Embrace Your Imperfections

Happy Hump Day, Y’all

I’m happy you all liked the Oatmeal Acne Mask. It was also refreshing to hear that I wasn’t alone in the holiday gorging and lack of structure…you know what they say, misery loves company. LOL, jk, jk.

I wanted to talk a little more about balance today, and doing things “perfectly.” It seems to fit in with this time of year, as many people are trying to make changes in their lives whether they are small or large. I want to say first off that I am extremely far from perfect. I was surprised to hear some of you say how refreshing it was to hear me confess about my ridiculously unhealthy week of eating.  All because you thought I was some sort of alien

I don’t want you to misinterpret my confession as me saying that I am super clean and perfect all of the time, because I am not. The fact that I am not perfect, and do not put any pressure on myself to be that way has actually helped me to stay healthy, and eat clean 80% of the time with no problem. I go with the 80/20 rule. The 90/10 rule is too hard to keep up with, especially when you’re pregnant.

These past two weeks were an exception of truly “over indulging.” I had vegan peanut butter cookies along with leftover dough in the fridge that I helped myself to several times a day, daily. I even put my mother in laws leftover pecan pie in my oats one morning. I am telling you, something foreign took over my body, haha. Normally, I will have some kind of “natural” treat a few times a week. Nothing crazy, maybe a half of a dark chocolate bar, or a scoop or two of coconut ice cream. Other times, I would save my desert for the weekend when Michael and I go out to a nice meal, and I indulge in an irresistible, naughty gourmet dessert at a really great restaurant.  It’s not usually like these past two weeks of daily sugar snacking. The holidays were insane, and my appetite was insane, I was the definition of someone that was temporarily addicted to sugar. The fact that I wasn’t getting enough fruits and veggies, and only working out about half the amount I usually do added to the evil. Again, it wasn’t an issue getting back into routine this week. I am back to healthy soups, salads and green smoothies…and already got three good workouts in this week.  I am feeling back to myself again

(not extremely relative, but I couldn’t resist   )

EMBRACING OUR IMPERFECTIONS

Now, had this one week holiday sugar binge been several years ago, while I still struggled with disordered eating patterns, this type of behavior would have raised a red flag. Back then, usually, a gorge session was a result of me starving myself or extreme exercise habits. It would be followed by feelings of guilt, and more restrictive behavior or purging. This time around…I was just hungry, and pregnant Had nothing to do with starving myself, or putting WAY too much pressure on myself to be “perfect.” I think, trying to be perfect sets you up for disappointment or even failure. Letting go of this mentality is one of the KEY factors in my recovery a few years ago, and carrying on my healthy lifestyle as best as I can! That’s exactly what I tell myself…”I am doing the best that I can.” I try my best to get in enough servings of nutritious raw vegetables (not talking just salad greens either), and exercise a few times a week. I try my best to buy local, and organic produce, and if I am lucky, I get both.I try my best to cut out foods that I feel don’t work best for my body, such as dairy. However, I don’t have an extreme allergy, and it’s not always easy to avoid it when I am out or at a family gathering, so I don’t beat myself up if I have a little bit of those “avoidance” foods. I think making it a regular habit is more problematic, not something that creeps in every now and then. I try my best to fold Michaels white t-shirts as soon as the dryer is finished, but sometimes they sit in the basket for several a few days, and they might get a little wrinkled

Previously, if I didn’t make it to the gym every single day, twice a day, I was anxious. If I didn’t eat EXACTLY my measured out amount of calories, protein, carbs, fat and sodium, and went over it, I would end up abusing my body in some way (exercise or diet related). That is another extreme, and I have come WAY past that in my life, as you all may know. It’s a wonderful place to be…and I got there by letting go of perfection, and seeing how it worked in my favor.

During this time of year, when we all start to set goals for ourselves, in what we want to accomplish over the next few months, I think this is a key point to remember. Whether it be to eat healthier, exercise more, become more organized, work harder in school, etc…it’s that NOBODY is perfect, no one makes lifestyle changes flawlessly. If you know someone that does, I am sure they are sub-human or radioactive in some way. We need to embrace that fact that we will slip up, and I don’t even like to consider treating yourself as “slipping up.” If you are planning to cut back on sugar, and increase your intake of dark leafy vegetables, you can’t expect to do that “perfectly.” This is a problem with people who make new years resolutions. They set such high standards to themselves, and the second they get off track they get frustrated and go back to their old, unhealthy habits. Try and eat as clean as you can all week, then allow yourself to have something you love over the weekend. Try and get in as many exercise sessions as you can, even it it’s only one, it’s better than none. Ideally, we would all exercise regularly, and eat clean 80% of the time, but it’s not realistic for everyone. We all need to do that best we can, and I truly believe in baby steps. Once you take off the pressure, and start to introduce healthier habits, you can only get better from there. I know this, because you will feel so great that you will only WANT to start eating more nutritious foods, and you will WANT to get to the gym an additional day.

I don’t want to beat this topic into the ground this week, but I feel it’s an important ongoing discussion. I also know many of you know this and are already so health conscious, but this is good advice to give to someone that is just starting to change their habits and trying to adapt to a healthier lifestyle.

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The subject of “what a healthy lifestyle means” will be saved for another day. According to consumer reports, only 1 in 4 people that claimed they had a “very healthy diet” actually did. I don’t want to go too off topic today, though. However, we all need to understand what it means to be “healthy” and imperfect, as opposed to thinking we are being healthy, and imperfect. The second is what gets us into trouble. It goes beyond having a side salad with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers to get in your daily vegetable intake. I have given general advice on my philosophy page (how everyone is different), but I think their are still many people confused about what being “healthy” is. Like I said above, you should do the best you can do, but I will need to delve deeper into that. Another day, another blog post

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Onto my healthy eats….

Getting back on track meant using my Vitamix for what I originally bought it for…green smoothies. I wanted to get in some Omega 3′s and add some maca powder, so I opted to blend instead of juice:

mid-afternoon green treat:

this one had 1TBS chia seeds, 1TBS flax seeds,  1 tsp Maca powder, Kale, Spinach, Pear, Pineapple, ice and water

For dinner last night, I was feeling lazy so I let Whole Foods cook for me:

Adobe Black Bean Quesadillas and Whole Grain Couscous Salad:

loved the flavors of the salad, twas’ the perfect compliment to the spicy black beans

…which are probably one of my new favorite things in the world.

Don’t get too used to the daily food porn…I do my best to get it on here (when it’s not recipe-related) but it gets boring. It’s been a while, so I thought I would treat you all

BABY BUMP NEWS

My official 24 week photo and measurements are up! I can’t even believe that I am starting my 6th month today!!! It’s flying by

**warning–I am MUCH more pale in this picture….no spray tan this time around**

From Baby Center:

Your baby’s growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she’s almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she’ll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing “branches” of the respiratory “tree” as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

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What is your definition of “healthy eating?”

How do you make sure you get enough servings of fruits and vegetables?

Have a great day!!!

xxoo