So you had an extra helping. You indulged. You ate it even though blah, blah, blah. When it comes to food, I want you to encourage you to stop beating yourself up. The Holiday Season aka the “Feasting” season has just ended and social media would have us believe that we blew it and now we must pay the price by immediately dieting and exercise until we drop. We need to realize that we make choices about food. We also make choices about movement.
So, did you enjoy that when you ate it? Then don’t diminish the enjoyment you experienced by loading on the self guilt. That being said, would you have enjoyed it if you had less? Keep that in mind for the next time and decide how you will move forward now. Those of you that work out with me know that we did not skip a workout for any holiday. I made that decision for me because I knew that I would indulge in ways that were not normal for me. Several of you were right there with me; not in the eating, I don’t think, but in the working out. Bravo! You made those choices!
You probably spent much of the last few weeks, as I did, thinking about how you could help others and make them happy. You did it! Now, time for YOU. Self care is not selfish. If that concept is difficult for you to accept, try this. When you are your best self, you can better be there for others. Ahhh… that makes sense to you. C’est bonne!
Then, take this information in so your future can be more about good choices and less about feeling guilty. Men and women, from when they were children began to receive strong signals about “gender-specific” expectations. Not fulfilling these expectations can bring on feelings of guilt.
“Women build self-esteem through relationships ,” explains Mary Ann Bauman, MD, director of for INTEGRIS, a nonprofit health system in Oklahoma. “As women, we have to make sure no one thinks we’re being selfish,” Bauman says.
“Men learn to build self-esteem through their accomplishments,” Bauman says. So a man who doesn’t become the athlete or the scholar that they, or their parents, expected them to be is often plagued by guilt. (Is Guilt Getting the Best of you? Web MD)
Empower yourself with the knowledge that choosing to be healthy and fit is not an act of selfishness, it is an act of self care and that you do not have to perform to the standards of a pro athlete, after all, you are certainly not being paid as one. Stay healthy by choosing to eat in a reasonable way to nourish your body and still enjoy doing so and move enough to maintain a fit physical self that you feel good about. Profite de la Vie!