I'm Back!

So, I've returned from my hiatus of a few weeks. I'm nice and relaxed and stress free after the cruise, but now it's back to reality - where your room isn't cleaned twice a day and all your meals aren't provided for you, where you can't just hop into the spa with a daiquiri every afternoon!

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Oh well. I read a good book on the cruise called "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Richard Carlson. There were so many practical tips in there for living a peaceful, stress-free life but there were a few things that hit home with me the most.

- "Wherever you go, there you are," as they say. If you're a person that is always wanting what you don't have and postponing happiness until you get or achieve certain things, chances are that when you get those things you still won't be satisfied and you will want something else. You will still have the grass-is-greener mentality. We have to learn to be happy RIGHT NOW, just the way things are; be able to draw happiness from our day to day lives - the journey itself. And the thing is, you never know what's going to happen to you tomorrow. Your life could be taken from you without warning and I want to know that I'm living my life like it's the last day I'll have to live it. Just really appreciating everything I have.

- Sometimes, life just isn't fair. People don't always act the way we want them to, respond the way we want them to, life doesn't always go according to plan. That's just the nature of life itself. You gotta roll with the punches, I guess. Just take life as it comes in an accepting way. And don't sweat the small stuff.

There were so many other important things to learn from reading that book so definitely go and get a copy. It brings much needed perspective and is a good book to be able to have a flick through when life is throwing you a curve ball - or you're just feeling in a shitty mood.

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A good thing to remember is that there is no one way of eating (or living, for that matter) that works for everyone. A lot of people have found remarkable success with the paleo diet, yet others need to be more restrictive due to food intolerances. Some people find that being vegetarian or vegan works for them. Others eat whatever they feel like and try to pay attention to when they are satisfied so they don't overeat. Some people swear by "clean eating" or the raw food diet. Well, if it works for them, good on them. While I think everyone in the whole world would be a lot better off without wheat and vegetable oils in their diets, what people choose to do with the rest of their diet is up to them, and up to their body really.

I've realised today that, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" At the moment, I feel really good with a lot of energy (unless I have too much sugar or chocolate, then I get a headache and lethargic) so I don't think there's a need, at the moment at least, to try to cut out dairy. I mean, at the moment my Hashimoto's doesn't seem to be affecting me - I imagine it like a latent beast and one day I may find that my thyroid hormones aren't functioning as optimally as they should and maybe that would be a day that I would need to consider other options. But hopefully that day won't have to come as I think not having gluten, grains and vegetable oils gets rid of the major sources of inflammation in the body. Like I said, you just have to take each day as it comes.

It has been hard to get back into my normal routine after being on the cruise, as I was so used to just eating desserts all day with abandon and not worrying about it. Today I bought a whole block of white chocolate and after eating two rows, managed to get myself to stop. I wrapped the rest of it up in foil, in 2-square individual servings. I'm hoping that will help me to consume only one serving per day (or at a time). I've also been thinking I need to plan ahead more with food, and have broader snack and breakfast and lunch ideas. I'd like to have more vegetables in my diet. I'm going to make some nut and seed crackers to have with guacamole - I'll post pics after. Devilled eggs are another good option for a portable snack to take to work. 

The Surprising Thing I Discovered about Myself and an Idea

I'm really unsure about whether I capitalised the right letters in that title.

Anyway . . . I recently started a new full time job. I did two weeks of it then I had a week and a half off before I start a new project tomorrow. I can tell you that during that time off I got absolutely nothing done. I had so many plans too. I did get a chance to relax but there was always a cloud of guilt hanging over me because I knew I should be doing other things. What I have come to realise from those two weeks where I worked full time and also juggled another part time job, going out with friends, my writing course and being active is -

I LIKE BEING BUSY!

I know, shock horror. Well to me at least. I never thought I liked being busy. I thought I loved bludging too much. But I think I was wrong. During those two weeks I did so much more than I would ever have done in a week off, and I enjoyed it. For example, on Monday I worked 9-5, came home, played the piano for a while, did some writing tasks, then took my dog to the oval and did some laps with him. I felt so accomplished and fulfilled. I realised I could still do lots of things when working full time. The trick was to do little bits of everything; instead of trying to tackle all my writing homework as one huge task on the weekend I could do a little bit each day. That was a huge weight off my mind.

And being busy makes the downtime so much sweeter. I guess it helps when the things you're busy with are things you enjoy though. What about everyone else? Do you like being busy?

I think I previously felt like I had to have as much free time as possible and I was scared of time passing me by. It's like when you always thought you loved dessert, and stuffed your face with it, until one day you came to the realisation that you weren't really enjoying it at all. You were just trying to cram in as much as possible. I think I was like that with my free time. I spent my undergraduate degree bludging as much as possible, watching DVDs, reading, eating...but it was always with an element of knowing I should be doing something else. And it was all I ever did.

Don't get me wrong, I think downtime and relaxation is extremely important. I guess it's like "sometimes" foods. They are so much more enjoyable in moderate amounts, fully savoured.

Now onto the idea I had. I was thinking I would choose 2 or 3 weekly magazines like Famous, New Idea, Who etc that focus a lot on bodies and encourage an unhealthy view of ourselves. Then for 3 months or so, I would note down what their cover slogan is each week, and which celebrities they were talking about. And then at the end I would compare it all and see whether the magazines contradicted themselves from one week to the next, what the majority of their covers were focussed on and things like that. I think then I would have a  much more tangible example of how negative these magazines are and why people should STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM THEM!

And then I could write a whole post about it and hopefully discourage some people from reading this trash and instead focus on nurturing themselves and accepting all body types.

Thoughts?

And another thing about bodies

Just to go on from my last post, there's another way to look at body image as well. How we view our bodies isn't just about what they look like but what they can actually do as well.

I've heard many mothers say they discovered a new-found respect for what their bodies could do after they had children. I'm not a mother myself but I find it amazing that we are able to grow another human being inside of us, manage to push that huge thing out and then nurture the baby with love and feed it from our own bodies.

Sometimes when I'm being active, whether it be "non-specific" activity or intentional exercise, I feel an awe at how much these strong machines can achieve. It's an awesome feeling when going for a walk, and feeling the power through your legs and the energy flowing through you. Other times when I've been doing specific strength training and feel that familiar post workout muscle burn, I like the feeling as it reminds me that I've been working hard and my muscles are really working for me.

So exercise can give you a big boost in self love I think.

What else I think is amazing about the body is that it is capable of self repair and regulation. I think that most of the time, the body is working to help us. The immune system is one example. Homeostasis is another - the maintenance of a stable internal environment in response to the changing external environment. Our bodies love to repair and renew us when we sleep. It's not called beauty sleep for nothing! Then there's the fact that our bodies give us lots of helpful signs and signals when things aren't quite right.

There's so many things to love about our bodies. I don't want to get into a whole philosophical discussion here, but I think we should view our souls (or spirit, or consciousness, or mind, or heart, or whatever you want to call it) and bodies as one entity, working together. We need to nourish both. In fact, that's the main premise behind the book "Fit Soul, Fit Body" - that we need to have a fit soul before we can truly have a fit body. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent here. The important thing is to remind ourselves of all the awesome things that we can do through our bodies.

Thoughts on Body Image

Body image is a strange thing. I have a friend who tells me often that she's put on so much weight lately when I haven't noticed anything at all - to me she has always been beautiful and always looks nice when we go out. I have another friend who has one of the most beautiful faces ever, but she is uncomfortable with her body size. But I always think she looks amazing, and she always wear the most gorgeous dresses and outfits. So they both suffer from bad body image sometimes, even though to me they are lovely just the way they are. I guess it shows that most of the time you don't see yourself properly. 

Also, it's funny that people think that when they lose x amount of weight or look like this, they'll be happier. I know for a fact that's not true. People who have never had a weight problem and are quite thin aren't necessarily happy. I know a friend like that who has other issues she worries about. I guess it shows that body image can be a mask for other problems in your life, and you fall into thoughts like "Okay it'll be better when I've lost weight, all I have to do is go on a diet or start working out a lot," but really if that does happen you will still have the same problems you had before and you'll never be satisfied. 

No one is perfect and there are always going to be things we don't like about our bodies but I'm learning that we just need to accept that and appreciate all the good things about ourselves - and others too. I should treat myself like I do my friends - seeing the best in them. 

Nurturing is an important thing, like Dr Rick says. For me, things like going for a walk, doing my nails, having a hot bath, using body cream and putting in some extra effort when I go out can all make me feel good about myself. Also, maybe you could write down compliments people have given you in the past. A few people have told me I have a nice smile, even though I've always thought I don't! So, maybe I should start believing them more and smiling more. :) 

Lessons and Mannequins

Today I walked past a lingerie store and saw two mannequins dressed in underwear, with jutting hip bones and visible ribs. It really hit home for me how extreme the fashion industry is getting, I mean if those mannequins were real they would probably have an eating disorder. I can't believe that is meant to be what we are aspiring to - to look skeletal. That mannequins in the background of this picture are similar to what I saw:

In unrelated news, I had a bit of a binge today for various reasons which put me in a pretty bla mood. I've decided to try and put a positive spin on it though, because if I beat myself up I will probably get in an even more negative mood which won't help at all. So I'm going to think about what I have learnt today.

I know one of my biggest challenges is when I get put in a bad mood for some reason or another, or I have a big night out or a dinner party, and trying to not let it affect my eating awareness and activity. Maybe next time I know something like that will happen I will plan ahead by making sure I don't have big quantities of sometimes-foods available or visible to me (e.g. buying a whole packet of biscuits at the supermarket today, when I could have just got one thing). I could also plan ahead for lunch at work so I don't end up in the food court unsure of what I want and then regretful afterwards that I had something I didn't enjoy. I think when you know you're going to be in a bad mood you shouldn't tempt yourself too much because you may not always feel rational at the time.

I'm not sure if that all makes sense and I don't want to give the impression I think you should deprive yourself when you're in a bad mood - not at all! But if you plan ahead then maybe on that day you could look forward to a nice cup of tea and some chocolate in the afternoon, instead of sitting at your desk all day with said whole packet of biscuits...  I don't know I'm just pondering here.

Anyone have any good ideas?

Some thoughts on body image

Body image is a complex thing. I read this article yesterday and at first I thought it was really great that she was so happy for herself and comfortable in her own skin even though her body type is not the "cultural ideal". But then I read all the comments afterwards which made me read the article a bit more carefully and I realised that she was slightly knocking people who are "skinny" ie skinny bashing. I think that as long as we are bagging out any body type at all there is a problem, be it skinny, fat, pear, apple or whatever you want to call all those shapes and sizes that people naturally are, even when they are at their most healthy and fit. I think that you shouldn't diss other people to make you feel better about yourself. 

It's also difficult because there is a lot more "curvy" acceptance these days but I think that is mostly of the hourglass shape. But what if you're not built like that? What if you're an "apple" and you carry all your extra weight around your abdomen? It's certainly hard to feel good about yourself when you are like that. And it's hard to be healthy - I think I mentioned in a previous post about how it's most dangerous to carry extra weight around abdomen, and hourglass shapes who have larger thighs and hips (as opposed to waists) are much more healthy and safe. 

So I guess it's about accepting who you are but that doesn't mean not trying to be as healthy as you can be. I know people who are thin, some of them who eat a lot of junk and some of them who are like that because of healthy choices. I know people who are larger, some of them extremely fit, able to run many kilometres (such as the so called "plus size" model Robyn Lawley who is pictured above); and yet others who are like that because of lifestyle choices. So what size and shape you are isn't necessarily indicative of your health. That's why you shouldn't judge other people when really you have no idea what their health is. And also, knocking people who are overweight is just going to make them feel rejected and depressed which just exacerbates the problem (if overeating/non hungry eating is a problem for them).


Love, respect and look after your own body. If you're happy within yourself you shouldn't feel the need to pass judgement on other people's size and shape all the time.