Welcome back everyone!
I hope you had a lovely weekend, whether it was celebrating the 4th of July or just a couple days off work! :)
Two quick things before I get into today’s hot topic:
1) Glo Bakery got a Face Lift!! I finally created a header and sidebar for Glo Bakery that I am pretty proud of!
2) Canadians: Glo Bakery is having a Glo-Out today!!
What’s on??
20 samples of my Glo bars for just $19.99!
You will get samples of the following scrumptious flavours of bars: Chocolate Peanut butter, Chocolate Peppy-mint, Orange Hazelnut, Almond raisin, Coco Glo, Coco Carob, Classic PB, and more!
The first 10 orders that I receive today will also get a FREE blueberry banana loaf!
Please click here to submit an order!
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Jillian Michaels in Self Magazine:
While I was on the treadmill the other day, I was reading Jillian Michael’s interview in the latest issue of Self Magazine.
Jillian Michael’s on her weight:
“I try to start the season [of The Biggest Loser] in the best shape as possible…Then, during the season, I’m so exhausted that it’s hard for me to workout, so my body will change on the show. I get 8 to 10 pounds heavier. I’ll go from 115 pounds to 125 pounds…At 115 pounds, I look ripped, but I also look old. And my hunger is raging, my body doesn’t want to be there. At 125 pounds, I’m working [on the show] like crazy, stressed out of my mind, having a glass of wine every night. 120 pounds is actually good, I can hold it there.”
I think this quote is so interesting because it reminds me that our weight is typically not a static, unchanging thing. I used to have the mindset that I wanted to be ‘x’ number of pounds and once I got there I was going to stay there for good. Ummm….sorry, Ange…never going to happen! Not even celebrity personal trainers are immune from weight fluctuations from time to time.
I can relate to Jillian’s words so much because it took me a while to figure out my happy weight.
What is a happy weight? A happy weight is a weight that your body can maintain with relative ease where you feel healthy, energetic, and sane. For Jillian, her happy weight would be 120 pounds, the weight that she can feel good and ‘hold’ or maintain.
What is an unhappy weight? Our ‘unhappy weight’ is a weight that we do not feel our best at energy wise, health wise, and hunger wise. For Jillian, an unhappy weight was 115 pounds. She said she ‘looked old’ and her ‘hunger was raging’. In my opinion, it is almost impossible to achieve a healthy balance in our life when our mind is constantly on food and we are always starving! This is a signal that our body is trying desperately to put on a few pounds.
Another unhappy weight for Jillian is 125 pounds. She says when she weighs 125 pounds, she is typically highly stressed out, drinking alcohol, and probably eating poorly. She recognizes that life happens, and her weight can fluctuate depending on what is going on in her life. I think we can all relate to that! I know I put on some weight when I was injured despite my best efforts and I also tend to gain a bit of weight over the winter months.
Since I have come to the realization that my weight is not a static thing, my mind has been more at ease and I have been able to see the bigger picture of my overall, long term health. If I go up a few pounds in the winter, does it really matter? Probably not. If we have a stressful month and gain a bit of weight, is it the end of the world? Hardly. Life happens and whether we like it or not, our weight is going to fluctuate a bit over the course of our weeks, months, years, etc!
I have had unhappy weights. I have been at lower weights in the past and I was miserable. Much like Jillian, I was starving all the time. I couldn’t get my mind off food. I was obsessed and barely thought of anything but my weight and negative thoughts about myself and my body. I never felt like I was good enough. Actually, at my lowest weights, I felt the worst about myself. Depriving oneself can really mess up the mind, that is for sure.
When you aren’t treating your body properly, you will never feel good, no matter how small the image is looking you in the mirror.
When it came down to it, when I was at my lowest weight, I couldn’t even appreciate it because all my body wanted to do was desperately gain a bit of weight! I had no time to think of anything but food and weight. I couldn’t study and I couldn’t go out with friends. That was NOT a happy weight!
I think it is really important that we learn that being super thin or ‘x’ amount of pounds will not bring happiness. Happiness comes from the inside, feeling good about yourself, and making healthy choices in your life.
I have also been at higher weights, that I would call unhappy weights too. Even though I was heavier than I am now, my mind was always on food. I was like a rollercoaster ride…barely eating one day and bingeing the next. It was not healthy for me because my body never had a healthy balance. It never knew what to expect from one day to the next, and when I did eat, you can bet your bottom dollar that it held onto every single calorie that it got.
I definitely think that the place I am at now, and have been for a while, is my happy weight. I don’t know what I weigh (since I ditched the scale), but I know I am at a happy weight because I can eat when I am hungry, enjoy an active lifestyle, and my clothes generally fit about the same. Of course, some days my pants may feel a bit tight or something may not fit right, but I have come to realize that that is pretty normal, especially being a woman and all! ;)
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My questions to you today:
1) Do you know what your happy weight is? Without getting specific with numbers, try to talk generally about what a happy weight is to you. Do you know when you are there? Have you ever been at your happy weight? How did/do you feel?
2) What about unhappy weights? Have you ever been there too? What was going on that made this an unhappy weight?
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts as always! :)
