This past year, I have changed almost everything I could think of to be the best possible version of myself. I have a way to go, but I get up every day determined to learn as much as I can, to help as many people as I can, and to be kind and gentle to myself and others.
In short order, I sold my house and moved back to my childhood neighborhood of East Hill, renovated a bungalow, started taking yoga lessons, read more, went to see my therapist once a week and ate healthier.
I've been so very happy about it.
In 2015, I am going to start with being as healthy as I can possibly be. I love to be active, but I've spent too much of my life worrying about being skinny when I should have just enjoyed being able to be healthy and fit.
I have literally tried every diet that there is, was or could have been. I became obsessed with how my body looked instead of how healthy I was.
I have also found out that I'm not alone. Most women that I run into are unhappy with their size or shape — what a shame that is.
In fact, it needs to stop because it's stupid. Here's how stupid it actually is:
According to a recent study, over one half of the females between the ages of 18-25 would prefer to be run over by a truck than be fat, and two-thirds surveyed would rather be mean or stupid, according to G. Gaesser's "Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health."
Dieting is the most common behavior that will lead to an eating disorder, says Natalia Zunino, Ph.D., of American Anorexia and Bulimia Association, Inc.
One in five women struggle with an eating disorder or disordered eating, according to the National Institute of Mental Health's guide, "Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions."
Eating disorders affect up to 24 million Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide, according to The Renfrew Center Foundation for Eating Disorders, ("Eating Disorders 101 Guide: A Summary of Issues, Statistics and Resources," published September 2002, revised October 2003, www.renfrew.org).
All but being hit by a truck, being mean or stupid resonates with me and a lot of my friends.
Over the past few years, I've been starving myself. I convinced myself that I was only hungry once a day and my body worked best this way. So, I'd have coffee, water, nothing all day — go home, eat dinner (whatever I wanted), and then pass out from a food coma, wake up, and start the cycle all over again. I got thin, all right, but it was never thin enough. I was hungry and mean. I was also very boring and zero fun to be around. Nothing is more dreadful than going to lunch with a girl who won't eat and is clearly hungry.
So this year is my year to just stop the madness and eat a delicious, sensible, locally sourced diet. I'm going to do my best to limit my sugar, corn and wheat intake because I really do think it's bad for our bodies to eat these. I'm also going to keep myself moving. I love to run, I love to do yoga and almost any sport. Living in East Hill, I've had a really awesome time riding my bike downtown for special events, to the Farmers Markets and going out to dinner.
Karen Shell, my therapist, says that I'm on track — she thinks all women are phenomenal goddesses.
In fact, the assignment she gave me when I told her that I was going to write about this was to go home and read the Maya Angelou poem, "Phenomenal Woman."
Until next time, y'all, relax and be phenomenal.
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