You and me are one of the many girls who are working hard to live a happy and healthy life. But is there something as living too healthy? Have you ever thought that being too focused on getting your dream body, could be not happy and not healthy at all? With this – super personal!! – blog post I want to create a little more awareness for the eating disorder orthorexia nervosa and share my never told story..
Orthorexia nervosa simply means that you want to eat food that is healthy and nothing else. At first you might think that this could not be a problem, but there are however a lot of downsides to this – rather UN – healthy lifestyle. Due to my personal history, I want to share my own experiences considering this topic with you. Note: not because it’s easy to talk about this in public, but I hope it supports girls from all over the world who recognize something of the old me in their current situation. I had to deal myself with the misconceptions about health and happiness and looking back, I can only see now how scary it can be..
First of all, living with a healthy eating obsession probably makes you missing out on some important nutrients. I used to skip carbs, because I thought they would stop me from losing weight. I have tried to decrease my daily calorie intake more and more, hoping to get more toned. I even skipped many social activities as I was afraid that one unhealthy bite would get in the way of my body goals. Should I continue? I almost always started to panic when I had to travel abroad for work, leave for the weekend with friends or go on a holiday. Why? I was afraid I couldn’t stick to my diet for 100% and losing control made me even more nervous! Not knowing what I could eat on another (new) location, letting lose on my schedule and being able to “go with the flow”? It got harder and harder..
Now I know better! After hearing about the eating disorder orthorexia nervosa on the news (and all the comments from my family, friends and boyfriend!!) I started realizing something was wrong..big time. Is this what I wanted? No! Is this what I call healthy? No! And happy? No, no, no!
It took me a lot of courage, patience, time and setbacks to get to the point where I was eating the right amount of calories again. Properly divided over carbs, fat and protein. My body and mind was damaged, but slowly I was feeling and looking much healthier, fitter and, yes, more toned!
Read my personal blog posts about my lessons learned from this period with regards to:
1. following a low-carb diet (including before & after photo’s)
2. a daily low-calorie intake
Secondly, like I said already, social events became a big problem due to my healthy eating obsession. Do you really want to miss out on all the fun stuff, just because your friends don’t meet up to your strict diet? I for sure don’t! I used to bring my almonds everywhere, just to make sure there would be something healthy to eat. My car was like my second kitchen as I always had something ready, in case I couldn’t eat properly outdoors. I even did this (secretly) when going on holidays – crazy right?! Sometimes you have to be easy on yourself, enjoy life and eat a little unhealthy (read here all about my current cheat meal strategy and click here how to recover from a cheat meal – or two!). Set your priorities and realize what’s really important in life, what’s really good for your body and what really makes you happy!
I’ve learned the hard way and trust me, it wasn’t easy (at all!) to get out of my healthy eating obsession, but I’m so happy to be in a better place. I’m rather less skinny and more happy in life and healthy in mind. Does my story sounds recognizable to you and are you in the need of my support? I’m always here for you and feel free to write me (in private) about it! Together we’re stronger and I wish you all nothing but the best.
Thank you for reading my story.
With love,
Carolina.
P.S. Have you seen and read my transformation story including my 7 lessons learned?
Madelon Reply
Lieve Carolina
Dank voor je openhartige verhaal.
Wat kan een mens zichzelf aan doen hè? Je denkt gezond bezig te zijn maar zonder het echt door te hebben ben je obsessief bezig en kan je niet meer ontspannen om gaan met eten.
Ontstaat er paniek als er sociale etentjes op de agenda komen en angst gevoelens als je geplande maaltijd niet door lijkt te kunnen gaan.
Alles draait natuurlijk om balans, maar zie die eens te vinden als je er midden in zit.
Ik vind het super knap van jou dat het je gelukt is om de balans te vinden.
Hier kan ik een voorbeeld aan nemen, mij is het nog niet gelukt. Ik zit nog midden in die strijd en kan dr knop niet om zetten.
Nogmaals dank voor het delen and keep up the good work!
Liefs Madelon
Laura Reply
Thank you for sharing your story!