you know what, even if I binged and “ate poorly” all week, I wouldn’t care (not that I’m not caring about my health). I know that overall, I have control over what I eat, and my decisions are MY decisions. FOOD IS FOOD AND I NEED TO STOP TREATING IT LIKE IT’S THE ENEMY.
Gosh, that feels good to say. Thinking about food in a negative light (in ANY sense) is terrible for your mental state (well, at least mine). If you are craving something, EAT IT. Don’t restrict yourself or you will fail.
NOW. Just to be clear. I am NOT saying to just eat “junk” all the time and nothing else. Eating nothing but brownies every day for every meal is not going to be good for you. But you know, eating brownies is also not something that is going to kill you (unless you’re allergic to chocolate or something, I don’t know).
So, the point of this random rant is: LOVE YOURSELF. Don’t restrict yourself. Stop hating yourself when you “eat poorly”. IT WILL BE OKAY. Take life one day at a time, and stop treating food as the enemy.
