Sep 23, 2010

pet peeve.

today's what the kale? moment:

"hey girl, i can't talk now, i'm on the way to the gym to earn my dinner. gotta burn some calories before i can eat!"

here's a fact:

if you're a human, you deserve food.

you kinda need it to live.

shocking, i know, but please, please, please just trust me on this.

do you ever hear disordered thoughts like this?
are you oblivious?
-rebekah

14 comments:

  1. I'm glad that I'm [for the most part] over that. There are still times where I feel like I need to workout before eating so that the food tastes better, but I'm slowly learning that I don't have to "earn" a meal and I don't have to "compensate" for "overeating" by exercising more or less on any given day.

    The food aspect of it may still bother me mentally, but I've been able to limit my exercise to 20 minutes a day and I've been able to switch between lifting, and different types of cardio (running, biking, elliptical) rather than making myself do the exact same workout each morning so that I was burning the exact same amount.

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  2. I've never heard anything like that in person but my town is pretty sheltered when it comes to issues with food. Hearing something like that though.. would really make me angry. Did you say anything or let it slide?

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  3. oh god, I probably would have died if I head someone say that. Mainly because it's how I feel every time I exercise and I hate it. I'm trying to get away from that school of thought, its just hard :(

    Dana xoxo
    http://happinessiswithin.wordpress.com/

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  4. I have them all the time. I'm well aware. I hate it. I'm trying to overcome it...and trying hard.
    Everything you said is so so true!

    Lol "what the Kale"...I like it. Although I like what the ninja turtles says more, "What the shell?!"

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  5. Oh gosh.. sorry you had to even experience that. I can't stand being around 'diet-talk'. The weird thing is that I used to think like that (well, I guess I still have that mentality, but I am trying to break it!) but I don't think I ever would have outwardly admitted it like that person did. I think I always kind of knew that it was the wrong way to look at things, so I tried to keep my thoughts hidden.

    <3 Tat

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  6. I thought that way for years. Now that I don't anymore I can't stand listening to other people say similar things.

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  7. yikes! that is very sad :( we need food just to function properly! if i'm doing cardio it has to be on an empty tummy in the morning or else i have bad digestion the rest of the day or it feels like a brick. i can do yoga in the afternoon or evening but that's it. i relax after work and enjoy my food!

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  8. Thankfully, I haven't thought like this for awhile, but I sure have in the past. Food is for everyone. You don't have to earn it.

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  9. Where's the like button? These are exactly the thoughts I am trying to avoid!

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  10. I don't think you need to work off every single calorie (we DO have a certain amount of calorie burn being alive) but I see nothing wrong with this. Being able to adjust exercise and food intake to balance lets you keep your weight at a healthy level and not forbid everything "fattening" ever again. I just don't think you need to balance it daily--but do I exercise more for a few days after I have a really decadent dinner out and a couple drinks and dessert? Yes. Does knowing that I can do that make it more fun to have that dinner and not worry I won't be able to fit in my jeans? Yes. Having lost a lot of weight so I'm at a healthy weight, and not being "naturally" thin anymore, balancing food and exercise is important.

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  11. LOL! "what the kale" I love that :p

    I really don't get that way of thinking. A lot of people don't realize that calories are actually energy that our bodies need. And it's like.. if you generally don't overeat then why worry, you know what I mean?

    I hear thoughts like this from peers, but I usually ignore it or try to input something positive and just kind of put into perspective how silly that way of thinking is.

    XOXO

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  12. ayla - i didn't feel it was my place to say anything since i didn't know her. do you think i should have?

    anon - i don't think there's anything wrong with being responsible and exercising moderation, but it isn't healthy to look at exercise as an answer to overreating, and we all deserve food - we don't "earn" it.

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  13. Ohhh... that mentality of needing to earn the right to eat is everywhere. I find that I see it in subtle - and sometimes not so subtle - messages in the media CONSTANTLY. We're always being told that eating is somehow sinful, particularly certain foods, and we must atone for doing it. This is a huge pet peeve for me as well!

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  14. My sister owns those Odd Girl Out books, and I remember being 10 and my sister showing me this part about a slumber party. They all practiced putting makeup on, braided each other's hair, ate pizza and them immediately after doing the last thing, one of them jumped on the treadmill and said, "Hey guys - let's burn off our dinner!" And so they all took turns running on the treadmill.

    They were 9. o.O

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