I hope you are all having a fabulous pre-Christmas week! I have been enjoying my time off from school and I am 2 days into my 14 in 14 Hot Yoga Challenge and feeling great! There is nothing like a good sweat and stretch session :)
I am going to join in with Sloane's link-up again this week because I think that everyone who has struggled with an eating disorder has a hard time around the holidays, but it is important to stay on track and not let Christmas cookies ruin your family time (believe me, they have ruined mine in the past).
I have already been struggling a bit with being off from school, being around treats and living at home. My roommates are big bakers and this year, I was determined to eat some of their treats (and my own!) to challenge myself. Well, I ended up going way overboard in the last week and the guilt has been weighing on me. I have had to fight the urge to restrict lately, and being at home where I am not as busy and active as I am in my usual life is tough.
One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is how to block out the negative influences all around me. There is lots of positivity in the blog world, but I can't live in the blog world all the time. Hearing disordered comments from friends, or people talking about holiday weight gain can seriously mess with your head. Not to mention all of the media influences that can bring you down. Even living with or spending with someone who has disordered eating habits can be a very stressful thing and make you want to go back to your "safe" habits.
Although I have been generally very body-positive lately, I still have my moments of weakness. I was doing a bit of online shopping lately and found it difficult to look at some of the very thin models in beautiful clothes. It made me afraid to buy anything because I knew that I was not going to look like they did. I even found a dress that I think would be perfect for Christmas this year, but have not have the balls to order it because I am terrified that it won't fit and I will get depressed over it.
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| So cute! I need to grow a pair and buy it! |
I am rambling a bit right now, but I guess the point of this post is to say that we can't always block out the negative influences around us. We have to fight against the parts of ourselves that want to succumb to the pressure to be something we are not, and doing so takes a great deal of strength.
I know I need to work on this myself, but I am encouraging everyone to stay strong this holiday and not give in to negativity. You can do it!
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On a somewhat related note, I watched a great movie on Netflix yesterday called "Hungry for Change."
It is about the way the diet and food processing industries have brainwashed North America into eating highly-processed, nutrient-devoid foods that only contribute to sickness and obesity.
I don't think it is right to obsess over what you eat, and I believe that having a bit of processed food every now and then isn't going to kill you. However, I really liked what this movie had to say about the way food companies market diet foods that are really just chemicals and empty calories and are only going to make you hungrier, sicker and less happy.
I would highly recommend checking it out! I don't eat a ton of processed foods, but I do still cave sometimes and use artificial sweeteners and other products that I know are not healthy, but that my ED has convinced me are necessary.
I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!
How do you get past the negative imaging and messages that surround you everyday?
