Living Happier with Our Bodies: The Happy Medium Place

Over the past few days, I have been thinking a lot about body image.  Many of us struggle with body image, weight, healthy eating etc.  I am happy to report, I have greatly decreased my Fat Talk over the past few months, as have my friends.  But I know it is still there, the idea that we aren't enough because we need to lose a few pounds, had donuts for dinner or didn't fit in our workouts this week.

I would like to lose weight--just 10-15 pounds that have creeped up over the past few months.  The problem is, I tend to have 2 modes when it comes to my weight.  A. eat whatever I want whenever I want it--which is what I have been doing the past few months, pizza 2-3 times a week, bite size chocolate treats throughout the day and more then the occasional fast food.  B. I am militant and become obsessed with monitoring every morsel of food for calorie count and nutritional value.  Neither option works for very long.  Option A. Leaves me lethargic, bloated and gaining weight.  Option B. Leaves me obsessed, cranky and unfulfilled. I know, there has to be a happy medium somewhere.

I woke up on Monday--after having pizza and burgers all weekend and decided I needed to do something--which for me means get militant. And a friend of mine who is a trainer/nutritionist gave me a diet to get me jump started.  One month of being hard core and I would lose some weight, cleanse my body and feel better.  I happily agreed, took the diet, went to the grocery store and 2 meals in realized I can't do this.  I can't eat chicken and broccoli and brown rice for dinner every night for a month.  I realized once again I was going down the very scary militant track.  I decided to figure out what I wanted, yes I want to lose weight and fit into the new summer dresses I bought.  But I also want to be able to enjoy my life, have the occasional ice cream and enjoy pizza night with my nearest and dearest (who by the way can eat WHATEVER he wants and still be thin--sadly, I am delusional and like to believe I can eat that way too and not gain weight which is why I am 10-15 lbs overweight, shocking!) More importantly I want to be healthy.  I want to feel energized and excited about my days. I want to know I am feeding my body with the nutrients it deserves not just making sure I keep it under so many calories.   AND I don't want to be obsessed with food.

So I am trying something new--the happy medium place.  The place where I limit sugar, avoid fast food and pick foods that I enjoy that are nutritionally sound. This place also includes pizza night, and the occasional treat of ice cream or cake.   Most importantly, in this place I am not warring against my body hating it for packing on the pounds. I am going to embrace my body from a place of love, a place where I want to treat it well and give it the food it deserves and the movement it craves.  Jen over at Follow My Bliss wrote a lovely post about this happy medium place.  "Love first", she says--and I totally agree.  We need to love our bodies whether we need to lose weight or not.  Because if we don't love our bodies we won't want to take care of them.  The endless battle needs to stop so we can Live Happier in our bodies.

Have you found the happy medium place? What tips do you have for making peace with your body?