MY STORY
For as long as I can remember, I have been the BIGGEST foodie. I am in love with trying new recipes and living a life full of wellness and nutrition. I am also extremely passionate about self improvement, as well as pushing myself to get stronger at the gym. Unfortunately I was also sucked into believing bullshit diet culture lies. To make it clear, yes I am just another passionate foodie gym-rat but that is what makes me happy so I am going to roll with it.
I was a little fluffy around the edges (not overweight) as a kid and all throughout puberty, which makes sense due to my huge admiration for food. Food brought me comfort with the various moves my family made during my upbringing. In high school I started to become more self conscious of my body image and decided to make more health conscious food decisions ( *snaps* for 16 year old me). My family already ate a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle as my mum shares the same passion for healthy living as myself, however, I had a LARGE sweet tooth (still do hehe) and often baked a heap and ate these said bakes.
College brought increased insecurities and I was soon sucked into diet culture. During my freshman year I also began to experience terrible indigestion and bloating which only made body-image worse. I decided change was needed and pursued a full blown vegan diet to attempt to cure some of the indigestion issues. But… I became very restrictive with what I was consuming. I practically lived off of pure vegetables, minimal fruit, and small amounts of health crazed grains. I unnecessarily started implementing food rules, demonizing certain foods (like avos and nanas wahhhhhhh) and consumed the dog shit being shared on social media. This restrictive diet and the huge amount of stress I was facing being a chemical engineering student only made my indigestion worse. I would be constipated on a weekly basis and constantly uncomfortable. The bloat and indigestion only resulted in me spending more time in the gym and increasing cardio (now I rarely even incorporate any cardio haha). I went through phases of tracking calories, macros, and the amount of time I spent at the gym. As I continued the restrictive diet and college stress pilled up I became malnourished, lost a ton of weight, 1/2 my hair (which I adore), and my skin tone even formed a yellow tint. My mum came to the rescue and knocked me back into reality and I reached out for some help.
Over the past few months I have been finding my feet once again and am in the best place I have ever been in. I would not say my relationship with food is completely cured but practice makes progress not perfection right?! I now have a much better understanding of a nutrient dense diet which incorporates food groups that feel best for my body and daily needs. Just because diet culture has deemed certain foods as 'healthy' does not mean that they are healthy for my body. A few foods my body loathes are: tempeh, black beans and brussel sprouts. In fact, my digestion takes days to recover after I eat foods like these. I am now a huge advocate for intuitive eating and listening to my body’s hunger cues and cravings. I try to eat when I am hungry, exercise because I love the way it makes me feel, take rest days when my body needs them, and listen to all my body cues. I now know and preach living a sustainable lifestyle which allows you to enjoy every incredible opportunity you are given :)