Do you struggle with healthy food “rules”?

January 25, 2013 -
19 comments, add yours

Hi all! Hope you’re having a great week!
It’s been a very positive week with some of us bloggers really sharing our stories with you all
& thank you to my girl Meg for giving me a high five today on her site!

I’ve had this blog for almost 2 years & that was the first I’ve really opened up into all of that detail. Here is a MUST READ from my girl Zandra aka the freckled lifter.

She opens up about Orthorexia – something else that I think a lot of people struggle with.

Orthorexia is an obsession with healthy food.

Now, I think being healthy and eating clean are very important to our overall health – but sometimes I think people can take it too far. I’m not a big fan of posting a days worth of  my eats on my blog – only because I don’t want others to compare their eats to mine. Not because I’m afraid of being judged – but I’m afraid someone will think they are doing something wrong if they don’t eat like me.  I think sharing recipes & eats is a great thing if we can all learn to embrace & not judge or compare to be like someone else.

This is an issue I think in the fitness/healthy eating world we are a part of. I think there are so many positive stories out there, but also so many people trying to be like somebody else and almost feeling “guilty” if they do something that the person they look up to wouldn’t do.

For example, I saw something the other day about someone struggling with having a piece of fruit after a hard workout because they didn’t want the carbs. Now, someone who maybe isn’t educated on why this person is doing this, may take that to the extreme and instantly think “OMG I ATE A BANANA AND I MAY GAIN 100 LBS RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND.” All because they saw that that person didn’t have fruit. May sound crazy – but guess what, I can admit that I’ve eaten something before and then thought to myself that body fat was going to just pile on out of nowhere. This may sound extreme for some but, this is also a big issue that people deal with. You can ask my friend Christina about her experiences with this & how she found her “Happy diet”.

For some reason fruit can be an issue for people and I’ve dealt with this before. Therefore, this week I challenged myself to eat fruit every night in my night time snack (also, because CrossFit has been later and I’ve been starving when I get home at 830pm) So, all week I added fruit to my mini “powerbowls” and guess what –no weight gain?! I know I know, in one week it’s not like I expected to gain anything nor would I know if I did because I don’t weigh myself, but if anything, I felt better and this HELPED ME get over that little fear that still lurks inside of me sometimes!

pom seeds

lots of protein powder frosting, healthy chocolate sauce,
sunflower seed butter, bananas, pom seeds, & cacao nibs!

Um, can you say delicious???

From being through what I’ve been through with my eating in the past, I have come very far & I am proud of that. I’m happy that I can challenge myself to prove myself wrong.

There can be times when we make up “rules” and “regulations” in our lives and almost feel like we’re sinning if we don’t abide by them at all times. But, in reality, who is making these rules? A lot of times, it ourselves that put rules onto our own lives. We make up rule books to live by & can feel guilty if we stray from these rules.

Do I think I sometimes struggle with some orthorexic thoughts? Yes.

It’s the “control” that I still deal with but I remember my girl Heather always saying “let me get out of my own way.”
Meaning, let yourself get out of your own way because you’re the only one holding yourself back.
With so many things with my business being out of my control right now (in good ways), I tend to look to food to have that sense of control in my life.

My point here is that I’m admitting that I’m not perfect.

Eating clean and healthy has changed my life and my digestive issues are seriously 10000000% better than they were before,
but, do I think I need to work on “enjoying” life more & turn my focus on other things?

Absolutely! If you get a chance, check out her story.

Health Food Junkies: Orthorexia Nervosa: Overcoming the Obsession with Healthful Eating

Also, I ordered this book as well and took this quiz which really helped me help myself.

I hope this helps others as well! Red heart

Try not to compare what you eat or do to someone else’s eats,
instead let’s embrace each other & appreciate their eats and creative recipes!

Everyone is different – remember, BE TRUE TO YOU!

beTrueToYouBTN-400x130

Also, Next Friday the SECOND PLANT POWER CHALLENGE STARTS & I am so excited for round two!!

Powercakes&Kale-800-4

My next post will be all about poop & plumbers – yup, that’s right.

But, until then, I am enjoying my weekend with my boyfriend & taking a little computer break to really focus on us.

Being healthy is so great – but once it starts to take over, we need to learn to take a deep breath & a step back and focus on our family, friends, and other things that make us happy. There are so many positive things we can focus on in life and eating healthy can be a great addition to our balanced lifestyles!

Enjoy your weekend!! Red heart

Have you ever heard of Orthorexia?

ps. Orthorexia & any eating disorder is a very serious situation –
if you think you have a problem and need someone to contact feel free to contact me
or look to find a local therapist near you. Getting help is not a weakness!!

Category: beTRUEtoYOU, Blog, FitFluential

19 responses to “Do you struggle with healthy food “rules”?”

  1. Love you so much, girl! I know how hard it is to open up like this but am so happy you did. I love learning more about you and it’s nice to know we have been through similar situations. You are doing amazing and I am really proud of you. Hope you two have a fabulous weekend! xoxo

  2. I loved Alex’s post! Such a great thing to keep in mind. A lot of us get too caught up in being SO healthy that it becomes the opposite. I certainly have been guilty! Now I like to end every day with a piece of fruit. 🙂

  3. Great post. Orthorexia is an interesting form of disordered eating. I think I went through a bout of dealing with this, but have now found my “happy diet”. There have definitely been some inspiring posts out there lately. So many great role models–thank you for being one of them!

  4. I was struggling with this over Christmas. I felt REALLY guilty about what I ate for the holidays, and obsessed over what I was going to eat, if I ate too much, etc. I finally realized I was doing this and that it was affecting my life and am trying to get a handle on it!

  5. Kat says:

    I think life is all about balance! If I sway one way ill gorge in the other so I keep it even 😉

  6. I wrote about Orthorexia quite a while back – maybe a couple years when I first saw something on it & the term although I knew of it but not that term. Honestly, I don’t get the no fruit thing although to each their own as I say.. it is healthy fiber & yes sugar grams but natural from whole foods. Can we overdue it, sure BUT so many fruits have BENEFITS galore! 🙂 Heck, we can overdo on anything!!!

    I am not perfect either & wrote about emotional eating on my blog today because I am sure people think I don’t do that but I do! 🙂

    GREAT POST!!!

  7. Such a great and honest post Kasey. I definitely struggle with thoughts such as I shouldn’t do this or that because of these “nutrition” rules I’ve created for myself, especially being a nutritionist but it’s definitely something worth relaxing about a bit!

  8. Emily says:

    Perfect timing on this post, Kasey! Before/during struggling with binging and restricting, I also had orthorexic tendencies…and I’ve read this book! It has some really great information and viewpoints to consider. Thanks for posting this and for the kind and inspiring words! =)

  9. Lura says:

    Kasey,
    Thank you for this post. I have Crohn’s disease and also competed in a fitness competition last March. By having such a strict diet for the competition, I was able to identify my triggers for Crohn’s flare ups and have been almost entirely off medication for almost a year and a half. I have no desire to compete again but really developed a passion for lifting and clean eating. It seemed that after the competition I was so used to my routine that measuring, weighing, and prepacking my food just stayed. Sure I increased calories but remain lean and disciplined with my meals and workouts. Sometimes I wondered if this was too much for a non-competitior to maintain. I research all kinds of healthy recipes daily to introduce variety into the standard meals that are so easy to fall into.
    I am 28 years old and my husband is 29. He was diagnosed last month with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and although we are handling this together and he has done GREAT with treatments my food regimen went on “lock down”. I used the excuse that with everything going on the last thing we need is a flare of my Crohn’s to deal with and so eating the cleaner the better right now is best. I really connected with your statement though that if I can control what I eat I feel there is more a sense of control on the world around me.
    WHEW!! that was a lot but thank you again for your post. I will certainly check out that book:) Have a great weekend

    • Kasey says:

      Hi Lura! Thank you so much for your honest comment! I am so glad you shared this with me. I myself have competed as well and I also fell in love with clean eating and lifting and I also believe it helped me figure out some of my food allergies…but, I do think the timing and weighing everything did some negative with my thoughts. I’m much better now and happy to say that I don’t weigh or count calories anymore! But, the sense of control is definitely still there. I am so sorry to hear about your husband <3 I am praying for you both!! Thank goodness you understand how healthy eating can enhance our health so it's great that you have a good base to help him & yourself as well. Feel free to vent here any time or contact me! Sending positive thoughts your way!! <3

  10. DEFINITELY have some Orthorexia tendencies but to be honest, I feel like my habits only make me healthier and happier. Obviously going to extremes is NOT healthy, but I don’t do the extremes, I just do what makes me feel wonderful and it seems to be working 🙂

  11. Kim Perry says:

    I have never heard the word “orthorexia” before but it totally makes sense! I have seen people/read blog post that definitely demonstrate these unhealthy behaviors. It’s hard to tell the difference between advice and unhealthy habits! There’s a very fine line!

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