I am of the firm opinion that D-I-E-T is a 4-letter word. It can make strong women gasp and weak women wilt. It stirs more feelings between the sexes as other, more sexual words do not. Such as, Gender A resents the feeling that they have to diet to please Gender B, and Gender B feels some guilt for the desire to see Gender A in skimpy bathing suits that might require—yes—a diet.
Was that clear as mud?
It’s no secret that women frequently suffer from some form of body shame. Even women who aren’t overweight often feel that they are and attempt to whittle away at however many calories or carbs they consume each day. But no time engenders this activity more than the months before summer. I believe that’s because of the aforementioned bathing suit dilemma.
Because my dad was in the Navy, we lived for a good number of years
near the water. Nine years in Virginia Beach during my pre-teen and teen years meant that my mother and I spent March, April, and May eating lots of carrots and celery sticks. Neither of us wanted to be odd girl out when we hit the beaches—not that I did all that often with my Irish, burn-don’t-tan complexion. But still, I wanted to look the part. I can attest to the fact that dieting for summer is a stupid way to live your life, and fortunately, I gave it up many years ago.
My advice? Eat healthfully all the time. That doesn’t mean to do without calories or carbs. It means to eat what your body needs, not what some magazine tells you to. It means to be comfortable with your body, even if you’re a few pounds (not fifty or a hundred pounds) over what the charts say you should be. Dieting stringently for a few weeks or months rarely has any lasting positive results—just the opposite, strangely—whereas consistently eating healthfully will.
What do you think?
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Burning Bridges by Anne Krist: old letters put the lie to Sara’s life. Now, mending her past mistakes while crossing burning bridges will be the hardest thing she’s ever done.
Duty, honor, service aren’t just words. Apply them to loving a woman, and see how hot Naval Maneuvers can get!