I haven't been around the web much lately other than to interact with certain people in certain circles. Sometimes there's something to be said about being a little less educated on some topics and having a little less information at my fingertips (can someone say she's simplifying some more?). I just feel like there are a whole lot of "experts" out there ready and willing to proclaim that there's only one right way to do everything. Heck, I'm a nutrition professional and it's so easy for me to get wrapped up in the one right way that I forget that we are all human and that this is all just opinion. The way that works for me isn't the way that will work for you and that doesn't mean that either one of us are failures, it just means we think and operate much differently.
I'm finding that this "one right way" mindset is toxic to me and something that just needs to leave my way of thinking entirely. It's no secret to those who know me well that when I get my mind set on something, I go all out. It's just a personality trait of mine which leads to things getting done, but also leads me to start doubting myself and judging others. There is absolutely no room in my life for this sort of thinking any longer. I've lived with disordered eating my entire life. I tend to float around between binge eating disorder, bulimia, and very short bouts of anorexia, followed by guilt because I can't even maintain a poisonous lifestyle for long. In the past couple of years, I've also dabbled in orthorexia and exercise bulimia, so I've pretty much done it all at this point. The deal is, my dress size is smaller, my skin is clearer, and my smile is wider. I certainly feel so much better physically. Combine that with my education and background, and people suddenly start looking to me for that "one right way" to do it themselves. Then they get really frustrated when I tell them that it's all opinion based and there isn't really one way to look and feel better. In the mean time, I'm treading on eggshells hoping that I don't A) accidentally offer advice that will send someone else into their own little disordered way of fueling their bodies or B) remind myself that my results were so much quicker and more obvious when I was hurting myself, maybe I should just start going back to doing that.
That being said, I'm beginning to feel like food is becoming more like religion and politics for me. It's going to start being a topic that's just off limits. You can look at my plate and look in my grocery cart all you want, but don't ask me if a food is good or bad, food should not have the sort of power to be labeled as such, it's just food. I've decided from this moment forward (and actually, I adopted this attitude a couple of weeks ago), I'm going to ask myself if this is what normal people do, feel, or think when it comes to fueling their bodies and burning calories. I guarantee you that the healthiest people on earth with the healthiest body image are not counting calories in vs calories out and wearing heart rate monitors all day, and I won't be either!
