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I know that I haven’t been active on this account for a while and there hasn’t been a blog post since July, for which I apologise for. I had a busy summer working, travelling and seeing friends and then straight into the busy, intense life of university of which I am loving. I tried to write a post a few weeks ago but the writing just wasn’t flowing. 2020 is less than 48 hours away. Dieting, detoxing and lifestyle companies are advertising everywhere. “Drop those Christmas pounds with…” “better body = better life” “detox after Christmas indulgence” “new year, new you”. All bullshit! Christmas is a period of time to spend with family and friends, enjoy good food and celebrate,* it should not be filled with guilt. However, messages portrayed in the media suggest that as soon as New Year is over you should be detoxing and dieting to start the year well. *Of course, this time of year is difficult for many; whether they are struggling with mental health, suffering from loss, grieving, are alone/away from family or financially unstable, this time is not easy for all. “better body = better life” Happiness is not defined by what you look like in the mirror or the number on the scales. Abs, flat stomach, thigh gap, toned arms, long toned legs, big boobs… none of this will change your success, friends or family – people will love you for who you are, your personality and skills. Anyone who tells you different is wrong! I always used to think that if I looked a certain way – especially if I had a flat stomach, I would feel happier but honestly its not true. I’m not going to sit here and write this pretending that I don’t wish my stomach was flat and I had abs some days but I know this will not change who I’m friends with, how well I do at university/career or how much fun I have. A positive body image, self-love and accepting who you are = the biggest keys to happiness. This summer I really learnt not to care what others thought of me, to do what I love and be as silly as I like… as they say YOLO! BE SILLY!!! “new year, new you” Seeing this on Instagram actually inspired me to write this post. It is a phrase I feel quite strongly against. January 1st is just another day, it may be a new year and, in this case, a new decade but we are just moving from Tuesday to Wednesday – if someone asked you to change overnight, would you? I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t set goals for the new year or focus on your weaknesses. What I am saying is if you are happy then you don’t need to become a new person just because 2019 became 2020. I thoroughly support focussing on self-love, positivity and success in the new year. Success may be in training, racing, studies, job/work or with personal health and ambitions. The new year can act as a refresher for previous goals to remind you what you are working towards or be the start of something that you have been meaning to do for a while. I am beginning to ramble about this but what I am trying to say is that you don’t have to start something new just because the year has changed. Do it because you want to, don’t feel pressured by anyone! Disordered thoughts and unhealthy goals 1. Deciding to exercise everyday I decided to run everyday of 2017 to raise money for charity. Although I raised a considerable amount for a good cause, the volume of running has had a detrimental effect on my mental health and body. Your body needs to rest and recover to improve. 2. Force yourself to think positively everyday This is unrealistic, you need to feel all emotions – you are human and can’t expect to be happy every day. Life isn’t plain sailing; things will go wrong; you will feel upset and angry. It is about turning the negative emotions/ thoughts into positive ones. If you need to cry it out to feel better, go for it, it’s ok! Cry a river if you need to, just believe it will get better. 3. Giving up ‘bad’ food This can lead to very disordered thoughts and is a feature of orthorexia (speaking from experience.) You will only end up craving it if you completely restrict it. By all means reduce the amount of X, Y, Z that you eat but be careful when completely cutting it out unless it is for dietary requirements (By that I mean intolerances or allergies, not diets.) 4. Starting ‘fad’ diets You’ve seen the adverts for the diets that will detox your body, give you a flat stomach, help you lose x amount of pounds. Have you heard of Yo-Yo dieting? “Yo-yo dieting is a cycle of short-term changes in eating and activity. For those reasons, it leads to only short-term benefits. After losing weight, appetite increases and your body hangs on to fat. This leads to weight gain, and many dieters end up back where they started” Healthline, 2017. Yo-yo dieting can also cause permeant negative impacts on the metabolism and immune system. 5. Setting unrealistic weight loss goals By all means shift a few pounds if you feel you need to but make sure to do it in manageable amounts and within a decent time frame. Losing too much weight too fast can be fatal or have serious side effects. Keep everything in perspective and try not to become obsessed with the number on the scale and this can be associated with an eating disorder and lead to poor mental health. Your happiness is more than the number on the scale as I mentioned earlier. Setting new year resolutions
My personal goals for 2020
1. Focus on completely overcoming my compulsive exercise Over the summer I didn’t really experience any of my compulsive thoughts but as soon as I started university in a new environment and new people, I started to compare myself and feel like I wasn’t doing enough again. I have given in many times, but I have also stopped the thoughts. Having amazing friends that I can talk to about it has really helped. I am not going to say it’s been easy because I still feel like I am not enough, but I also have to remind myself that I am still coming back from injury. 2. Work on strength and getting back to racing I dream of racing again, so I know I need to dedicate time to do my rehab and look at my weaknesses. 3. Allow time in the busy-ness of life to do other hobbies such as art and reading This Christmas holiday I have realised how much I miss reading for pleasure and drawing because I pretty much neglect it when I’m studying. 4. Write down how I am feeling more often and keep a mood tracker in my bullet journal The other day I just blurted 900 words of how I was feeling at the time and it was nice to get it off my chest. I can’t think of any other specific goals, but I know that I want to make this year memorable with amazing people and places. I realise that this post may be controversial for some and you may disagree with what I have said. I would love to hear what other people think about this topic and if you want to talk about anything, feel free to message me 😊 HAPPY NEW YEAR! BRING ON 2020, I HOPE IT IS AMAZING FOR US ALL //// Immie xx
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RECIPES
RACE RECAPS TRAINING BESIDES RUNNING SELF CARE BACK TO SCHOOL OVERTRAINING THINGS I AM LOVING LATELY TRIATHLON NEW YEAR Month/year
August 2023
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