Why I Used to Take Health for Granted (Thinking Out Loud)

 
I used to take health for granted. Thank you Amanda for letting me link up today to share this journey.  I thought I could just run hundreds of miles, do as many workouts as I wanted, and eat as little but rarely as much as I wanted, and be healthy.   I would place so much emphasis on fitness that I neglected a lot of the health that MATTERS.   

Lately I’ve been realizing that more and more.   

You see.  

I feel ashamed to say this, but I’m struggling with my cycle again.  

Robyn has definitely taught me that that period is so much more important than I thought it was when I was young and first starting my period.  

I didn’t realize how crucial it is to our bodies.  I don’t think I thought about how God designed every part of our bodies so carefully and that each part has a reason and a role.  

To many people I do look pretty healthy, and I can truly say that I am by God’s incredible sufficient grace:

Mentally SOO much healthier around food and exercise

That I Don’t Feel Like I have to Do HOURS of exercise Anymore 

That I don’t HAVE to Eat A Salad if I’m Not Craving It 

and along with that I’m learning that I don’t have to eat Cheezits and chips if I’m not feeling it.  I can eat and enjoy and LOVE a salad just as much as a piece of cake.   

Yet, I know that I still have farther to go on this leg of the journey, because my period hasn’t been consistent.   I think that the biggest reason may have been triggered by the struggle month when I was in Europe.  I’m also humbled to say that I fell back into old patterns of restriction when I was there because of fears of digestion problems, and it was not a good month in terms of nourishment.  

But God is changing me.  God is my refuge in this battle, and He is enabling me to conquer these fears over food, the fears over gaining maybe… more weight if I need to, the fears of not doing enough exercise, even if I don’t do a workout or do a 20 minute workout instead of an hour.  

So what is the plan going forward?  I don’t want to just be all talk and no action.  

Here’s the Plan:  

1)  Be More Sensitive to Not Taking on Too Many Obligations (Lessening Any Stress)

2) Be More Intuitive About Exercise (I think I have been more intuitive, but I want to continue being intuitive)

3) Eat when I’m Hungry Even If I Feel Bad About Not Being Active Enough

4) Not Compare My Eating or Exercise Or Activity To Others 

5) Seeing Movement AND Rest as a Gift 

6) Listening to More Podcasts and Reading More Posts from People Like Robyn, Meg, Naomi, Kat, and Sarah (who are all super balanced about health and being healthy!)  

Health is so crucial.  Intuitive living is so crucial, and most of all I’m learning that trusting God and leaning on Him for every single step is the most important.  I shouldn’t trust in my exercise routine or the way I eat, because those always change from day to day, but He doesn’t.  

In order to encourage others of you who struggle with taking care of your health I wanted to leave you with some blog articles that have been a huge blessing to me lately in the journey: 

5 Tangible Ways to Incorporate Intuitive Eating  –  Sarah shares 5 simple ways in which you can re-incorporate intuitive eating into your life.   

Synonyms for ‘Diet’ – Naomi calls out diet culture in different places where you might not spot it.  

Intuitive Eating and Structure –  Naomi talks about honoring your intuitive eating signals, and why it’s more than just hunger and fullness cues.   This one was good for me, because so often I still am parannoyed about eating when I’m not hungry, even when I know that I need something to tide me over, especially if I won’t have time to eat later.   

More Reasons Your Period is Missing – Robyn delves in deep about the many factors that can affect our cycles.  I never ever realized how complex our bodies were until I started reading Robyn’s blog.  

Shopping For Your New Body  – Learning to embrace a new size instead of feeling bad about not being the same size you were when you were younger.

Periods, Recovery, and Gut Health – What One Girl Learned About the Importance of Intuitive living and eating and how it affects our cycles.

Adjusting to A Changing Body – Remembering that our bodies go through different stages and THAT’s OKAY! 🙂   It’s so much more than aesthetics.

And the last part of the plan? 

Keep Eating Nut Butter and Lots of It.   

Remember when I did all those nut butter reviews?  I’ve found some new favorites, and I thought I’d share some links to them so you can go find them for yourself. . . I am an ambassador for Mee Eat Paleo, so you can use my affiliate code ‘beautyinchrist’ to try some out for yourself.  

Some of my VERY favorite new ones I’ve tried recently have been the: 

Chocolate Heartbreak from Blind Spot Nut Butters –  Imagine GIANT chunks of crunchy pretzels and chocolate.  Yep.  Now go buy some.  

Any of the Peanut Butters from Naturally Nutty (Vanilla, White Chocolate Coconut, Cherry Butter Toffee) – I’m so thankful to be their Instagram social media manager, so I’ve been eating a lot of their peanut butter lately.   

Georgia Grinders Honey Almond Butter – They have the BEST almond butters I have tried hands down.    Have you tried their maple?  It’s like having maple syrup mixed with the taste of roasted almonds.   

Choco Coconut Power From Me Eat Paleo  – It’s like a coconut chocolatey crunchy rich sauce that goes well on EVERYTHING! 

Earth Balance Peanut Butter – If you want just a really creamy peanut butter that tastes very similar to JIF or Skippy, but their coconut PB has that extra coconuty creamy edge, you need to try theirs.  

I know this post was kind of a ramble, but this is kind of my plan, hopefully, to not take my health for granted and to take care of it for God’s glory to the best of my ability!  I’m so thankful for the healing He’s worked in my body, so I can serve Him, and share His love with others, and I’m looking forward to more healing and more lessons on the journey.  

Have you found yourself taking your health for granted?  

What has helped you appreciate your health more?  

Struggles with balancing exercise and stress and nourishment: how do you deal?