Health is a really loaded word.
Every month… day… week… hour, there seems to be a new diet fad, nutritional x y z, weight loss program, or magical corset that is supposed to make you perfectly healthy, wealthy, and wise, are for $99.99 plus tax and shipping! Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram are particularly infamous for these pieces of “advice.”
From a young age here in the US, we are taught that health can be appropriately measured by how thin someone is, how muscular, how shiny their hair, how clear their skin, and it’s exhausting to keep up with. We are taught that fast food is bad, but we love it anyway, and don’t eat too much carbs, or sugars, or fats, eggs are bad, no wait they’re good, and carbs are good before a workout, hang on eggs are bad again, fats are good, hey eggs are good too…
That’s about when I gave up on “dieting” as we know it. I just can’t keep up, and even if I could, I wouldn’t. Some work for some people and not for others, and there’s a reason P90X has sold so many sets, but I have a life to live with my body and don’t want to spend it all worrying about how perfectly “healthy” looking I am.
I don’t always look the healthiest. I still get the occasional zit, my hair is not very shiny, I’m not fat but not “toned” either, and I love cheese curds and ice cream. I’m okay with that. I grew up with one female relative in particular who was always obsessed with the latest dieting trend as she saw it, and I saw the damage it did not only to her but to our family. I internalized bits and pieces of it over the years, but I am not about to let that rule my eating and exercise habits.
I life weights, do yoga, go to my chiropractor regularly, and try to sleep at least eight hours a night. I also eat ice cream, refuse to fear fast food chains (except for a few months after watching Super Size Me), and take naps instead of workouts when I feel like it. I take a few supplements that I know make a difference in my life, exercise regularly, use essential oils to support a healthy lifestyle, eat when I’m hungry and sleep when I’m tired, and right now, for me, that is enough.
I’ve found my happy and healthy rhythm, which allows for cheese curds and yoga, weight lifting and ice cream. Regardless of what comes across my Instagram or Pinterest feeds next, I know that my lifestyle is healthy for me, even if it doesn’t leave me perfect in the eyes of the health industry.
What are your favorite healthy and unhealthy things to do or eat?
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