[[Side Notes: These Kinds of Days…
What kind of day is this I write of? The kinds that I’m ashamed of…embarrassed to share with you…because…
I had things like cheerios knock off cereal and TJ’s Oreos for dinner.
Not really what you’d expect to see on a healthy living blog, eh?
But I’m tired. I’m worried. I’m stressed. I’m anxious. All these things combined are never a good thing for my eating world. And then it turns into a spiral where I feel out of control. A failure of a healthy person. Add on that I haven’t run in two days and it makes for a world of internal danger and destruction.
But we all slip up right? I don’t like that it happens more than not and wish I would really learn from them once and for all, but you have to put them behind you, right? I’m taking Gena’s fine words of advice, “The trick is not to let your first major setback derail you for good. If you can bounce back from your first “off day” (a binge, a day of restricting, three extra glasses of wine, whatever) and get back on track, you’ll realize that you can get back on track. Think all healthy eaters eat ideally every single day? No way. But “off days” are insignificant in the broader scope of a healthy lifestyle.”
So I’m taking a deep breath, long shower with great smelling soap, and an early night to get myself ready for a quick trip home this weekend for an awesome food-y opportunity tomorrow and seeing my family for a short bit…
Tell me your awesome weekend plans…and how you get yourself back on track if you slip up…All suggestions are welcome. ]]
I’ve gotta pack for this weekend, which will take a full 5 minutes, but I need to go to bed since I’m feelin a bit under the weather and a tad sick. Uh oh.
Breakfast: Soy yogurt w/ pb flour, cinnamon and vanilla, topped with a tiny apple, strawberries and muesli.
Snack: Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffin (new batch, which I tried sweetened with honey and maple syrup) and a handful of dried cherries (unpictured)
Spring…
Lunch: Black bean burger on whole wheat bun with tomato, spinach and mustard with three clementines.
Snack: Peanut and PB Filled M&M’s…x3. Or more…
Dinner: Two bowls of Joe’s O’s with a pear, and two chocolate covered TJ’s Sandwich Cookies. And a handful of unpictured corn chips leftover from last night.
G’night.
~~
P.S. Thank you all for your tweets and messages about my Uncle and his family that he was visiting that we still haven’t heard from in Japan. I’m hoping to hear something tomorrow, so fingers crossed. Thanks again; all your thoughts help with the worries…
15 comments:
Oh no, I hope your uncle is okay! I know that kind of stress can affect your other wise balanced diet. But really girl? I don't think I have a very healthy diet at all. Healthier than a lot of people, but not greatly. Just remember that there is WAY more to life than having X for breakfast and Y for dinner. If you were eating unhealthfully, your body would let you know! Just trust yourself!! :)
You know what? Why is it that we feel as though we HAVE to have vegetables or something cooked for dinner? It's another food rule that needs to be broken! Just because you didn't feel like making a proper meal, it doesn't mean that you've "fallen off the wagon" or anything, hun. It just means that you simply couldn't be bothered and you were just going with what you felt like. I, for one, am trying to break this rule. Often times, all I feel like for dinner is something sweet so I just roll with it. Sometimes all I want is something out of a packet because I'm too busy to get anything else - there is nothing wrong with that. If I ate like that all the time, then maybe there would be a problem because I wasn't nourishing myself enough. But once in a while won't do any harm at all!
If I have an "off-day" eating-wise, I just start the next day off as I usually would by listening to my body. Like the quote from Gena said, the best thing to do is start over as soon as possible so that you don't get into the habit of doing these things. Sometimes we have moments of weakness and that's okay. We're only human :)
So pleased that you're uncle is okay. Let us know when he's back in the US :)
If you need to talk, you know where to find me!!
xxx
I have trouble not letting "off" days spiral into "fuck it I'm just gonna do whatever I want" days. I still have to work really hard not to have that "the day is ruined" mentality when I'm at a party and eat a huge delicious meal...and then I get the anxious feeling too, sometimes. It's hard. In high school I had a friend whose mom liked to say, "My diet always starts on the same day: tomorrow." Which is just such a stupid mindset, and the reason so many women have messed up relationships with food!! I really like Heather from Then Heather Said's mantra: "Make one healthy choice. Then make another." We can still make healthy choices, even on the days when we're taking it a little easier on ourselves :)
I hope that your Uncle and his family are okay. They will be in my thoughts and prayers.
And thank you for this post. I seem to always get trapped in a mindset that I'm a failure for eating more the night before or not eating healthily or not exersising etc etc etc. But if I beat myself up for every little "slip up" it becomes an unhealthy mindset. My therapist always says "take the next right step" which makes getting back on track that much easier. You don't need a whole life or diet makeover. Just one step in the right direction begins the journey.
Keep going forward Melissa, you're amazing(:
I agree with Emma, that's the best advice I've recieved too. "Take the next best step" Sometimes when I slip up I feel like the whole day is ruined, so why try to fix it. Which as you said, just leads into this downward spiral. Instead, of telling myself "tomorrow will be better" and writing today off, the best thing for me to do is to focus on doing better the next chance I get, at the next snack, next meal, whatever. It really helps to stop the spiral.
I also try to remember that nothing about my self worth should be based on food. Even if I'm eating good food, it's not the food that defines me or should make me feel good about myself. It's the values behind it- that I love my body, that I want to take care of myself, that I care about the environment. And even if you have one meal that is a slip up, or a whole day of meals that aren't exactly as healthy as you would like them to be, it doesn't change who you are as a person. You're still Melissa, and you're still great! No one is perfect. But that's ok, we aren't supposed to be :)
ps. I just noticed that you said today was the kind of day you were embarassed to write about because you had a few bowls of ceral for supper and some cookes as a snack after ;) But what about all of the healthy food you managed to fit in before that? Your lunch looked great! I also have to be careful not to let what I had at one meal define my whole day and overshadow all the rest of the good things I ate :) Maybe something to think about...
Sending positive thoughts to your family!
I've had cereal and cookies for dinner - many times. Gena was right - tomorrow is a fine time to get back on track.
Be easy on yourself girl... I am a BASKET case when I'm stressed...ask anyone within 10 miles of me...:P
Don't let it rock your boat though. You are SO much stronger and better than that, hon :)
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I really don't this as a slip up! Last Friday I totally had a bowl of ice cream for dinner. Don't look at the tree, look at the forest!
Keeping your family in my prayers!
We dont have to be "healthy all the time"! I Actually think its UNHEALTHY to be healthy all the time :p We dont need veggies ever single day, were not a bad person without them! LOL and running? I barely exercise and that keeps my body happy! My body hates high impact exercise, everytime I run I feel like crap. seriously, i lose my period too. I love a good walk or a nice swim but thats it for me. I'm just not built to be an athlete! I'm got a womenly body that wasnt meant to run a frickin marathon or fight a battle lol. It was more meant for wandering around picking berries...okay i hope i dont sound to crazy right now!
Dana xoxo
I hope you hear from your uncle soon! My best friend is living and working in Tokyo right now, and thankfully she's fine and has been able to be in touch and let us know she's fine. The waiting is terrifying though...I remember Cyclone Larry, me being in Melbourne and not knowing if you lot were ok or if the centre was even still there!
Also, in terms of food, I've read in several places that breakfast is the most important meal of the day followed by lunch with dinner in third. So eating a giant dinner isn't necessary, and cereal isn't all that bad as a dinner choice either. Maybe yes if you'd had cereal for breakfast and lunch as well, but not on its own. I can empathize with how you feel though...I've done similar things before. Going to bed early is the best remedy, and the next day is a fresh start. :)
Hang in there, I have bad eating days too! Gena's words are so true, we all have hard days. After a bad day, I make a game plan to make the next day better and maybe a mini-reward for succeeding - like a new iPhone game. I also remind myself that success will improve my confidence and drive for continuing healthy habits.
My weekend plans include a half marathon tomorrow which I'm looking forward to and also getting it over with after the training stress and appetite increases with so much running.
Honestly, it's not a "slip up". Slip up implies that you did something wrong, and enjoying one low-key, not super planned dinner is certainly healthy and good to go!
As much as it can be thought of as a "slip up", I like to think of my days like that as being NORMAL! No one is 100% perfect all the time! Just now i had a dinner of tortilla chips and dip out of a container, some jolly ranchers, and crackers out of the box. It happens!!
Also your posts are making me miss chocolate so much!
I can totally relate to having an "off day". It always then seems to drag onto the next day and the next day and so on... that's the slippery slope. But you know what? Why should one slip affect the next day? Try to think about other things in your life. If you don't get a perfect grade on an exam or get first place in a race, it doesn't cause you to give up! In fact, it can sometimes make you work even harder the next time - give you a new motivation.
Also, you need to def give yourself a break! One meal that may not live up to ED's "health" standards does NOT mean you've gone AWOL. No one eats like that 100% of the time. I think this might have been a good test. It's hard to be flexible, but you did what you did in that moment, and now you will move on. It can def cause anxiety, but please don't beat yourself up for it. You did NOTHING WRONG! :) Keep working hard girl - love your blog
<3 S
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