Now that school is well underway and friendships are reconvened, I'm hearing more and more fat talk. It's easy to get together with your girlfriends and say "oh, you know, I should really cut back on my calories," or something like that. Maybe that's true. Maybe you shouldn't have eaten that second, third, sixth cookie last night while reading boring AP Econ notes, but that was one day out of 365. It doesn't make you automatically "fat."
Speaking of which, whether you're bigger or not is completely besides the point. What the scale says DOES NOT MATTER! How else can I get this through your thick skull? For real. If you feel comfortable with yourself, if you're eating a healthy and balanced diet, and if you're exercising regularly that's all anyone can ever ask of you, and that's all you should ask of yourself.
It's unhealthy to skip meals. In the long run yes, you'll probably lose some weight. But that is so unhealthy. And isn't that the opposite of what you're trying to do? Skipping meals slows down your metabolism. And if you're like me, and you have zero self control when it comes to food, you'll probably just end up pigging out on a bag of candy corn later that night while reading Lord of the Flies.
So, have I convinced you to drop the "I'm on a diet" speech? Because I'm not going to listen to you whine about how you've consumed too many calories in the past few days.
On a side note: I know that counting calories works for some people. If you know how many calories you need to consume in a day to stay at a consistent body weight or whatnot - go for it. Count all you want. Just don't live your life by it. I know if I were to count calories I'd drive myself insane.
To begin our "healthy journey" out of the land of calories, diets, etc. I start by grabbing some fruit in the mornings. I've gotten into a wonderful habit of eating frozen berries, yogurt, and raw oatmeal, which fills me up just enough and is super good for me. When I get the munchies during school, I grab an apple to tide me over until lunch - great way to get in another fruit/vegetable.
Like a lot of schools around the country, we've morphed into eating only what's good for us (sarcasm). The only upside I see to this is it's easy for me to eat two more produce items with my lunch, which puts me up to four! And it isn't even one o'clock yet. See what I'm doing here?
Plan your meals around fruit and vegetables, add on some whole grains, and never forget to eat a little protein (it helps keep you feeling full longer).
Got it? Produce. Whole grains. Less meat, but enough protein. Lots of water.
Oh, and NO MORE DIETS!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Feminism at the grocery store.
Pet peeve: when women give up and let a man take care of things.
I told myself that I wouldn't post anything about my job, but we all know that plan wouldn't pan out, now didn't we? I work at a grocery store. I courtesy around, picking up odds and ends, making everything look pretty, and bagging your food for you to gorge yourself on later.
Being my first job, I can't say that it's a particularly appealing profession in the long run. To those who do go into the grocer-ing business, I applaud you. I've heard you people can end up making a lot of money and work your way up sky high. I wish you the best of luck, but it will never be for me. When I walk into work I always try to remind myself how lucky I am to have a job. Not only because of the crappy economy, but also because a few decades ago it would have been seen as "unfeminine" for me to be working. Or something like that.
Which brings me to my next point. Women have come a long way in the past century. We've won the right to vote, we can run for government positions, we are able to work our way up in life without depending on others to provide for us. Basically, we are freaking rock stars. So why is it that some women feel the need to put themselves back into that box of dependency?
Part of my job is bringing in shopping carts after they're discarded in the parking lot. Yes, at times it is physically taxing. But it's not all that bad. It's a beautiful day! It's a chance to get away from customers! (Seriously though, love you guys.) It's an opportunity to move around instead of waiting for something to happen. (That's not quite true. For heaven sakes, I work at a grocery store. Busy, busy, busy!)
Today, however, a woman was stepping into her car when she saw me struggling to get a couple carts unstuck. Before taking off she said, "They shouldn't make the girls do that. Bring the boys out here."
Well goodness me, I wasn't aware that I was incapable of manual labor!
But for real, why? Why do you want to go back to a way of life that puts women at the bottom of the food chain? I enjoy opportunities just as much as the next guy.
In her defense she isn't the first one to say something like that to me. I was once vacuuming the entryways when a man came in and told me that I was going to make a wonderful housewife. If I hadn't begun the whirling of the vacuum again I'm sure I would have said somethings to that man that would certainly have come back to bite me later. It isn't his fault he's stuck in the fifties.
I just don't understand. Don't say you want equality and then sit back and let some man carry the load when you know you can do the job a whole lot better. Get out there and bring in your own carts.
I told myself that I wouldn't post anything about my job, but we all know that plan wouldn't pan out, now didn't we? I work at a grocery store. I courtesy around, picking up odds and ends, making everything look pretty, and bagging your food for you to gorge yourself on later.
Being my first job, I can't say that it's a particularly appealing profession in the long run. To those who do go into the grocer-ing business, I applaud you. I've heard you people can end up making a lot of money and work your way up sky high. I wish you the best of luck, but it will never be for me. When I walk into work I always try to remind myself how lucky I am to have a job. Not only because of the crappy economy, but also because a few decades ago it would have been seen as "unfeminine" for me to be working. Or something like that.
Which brings me to my next point. Women have come a long way in the past century. We've won the right to vote, we can run for government positions, we are able to work our way up in life without depending on others to provide for us. Basically, we are freaking rock stars. So why is it that some women feel the need to put themselves back into that box of dependency?
Part of my job is bringing in shopping carts after they're discarded in the parking lot. Yes, at times it is physically taxing. But it's not all that bad. It's a beautiful day! It's a chance to get away from customers! (Seriously though, love you guys.) It's an opportunity to move around instead of waiting for something to happen. (That's not quite true. For heaven sakes, I work at a grocery store. Busy, busy, busy!)
Today, however, a woman was stepping into her car when she saw me struggling to get a couple carts unstuck. Before taking off she said, "They shouldn't make the girls do that. Bring the boys out here."
Well goodness me, I wasn't aware that I was incapable of manual labor!
But for real, why? Why do you want to go back to a way of life that puts women at the bottom of the food chain? I enjoy opportunities just as much as the next guy.
In her defense she isn't the first one to say something like that to me. I was once vacuuming the entryways when a man came in and told me that I was going to make a wonderful housewife. If I hadn't begun the whirling of the vacuum again I'm sure I would have said somethings to that man that would certainly have come back to bite me later. It isn't his fault he's stuck in the fifties.
I just don't understand. Don't say you want equality and then sit back and let some man carry the load when you know you can do the job a whole lot better. Get out there and bring in your own carts.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Under Attack
It's time for a little bit of honestly. There's a reason I haven't posted for a while. Senior year has begun, and I'm ready for it to be totally awesome. So far nothing exciting has happened. Last year I felt like I really sort of discovered who I am. That may sound totally cliche, but I really got involved in the things that I'm most passionate about. I had found a totally great relationship with God, and I was able to share Him with the people around me. I also did a lot of research on "body hate," and realized that we have a choice in the way we preceive ourselves. And I got into running. Which was totally awesome, and I had the best time of my life crossing those finish lines.
And then the finish lines were behind me, AP Lang blogging was over, I had let my relationship with God fall apart, and I just felt a little stranded. I'm not sure how else to explain it. Even though nothing major happened, my perspective shifted and everything I new to be concrete shifted with it.
This song has been playing on the radio a lot lately. I haven't got it all figured out yet, and I never will, but this song always reminds me that God will always love us. No matter what we do, no matter who we were before or who we are now, we can always come back to Him.
And then the finish lines were behind me, AP Lang blogging was over, I had let my relationship with God fall apart, and I just felt a little stranded. I'm not sure how else to explain it. Even though nothing major happened, my perspective shifted and everything I new to be concrete shifted with it.
This song has been playing on the radio a lot lately. I haven't got it all figured out yet, and I never will, but this song always reminds me that God will always love us. No matter what we do, no matter who we were before or who we are now, we can always come back to Him.
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, now things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39
I'm still having a hard time at it. I don't know why God feels so far away right now. But I know that He still loves me. And He loves you too! We just have to trust Him. He's not promising that everything is going to turn out all right, but He is promising to always be there for us.
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