Looking Past the Numbers

Okay, lets admit it, Most of us have an addiction with looking at the scale and letting it determine whether or not our bodies are in adequate shape. Pump the breaks! I have had this problem too over the last couple of years, which has not only teetered my eating habits to a point where they take over my focus, but it has made me unhappy with my body when it was in perfectly wonderful condition.

Senior year of high school, I was a competitive cheerleader. Although it was difficult and excruciating, my body was very healthy as was my diet. I was eating very full meals at the time, and my focus was too heavily weighed on cheerleading to be overly concerned with my size. Towards the end of the season, I weighed more then I ever had before in my life and I literally thought I was fat. I even went to a point of not cheering anymore because I did not like the way it made my body look. Well, jogging my memory now, my body was in amazing condition. I was eating all of my proper meals, even a little pork when my mood called for it.

When I stopped cheering. I went to all lengths to minimize my food intake. I believe there was a point I was eating two waffles a day and maybe some grapes. This is NOT healthy! But it did help me lose weight. The waffle and grape diet also ate away at my muscles and made me exhausted and moody. As humans, we need protein to function normally and maintain our health. I am hoping this article will inspire other women my age to look past the numbers on the scale. My body is no where near the shape it was when I ate properly, nor is my mood or confidence.

Stick to the essentials in your food pyramid. I know it is hard taking care of ourselves at times because we are busy, but that is when you cook a ton of chicken breast or prepare a salad and put it aside so you still get in your main meals. Our metabolisms do not have as much to do with our bodies when we get older as our poor eating choices and avoidance of a balanced diet . So this is me telling you to look past the scale, and look towards your food pyramid. Cut the sugar, increase the protein, and enjoy eating to keep yourself alive and happy.