First of all, I have to show you two photos because they are too cute.
My niece, Reese, lost her first tooth (she's 5...seems early?!). How cute is she? My other sister (Reese's aunt) took this pic. I'm trying to convince her to start her own photography businessso I can quit my job and become her personal assistant. She's good, right?
So as I was mowing today I noticed a baby bunny run out of my yard. Seriously, it could fit in the palm of your hand!! When I was done mowing I was pulling out weeds around my house and found this nestled against my house:
Do you see it?! It was adorable! I screamed at first, because, well, I wasn't expecting to see something furry right in front of me. It was so sweet, it didn't move. I checked later and it was gone...hopefully Peter C. found his mommy.
Anywho, sometimes I get nervous about posts in which I come clean about something. This is very funny to me because I don't (personally) "know" any of you! If I can't be truthful here, there is a real problem, eh?
Let me preface this by saying I firmly believe that whatever works best for your body, have at it. I know some can't handle dairy, some can't handle tons of protein, some can't handle fruit, and that is okay! I am no way judging others for what/how they eat. Lord knows how many people have judged me for my weird eats. ;-)
I will be honest. I’ve heard other bloggers say the same, but sometimes I don’t know whether or not food blogs are helpful or hurtful to me. I mean, I guess at times they are both. How are they helpful? I love reading about the bloggers who can take in a piece of cake or a cookie and get over it. Life's too short not to eat some cake, right? And also I've gotten some amazing recipes and learned about new foods (hello, almond butter and quinoa!) from these ladies. Not to mention, I've "met" some v. awesome people!
However, I'm sad to say that in the recent months I have struggled with binging/restricting and binging/purging. Not to the point where it is excessive, as it used to be, but still to the point where it concerns me. Especially the purging.
With so many food bloggers leaning towards a more drastic type of clean eating than I am used to seeing, it has left me a bit unsettled. Sometimes I feel bad because I don't eat as "clean" as others. Sure, I don't eat very many processed foods like I used to. But some people don't eat any at all. I know we should never compare ourselves to how others eat (see above), but I would be lying if I said seeing and reading about these people's food choices didn't affect me in a negative way at times.
Do you feel as though food blogs in general are helpful or harmful to you? What is the greatest benefit you get out of reading them - or having your own?
16 comments:
WOW. i seriously couldnt agree with this post anymore!! ive noticed that when i first started reading blogs, that i mostly leaned towards recovering anorexics/bulimics blogs and it was very helpful, as most of the girls do eat alot of processed foods. H0owever, as I have come to terms and have really started to overcome my eating disorder, I kind of find my self trying to over compensate a lot- and Ive been reading more health-related blogs, including alot of clean eating only blogs. in a way, it seems easier to completely leave the disordered eating behind and take on a whole new sense of eating -clean eating. Like you, I still eat processed foods. Not as many as I used to, but still quite a few. And sometimes I feel guilty for eating these foods because I have been reading so much about clean eating, but the reality is, we need to take it one step at a time and i dont think that most recovered girls are quite ready for a strictly clean diet. in a sense to me, it seems like it could possibly appear to be a whole nother eating problem in itself, no? not allowing ourselves to indulge in a few foods because they are not 'clean'. to me, it sounds like how i couldnt eat certain foods when i was disordered because they werent 'safe' or 'negative calories'. just focus on what is right for you and what makes your body feel good, inside and out!!
loveee the pictures!!
Love the pictures! Your sister should SO be a photographer!
Adorable pics, of your niece and the bunny :)
I have blogged a lot about this myself, Holly (I know you know that though) and I really have had to step back from several of my favorites because they seem "too rigid, too perfect." I think it's important to note that orthorexia is pretty much as dangerous and controlling as anorexia or bulimia.
This weekend was my husband's birthday party, and I was literally on my feet all weekend, prepping, hostessing. And I gave into pretty much every unclean temptation I had: chex, Smores, bites of cake and cookies ... stuff I just don't keep around for these very reasons!! But you know what? I feel terrible tonight and am going to just start tomorrow as a new day ... following IE (not "craving eating") and see how it goes. It's hard to not compare ourselves, which is partially why I never blog exactly what I eat.
I think it's just a matter of sometimes stepping back and saying, I don't want to live a life of perfection ... there's no fun in that. But I also want to live as healthily as I can. And if the occasional party with goodies happens, so be it. Easier said than done, though ...
Oh girl! I think we all feel this way a little. I think you should eat what makes you feel good! For instance, I love the idea of eating clean and like I said...I do it like 85/90% of the time but ya know what....I use splenda in my coffee. Do the best ya can, be happy, thats all anyone can ask.
Your little niece is so freaking cute. So is that bunny! You should leave some carrots or lettuce out for the bunny!
I can relate so much to this. I've really struggled recently with comparing my intake to other people's and feeling bad about what I eat not being "clean", "pure", "raw"... There are a lot of blogs out there which to me, promote a very unhealthy attitude towards food and that is NOT something I am striving towards. I started reading food blogs because I wanted to learn *how* to eat 'normally' and with the growing number of food blogs, it's somehow gotten lost amidst the controversy about what the latest craze/fad is. My diet is by no means perfect and whilst at times it's triggering to read blogs, at the same time it's proven to be helpful to me in terms of forcing me to think about my own goals and my own motivations. There are a lot of great blogs out there and I try to stick to reading those...the ones which don't follow fads or trends and embrace LIFE without rigid rules about their diet.
There is a fine line (I think) between eating healthily and orthorexia- obviously underlying issues differ a lot between the two, but some of the super-clean blogs scream out 'disordered' to me. Likely my own perception and it's not for me to judge whether these people have disorders or not, but for me, following that level of "health" (rigidity?) would be anything BUT healthy.
I think I must just not GET THEM.
when I was working to lose weight Im pretty damn sure they would have made me CRAVE THINGS to read and become obsessssssed to write.
but that's just me.
Miz.
When I started my blog I thought exactly the same thing as you!! I don't eat as healthy as these other people - it made me feel bad too. I even had a blog entry about why I'm not the "typical" health blogger. But I think we're more the normal ones. You can go extreme in both ways and be obsesseive in either direction and neither is good for you. And I've struggled with binging/restricting and binging/purging too - so I know what you're going through.
Seriously, I love that Master Your Metabolism book by Jillian. It's really cool and gave me some great ideas. And reading Jillian's story helped too. And it makes you think it's more about other stuff too, not just the food. It really helped me out a lot.
AND, your blog is fun and interesting to read. A lot of those other ones are kinda... boring :)
I read some blog and I can't help but wonder the same thing. When I used to write my food blog I really focused on what tasted good, not what was good for you.
I feel as though the biggest thing with food is portion control. I think you can enjoy of food so long as you don't gorge yourself....
How funny, we found a baby bunny, size of your palm, this weekend too! It is living in my garden, which is not making me too happy. I'm on a mission to find a neighbor who wants a pet.
And way to go with the honesty. It is tough, but by putting it out there really shows you are taking steps to get over it! And I completely agree that food blogging can be dangerous, that is why I quit doing it. I can't take pictures of my food, I can't focus just on my eats. I get obsessed and it gets ugly.
The best benefit for me is that I focus on the good things. It really has helped me recongize the things that make me happy and feel good and because of this, I don't spend as much time on the negative. I simply do not allow myself to have negative thoughts regarding my body and my eats. It took me SO LONG to get to this point but it feels amazing to have fought my way here.
And I also had to tell myself that I could not compare myself to anyone else. It only lead to bad habits and thoughts.
Happiness Awaits
I know exactly what you mean with some of these blogs. My goal is to not obsess over food, and if I were to practice what a lot of those bloggers do, I'd be going in the opposite direction.
In a perfect world, I'd eat "cleaner" and prepare more wholesome meals. With my schedule and lifestyle, I know I can only do so much without it becoming a problem. I think the key is trying to find the balance that works for you. Should I stay away from foods with preservatives and higher levels of sodium? Probably. But sometimes I just don't have the extra time to make a decent lunch and need to grab a Lean Cuisine on the go. Once in awhile these things aren't bad for you, it's the reality of dealing with every day life.
Like you, I prefer to read the blogs where the author has a cookie or a piece of cake and ENJOYS it. After all, IT TASTES GOOD! We should strive to balance our diets in a way that allows us to savor the good food, not feel guilty about them.
VERY CUTE.
And I agree, it can be difficult. Food blogging is a tough one! HUGS. I hope you're doing okay.
- Sagan
Great pic!
I don't understand the food bloggers - how do they have all of that time and energy to blog about everything they eat without becoming obsessed?! I subscribe to them, but only skim them, and look for new recipes and ideas like you do.
I can't read some health blogs, because if they start to talk about a binge, it makes ME want to binge.
aww congrats on her loosing her first tooth! I was so excited when I lost mine.
I have never struggled with an ED, so reading food blogs and seeing what others eat isn't too much of a problem. Sometimes I do have to step back and realize that everyone has different needs and my food intake might be higher than others due to activity level, age, etc.
I completely agree with you. More recently all of these "raw" blogs have been popping up. Sometimes I can't even believe they consider some of their recipes to be a meal. A piece of lettuce and tomato? There are days when I feel bad about my gum, or sugar free pudding since some of these girls would never date put that into their bodies. I have to remember that for me, portion control is what matters and I am much happier when I have that occasional bowl of ice cream at night.
I have to also check myself when I read some blogs. Just remember, some of those diets that seem so "super clean" are not that healthy and I am quite concerned with some of the "meals" I have seen on several blogs. Just because someone is eating only fruits and veggies doesn't mean they are eating healthy in general ya know? A diet of only produce will lead to deficiencies unless you are supplementing with lots of multivitamins and other supplements. Much of the info out there on raw foods is totally unscientific so please don't look to those as examples of the best or healthiest way to eat.
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