Thursday, January 24, 2008

HOW AND WHERE DOES THIS JOURNEY END

In the quest to eat clean, healthy food and thereby to live lean and clean, how do you know when you've made it? Is there a point at which you cross the finish line and can say "yippee! I made it"? How do you know that you have succeeded in reaching that goal? And if you have then on average, how long does it take? Oh and the burning question for me is "what does it feel like?"

Food for thought!!

I have been reflecting on the events of the last few days and the advice and comments made to me. I'd like to share the comments that have had the most impact on me in the hope they can maybe help others too.

From Liz: "Eating lean and clean becomes easier when its something you want to do because it makes you feel good (or whatever your reason is). It shouldnt be a struggle or a battle where success depends on how strong or determined you can be."
This comment really hit home for me. I have been inviting pain, struggles and battles into my life willingly and then I wonder why I'm so miserable. I think the answer is now quite clear.

From Rae: "The journey of self discovery is a long one and not a sprint around the corner".
I think my previous efforts have been much like sprint bursts. You go flat out and then you run out of breath and collapse. How can you possibly win a race or complete a journey using that tactic? Better to find a pace that you can maintain for the long haul, vary it a bit as required but forget the "dash to the finish line" as its the wrong tactic in this situation.

My goal today was to feel ok about what I ate and to eat when I was hungry and not overstuff myself. My food today wasnt all clean but I achieved my goals and for that reason I'm happy. Things will improve again from here.

I also took some positive steps to acknowledge all the good in my life and not to not sweat the small stuff.
I'm reminding myself to enjoy the journey and not to just live for the destination.
The glass can be half empty of half full. The decision is mine.

Good night all

Magda

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I often wonder this as well. Will i ever get to the point where i can say that im never tempted by bad food, that i always make the right choices? I live in hope.

(((hugs))) to you, hope today is a little easier.

Raechelle said...

I agree with what Liz said-it should not be a struggle-you want to simply feel good and healthy-and to do that is to eat clean-but I also think that you don't have to never ever eat something tempting again-Obviously in contest prep mode-you don't want to blow the hard work-but if your not prepping for a comp and it's your birthday or some special celebration-a bite of cake will not kill you-and that's what a person needs to keep in mind-one bite will not kill you or end up as 5 kilos on your hips. It's about moderation and balance-balance is the key to happiness -in my humble opninion anyway :)

little rene said...

I think that it must be particularly hard when you are a figure competitor Magda.

Because, in the lead up to the comp, food is such a MASSIVE focus. It isn't just fuel, it is restricted both in portion and variety and it is a major component of the preparation.

So it makes a lot of sense that it will be very hard to go back to thinking of it just as an everyday thing, without all of the restrictions and limitations.

I know if I tried to prepare for a comp I would just be fantasising about all of the foods that I couldn't have :(

I sympathsise with your struggles but I feel really confident that you will reach your goal in this area :)

Combat Girl said...

Its a never ending Journey Magda.

Self improvement, strength, maturity, acceptance and respect of oneself. Understanding these things dont just happen over night.

We need to work on them continually for the rest of our lives. In my opinion the people who only live and give it their all for one goal are the ones who fall flat on their faces when the goal has been achieved and its over.

Never give up, always aim higher, when a goal is reached try and better it.

Accept who you are, accept your strengths, your weaknesses. Accept the negative you and the positive you. Its all of these things that make you who you are.

Don't spend so much time focusing on food, focus on fuelling your body. Energy in v energy out. Its that simple. Dont be so hard on yourself sweetie. When the world is full of critics and pessimists we need to provide ourselves with the positive energies required to succeed in life and we need to provide ourselves with love.

Learn to love yourself Magda. You are a beautiful person inside and out.

My opinion.

Combat Girl
xx

Pip said...

Never ending I think!

Getting the training in regularly and eating relatively clean and controlled is something we know we need to do to some degree always to be on top of our game.

Not perfection always but CONTROL and CONSISTENCY of good behaviours. It's easy to get a bit slack, I think that's OK but we must ensure we keep some elements of control always.

Pip