FEED your body

Yesterday I was confronted with my first real challenge since starting Holly Perkins Summer Shape-Up Plan. It appears that I failed to adhere to the diet portion of the plan, really, horribly, epically fail...and by "diet", just to be clear, i do not mean cottage cheese and celery sticks...I mean FEEDING my body the nutrients, protein, etc that it needs to function properly. A diet of chicken, fish, Greek yogurt, fresh berries, sweet potatoes, etc. This diet of healthy, protein packed foods are needed to successfully propel me through the daily workouts I've stuck with since July 16th of this year. Yesterday, was a hell day for work, I failed to bring my lunch and then failed to go out and make time for myself to get a yummy salad or grilled veggie delight...instead i ate half a cup of yogurt and a protein bar. ALL day. That type of eating will not sustain a person. And in fact, i never felt more weak than i did yesterday afternoon when i attempted to do my strength/toning/cardio routine...it was awful. A let down. BUT in this experience I learned such a valuable, critical lesson.  When you start to eat right, exercise, get into the healthy HABITS of life, when you go off course, your body sort of shouts at you "what the hell happened? we were strong! we were on our way! FEED me". I think in our society food has become a demon of sorts...but when viewed through the proper lens...we are our own enemies. We choose our "diet", we make those choices every minute of every day. I learned that I do not want to malnourish this body of mine because its all I have. My journey is different than others...and we are all unique beings. I'm naturally on the thin/petite side BUT after I hit 40, the body started to change, hormones went wonky - my little tummy turned into a bloated bucket that I couldn't squeeze into my jeans for half a month. And I was scared. My body was betraying me. There was a loss of control. And despite my personal struggle, in the face of it, people still said to me."why would you work out? You aren't fat". And i thought, my God, this isn't about "fat" this isn't about "skinny" its about healthy. And STRONG. I wanted to be strong. And then the Summer Shape-Up Plan showed up and I signed on. I would take control back from my over 40, raging hormone, war ridden body. To accept that I would never have my 23 year old body back but that in its place, I could create an over 40 body that I would be just as proud of, if not more. To find my confidence again. And I HAVE. My arms aren't as toned as I like yet, but so what? i wear a tank top now with all the confidence in the world because i know my commitment to myself is the best thing I can do to feel beautiful. This isn't really about the esthetics of my arms, its about feeling that comes with knowing I am owning my health. I am owning my body. And you should own yours too...not society, not the media - but you. And be proud...this blog started off talking about failure, but everything is a learning experience...and today I was sure to FEED my body right!