Usually the left side is the less lean side you're working to get "away" from, right? Well...do you see that face? Does that face look like the proud woman who had just lost 87 pounds after a 60+ pound pregnancy gain? Not so much...I had a jacked up sense of my body. What I see in the mirror when I see this picture now is COMPLETELY different than what I saw when I took it. I thought I still had so much body fat to lose. I thought I needed to gain way more muscle before I would have the toned body I desired. I thought I had to be perfect in order to achieve it....fast forward two years to the pic on the right? I'm PROUD. I see progress. I see empowerment. That picture was two weeks ago, after losing 20 pounds this summer. Because of the mindset I had on the left, I spent almost 2 years digging myself into a hole that I kept pretty private because I was so ashamed. Because I still felt I had to be perfect. That if I wasn't perfect, I couldn't get results. When the REALITY was the I had major lessons to learn. Like the fact that eating 100% in line with your meal plan every single day until you reach your goals is unrealistic and nearly, if not, impossible. Goals that change, goals that evolve, goals that are skewed if you have such a negative mindset around your body image. But when you EMBRACE the fact that this is a LIFEstyle {{for LIFE, not for "till my goals are achieved"}} then you realize that perfection is impossible and eating off plan every so often doesn't have to derail you...doesn't have to send you spiraling for days or weeks...that everything really will be okay and you still WILL make progress toward your goals if you just stand up, brush it off, and resume. Success is never a straight line to the top. Embrace the struggles. Embrace the obstacles. Embrace the LIFEstyle. We got this.💪🏼💕Comment below if you want to join our fit family here on FB-- we love you no matter what and will support you endlessly!👭👭👭
Monday, August 15, 2016
Thursday, July 7, 2016
I'm breaking up with you
Dear donuts and cookies and chocolate,
I'm breaking up with you.
For
like
ever.
Dear pizza and chips and pasta,
I'm breaking up with you.
For
like
always.
I'm sick of this cycle you guys keep me in.
I struggle then I get back on track and then I get just a TINY taste and you suck me back into your vicious ways. I eat one friggin piece of cake and tell myself, "Balance, Tori. It's fine. Everyone else does it and preaches about how important it is so it's fine...it's all about balance," even though deep down I know what path it'll lead me down and there I am, five days or three months later find myself still fighting to get back on track.
I'm over it.
I'm over you.
You've held me in your grips for nearly 27 years but I'm officially done with you.
I know I've shied away in the past and you've always snuck your way back in, but now...I know your secrets. I understand your power.
And I'm not letting you win.
There are differing schools of thought on the topic of food addiction and I've been TRYING really hard for the past 3 years to live by the "everything in moderation"/"balance"/"80/20" theory but you know what?
It
doesn't
work
for
me.
WHY?!
WHY do I do so well for a week and then have a treat meal and struggle for the next WEEK to get back on track when it was JUST starting to feel easier?
WHY can I not even ENJOY pizza if I only eat 1 or 2 pieces?
WHY do I eat the ENTIRE bag of chips when I swore I only wanted a couple?
WHY?!
I've been riding this roller coaster in frustrations and confusion and after hearing about the other end of the spectrum that seems so extreme, so restrictive, so over the top...I realized it might just be my solution.
It makes perfect sense to me. It makes all of my experience and struggles and frustrations make sense.
It might look impossible to you. You might say "I don't want to live my life not eating the foods I enjoy." But I've lived 26.9 years of this struggle of body confidence and fight with food...granted, not literally my entire life has been lived this way, but since at least 4th grade I've been aware of and fighting against my body image issues and self-confidence struggles.
So it's time to try this new way that feels so against the norm and so "drastic." But I'm more than willing to do it if it will unlock my happiest and best life.
Ithink know I deserve that.
And my daughter deserves a mother that can set the best example for her. One that can truly live life to the fullest with her...and that doesn't mean it has to revolve around food.
Two days ago I stumbled across something called "Bright Line Eating..." a hard set of rules that dictates things you will not eat. That at first sounds so restrictive that it would lead to the high school boy crush mindset of "you want what you can't have," right? Tell yourself enough times that you cannot have Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cody and eventually he's all you want.
But you know what I realized?
I've already set Bright Lines with other things.
...I wrote off McDonald's at the end of my pregnancy and have not even gone for an ice water since. (Three years now.)
...I've never done drugs.
...I haven't had soda in about 2.5 years even though I used to have a Diet Coke or Diet Mountain Dew daily.
...I have set Bright Lines for myself and it's easy for me to not even think about those old habits. (Not the drugs...that's been a Bright Line my entire life lol.)
The Bright Lines way of eating says we write off all processed sugar and flour. (Dates? Good to go. Cane sugar? No go. Cereal, pasta, bread? Nope. Oatmeal, Make sense?)
These days there's more and more scientific proof that we are addicted to food. Still a controversial topic? Yes. But my life experiences point to agreeing with these new studies. We know there's science and countless studies that PROVE that sugar is addictive...like, more addictive than cocaine. So why would I allow myself this drug-ish "treat" ...EVER? Why would I EVER want to subject myself to that risk? One that only leads me to frustration, sluggishness, and yet another detour from my goals and happiest version of myself?
I've never thought that flour would fit in that same category, but it makes sense. Take a food, process and refine it. It's the same thing they do to sugar. It's the same thing they do to drugs.
I know I'm talking a lot here. I just want to share this with you. Because I KNOW there are people out there with similar struggles and if I can find a solution for us, I'm going to scream about it from the rooftops. Feel free to try it along with me or just follow my journey. I'll keep you updated and share progress!
It might sound like a huge sacrifice, but in the scheme of things? It's nothing. I'd rather sacrifice unfulfilling foods than my best and happiest life.
I'm breaking up with you.
For
like
ever.
Dear pizza and chips and pasta,
I'm breaking up with you.
For
like
always.
I'm sick of this cycle you guys keep me in.
I struggle then I get back on track and then I get just a TINY taste and you suck me back into your vicious ways. I eat one friggin piece of cake and tell myself, "Balance, Tori. It's fine. Everyone else does it and preaches about how important it is so it's fine...it's all about balance," even though deep down I know what path it'll lead me down and there I am, five days or three months later find myself still fighting to get back on track.
I'm over it.
I'm over you.
You've held me in your grips for nearly 27 years but I'm officially done with you.
I know I've shied away in the past and you've always snuck your way back in, but now...I know your secrets. I understand your power.
And I'm not letting you win.
There are differing schools of thought on the topic of food addiction and I've been TRYING really hard for the past 3 years to live by the "everything in moderation"/"balance"/"80/20" theory but you know what?
It
doesn't
work
for
me.
WHY?!
WHY do I do so well for a week and then have a treat meal and struggle for the next WEEK to get back on track when it was JUST starting to feel easier?
WHY can I not even ENJOY pizza if I only eat 1 or 2 pieces?
WHY do I eat the ENTIRE bag of chips when I swore I only wanted a couple?
WHY?!
I've been riding this roller coaster in frustrations and confusion and after hearing about the other end of the spectrum that seems so extreme, so restrictive, so over the top...I realized it might just be my solution.
It makes perfect sense to me. It makes all of my experience and struggles and frustrations make sense.
It might look impossible to you. You might say "I don't want to live my life not eating the foods I enjoy." But I've lived 26.9 years of this struggle of body confidence and fight with food...granted, not literally my entire life has been lived this way, but since at least 4th grade I've been aware of and fighting against my body image issues and self-confidence struggles.
So it's time to try this new way that feels so against the norm and so "drastic." But I'm more than willing to do it if it will unlock my happiest and best life.
I
And my daughter deserves a mother that can set the best example for her. One that can truly live life to the fullest with her...and that doesn't mean it has to revolve around food.
Two days ago I stumbled across something called "Bright Line Eating..." a hard set of rules that dictates things you will not eat. That at first sounds so restrictive that it would lead to the high school boy crush mindset of "you want what you can't have," right? Tell yourself enough times that you cannot have Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cody and eventually he's all you want.
But you know what I realized?
I've already set Bright Lines with other things.
...I wrote off McDonald's at the end of my pregnancy and have not even gone for an ice water since. (Three years now.)
...I've never done drugs.
...I haven't had soda in about 2.5 years even though I used to have a Diet Coke or Diet Mountain Dew daily.
...I have set Bright Lines for myself and it's easy for me to not even think about those old habits. (Not the drugs...that's been a Bright Line my entire life lol.)
The Bright Lines way of eating says we write off all processed sugar and flour. (Dates? Good to go. Cane sugar? No go. Cereal, pasta, bread? Nope. Oatmeal, Make sense?)
These days there's more and more scientific proof that we are addicted to food. Still a controversial topic? Yes. But my life experiences point to agreeing with these new studies. We know there's science and countless studies that PROVE that sugar is addictive...like, more addictive than cocaine. So why would I allow myself this drug-ish "treat" ...EVER? Why would I EVER want to subject myself to that risk? One that only leads me to frustration, sluggishness, and yet another detour from my goals and happiest version of myself?
I've never thought that flour would fit in that same category, but it makes sense. Take a food, process and refine it. It's the same thing they do to sugar. It's the same thing they do to drugs.
I know I'm talking a lot here. I just want to share this with you. Because I KNOW there are people out there with similar struggles and if I can find a solution for us, I'm going to scream about it from the rooftops. Feel free to try it along with me or just follow my journey. I'll keep you updated and share progress!
It might sound like a huge sacrifice, but in the scheme of things? It's nothing. I'd rather sacrifice unfulfilling foods than my best and happiest life.
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