I've always HATED the quote "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". I have nothing against anyone that is naturally skinny- if you are, than you are beautiful! I truly believe every body type is beautiful as long as it's healthy and natural.
When referring to this quote, I'm talking about the type of skinny that is forced. I'm talking about starving yourself to be skinny. I'm talking about eating disorders.
Eating disorders are NO joke. Believe me I know, because I've had one personally. Recovering from one is no joke either, and as a matter of fact, I am still recovering daily.
There is NOTHING fun about skipping meals and obsessing over every little thing you eat. There is NOTHING fun about not being able to enjoy your favorite foods or torturing yourself for having one piece of chocolate. There is NOTHING fun about missing dinner outings with your family or friends because you simply refuse to eat or you know there will be nothing "healthy" enough on the menu. There is NOTHING fun about slowly losing your appetite, constantly feeling deprived, and finding the act of choosing what to eat simply horrifying. And there definitely NOTHING fun about feeling lifeless, sick, miserable, hopeless, anxious, depressed, and feeling like food controls your whole life.
With that being said, "skinny" doesn't feel good at all. Your body NEEDS an abundance of all natural, healthy, nourishing foods to truly feel it's best. Not only that, but your brain runs mostly on glucose and NEEDS healthy carbs to run properly. When you deprive yourself of food, you deprive yourself of vital nutrients and energy, and you just end up feeling tired, cold, sick, weak, anxious, and pretty much empty and lifeless. It also becomes hard for you to focus, slows down your metabolism, makes you feel isolated from the rest of the world (especially your family and friends), and makes you just feel sad.
On the other hand, you know what does feel amazing? Being HEALTHY. To me, healthy means letting food heal you, rather than letting it control you. Healthy means eating enough of the proper nutrients to help you glow from the inside out. Healthy means exercising to feel stronger everyday, not over-exercising to lose as much weight as possible. Healthy means learning to deal with our internal issues and making a promise to ourselves to heal rather than running away from our problems and using food and exercise to do so. Healthy means smiling, laughing, and being grateful and happy rather than always being sad. Healthy means enjoying our favorite treats and foods without feeling guilty about doing so. Healthy means taking the time for ourselves to meditate, write in our journal, enjoy a warm bath, take a yoga class, or spend time in nature to reconnect with our truest and best self and feel in harmony with our spirit and the world around us. Healthy means cherishing the time we spend with our family and friends. Healthy means learning to love ourselves for who we are and the body we were blessed with, rather than constantly comparing ourselves to others. Healthy means doing whatever it is that makes us truly happy.
So next time, when you catch yourself saying "I want to be skinny", change it to "I want to be healthy and feel my best", because everything tastes better than skinny feels, but nothing tastes as good as healthy feels!
xxx
Rachel
