Change, Exploration & Finding Balance
SPRING IS HERE!!!!!!! The sun feels beautiful and the warmth is refreshing, the moment we have all been waiting for has arrived. With the change of the season, exploration and change of myself has been present. Something I have been tackling face on for the past few years. Exploration in many areas of my life, some much more challenging than others. Accepting some of the cravings my body has been feeling is key in my own personal success with this journey. Going through nutritional school and learning what cravings really mean has been quite interesting. Check out the chart below, this was very eye opening for me and could be for you too :)
So I have a HUGE confession...I ate a hamburger, WOAH! Now, having not had any meat for close to three years and then indulging was kind of a euphoric experience. For me, indulging in the craving helps me realize a lot and even brings insight into why I gave it up to begin with. Giving up meat was never a political campaign for me. Along the way, I did my research and learned so much about what goes on in the industry, it is kind of hard to not have some sort of a political edge. This is the very reason why I have fought the cravings I have been feeling due to the guilt I felt internally.
My husband would encourage me to try it, if I was craving it, but I felt he was trying to enable my thoughts, which made me feel even more guilty. THAT is when I realized there was a problem. I felt guilty for wanting to give something a try again. Not committing to eating it 100% just TRYING it. The moment I freed myself of the guilt, took a step and tried the different meats, I realized one big thing, I didn't miss it as much as my mind was telling me. Now don't get me wrong, the turkey sandwiches I have had, hamburger or even salami sandwich were delicious in the moment, but I didn't feel as though I had been missing out. This was the validation I needed.
Similar to an earlier blog post I wrote on about giving up the label, that is what this entire process is validating. When making the choice to live a certain lifestyle, living and breathing it is a part of the process. The moment the mind begins to veer off the path, the feeling of guilt settles in and all of a sudden the realization comes to the forefront of the mind, "Why am I doing this? Everything I have supported or spoke about becomes irrelevant."
I truly believe, those thoughts are what need to be released. It is important to try something on and see how it fits. Making changes along the way to facilitate where you are in the present moment, is just as important. Removing the label frees you of the guilt associated with some of these lifestyle choices.
Why I share this...I am sure there are lots of people out there dealing with similar issues. For me, my light bulb moment was during my Integrative Nutrition Program, when we got to a module that introduced a concept called "Orthorexia." WOAH. I have felt this way in many different situations because sometimes it is almost too hard to be vegetarian/vegan. Frustration going to restaurants when they didn't have something on the menu and leaving. Or even if a vendor at work brought food in but didn't cater one meal for me to eat. The frustration and sometimes even anxiety I would feel was very eye opening. Right about this time, I had started following a blogger that was introducing this concept and her struggle with being vegan and dealing with the cravings she was feeling. She had built a huge community around the concept of Veganism and she realized she needed to listen to her body. There had to be a reason all of this information was surrounding me at the time, so I began to take a deeper look.
Now, before I continue on with Orthorexia, I want to make something very clear. I don't think every person that chooses to be healthy, eat healthy, or exercise, struggles with this condition, nor do I feel that I am 100% Orthorexic. Quite honestly, this concept is still being researched and developed, so there is still a lot to learn. What I am saying is, there are aspects of this condition that I identified with. With my history of anorexia, I always want to make sure that I am staying true and honest with my health and wellness journey. I need to continue to make conscious choices and know I am keeping myself healthy for the right reasons. When being healthy becomes too complicated that is when it is important to evaluate the choices being made and adjust accordingly.
I guess my entire point with this blog, simply live. Live your life and your life purpose. Do your research and help educate those around you. Don't preach and force concepts down peoples throats, because there isn't a one-size fits all of anything in this world. The beautiful part about this world is we are all different, we eat different, we act different, we live different. By sharing our stories with one another can empower the health and wellness community by leaps and bounds. Uniting together to create change is powerful and uniting together is when change happens.
Living a healthy lifestyle is important for each and every one of us, but how we define it will be unique. Exercise is good for you and food can be healing, but we all have to find what works for ourselves. What works for me may or may not work for you. What I am saying is this, find what works for you and give it 100%. There could be many different concepts of many different lifestyles, exercise or whatever else you think, you can pick each element that works for you and make it your own. Just always stay true to you. Keep the education alive. To light love and happiness. <3 Ash
Image Courtesy of Google Images
So I have a HUGE confession...I ate a hamburger, WOAH! Now, having not had any meat for close to three years and then indulging was kind of a euphoric experience. For me, indulging in the craving helps me realize a lot and even brings insight into why I gave it up to begin with. Giving up meat was never a political campaign for me. Along the way, I did my research and learned so much about what goes on in the industry, it is kind of hard to not have some sort of a political edge. This is the very reason why I have fought the cravings I have been feeling due to the guilt I felt internally.
Image Courtesy of Google Images
My husband would encourage me to try it, if I was craving it, but I felt he was trying to enable my thoughts, which made me feel even more guilty. THAT is when I realized there was a problem. I felt guilty for wanting to give something a try again. Not committing to eating it 100% just TRYING it. The moment I freed myself of the guilt, took a step and tried the different meats, I realized one big thing, I didn't miss it as much as my mind was telling me. Now don't get me wrong, the turkey sandwiches I have had, hamburger or even salami sandwich were delicious in the moment, but I didn't feel as though I had been missing out. This was the validation I needed.
Image Courtesy of Google Images
Similar to an earlier blog post I wrote on about giving up the label, that is what this entire process is validating. When making the choice to live a certain lifestyle, living and breathing it is a part of the process. The moment the mind begins to veer off the path, the feeling of guilt settles in and all of a sudden the realization comes to the forefront of the mind, "Why am I doing this? Everything I have supported or spoke about becomes irrelevant."
I truly believe, those thoughts are what need to be released. It is important to try something on and see how it fits. Making changes along the way to facilitate where you are in the present moment, is just as important. Removing the label frees you of the guilt associated with some of these lifestyle choices.
Image Courtesy of Google Images
Why I share this...I am sure there are lots of people out there dealing with similar issues. For me, my light bulb moment was during my Integrative Nutrition Program, when we got to a module that introduced a concept called "Orthorexia." WOAH. I have felt this way in many different situations because sometimes it is almost too hard to be vegetarian/vegan. Frustration going to restaurants when they didn't have something on the menu and leaving. Or even if a vendor at work brought food in but didn't cater one meal for me to eat. The frustration and sometimes even anxiety I would feel was very eye opening. Right about this time, I had started following a blogger that was introducing this concept and her struggle with being vegan and dealing with the cravings she was feeling. She had built a huge community around the concept of Veganism and she realized she needed to listen to her body. There had to be a reason all of this information was surrounding me at the time, so I began to take a deeper look.
Image Courtesy of Google Images
Now, before I continue on with Orthorexia, I want to make something very clear. I don't think every person that chooses to be healthy, eat healthy, or exercise, struggles with this condition, nor do I feel that I am 100% Orthorexic. Quite honestly, this concept is still being researched and developed, so there is still a lot to learn. What I am saying is, there are aspects of this condition that I identified with. With my history of anorexia, I always want to make sure that I am staying true and honest with my health and wellness journey. I need to continue to make conscious choices and know I am keeping myself healthy for the right reasons. When being healthy becomes too complicated that is when it is important to evaluate the choices being made and adjust accordingly.
Image Courtesy of Google Images
I guess my entire point with this blog, simply live. Live your life and your life purpose. Do your research and help educate those around you. Don't preach and force concepts down peoples throats, because there isn't a one-size fits all of anything in this world. The beautiful part about this world is we are all different, we eat different, we act different, we live different. By sharing our stories with one another can empower the health and wellness community by leaps and bounds. Uniting together to create change is powerful and uniting together is when change happens.
Image Courtesy of Google Images
Living a healthy lifestyle is important for each and every one of us, but how we define it will be unique. Exercise is good for you and food can be healing, but we all have to find what works for ourselves. What works for me may or may not work for you. What I am saying is this, find what works for you and give it 100%. There could be many different concepts of many different lifestyles, exercise or whatever else you think, you can pick each element that works for you and make it your own. Just always stay true to you. Keep the education alive. To light love and happiness. <3 Ash
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