Mariah Strongin, Naples, FL
As a nutritionist, I learned about three different body types: Ectomorph, Mesomorph, and Endomorph (yes there are a lot in between, but more about those body types in a different blog). Let me start by saying it doesn’t matter where you fit. What matters is your health.
Below I will answer the following questions:
1) Are you healthy?
2) How do you know?
3) Are you addicted to an image, weight, or measurement?
4) Are your goals realistic?
5) Do you think “healthy” is too expensive?
Are you healthy?
Size isn’t the verdict of your health or your nourishment. What you should be looking at are blood tests, body fat/water intake, how active you are, and what you eat.
How do you know?
Ask your body, a doctor, and/or a nutritionist. The food you eat should satisfy your appetite — you shouldn’t be hungry after a meal. You should have energy, good cholesterol levels, good or ok skin, little to no bloating, be eating fruit and vegetables, sleeping 7-9 hours a night, not be fluctuating in weight too drastically, and not getting sick regularly.
Are you addicted to an image, weight, or measurement?
Are you looking to be something you aren’t? Do you measure yourself by scale, measuring tape, or mirrors? Do the numbers stress you out? These ways of measuring your body can be helpful and somewhat accurate, but it is a dangerous place to be, as it where eating disorders can flourish. Please seek help if you think you may be at risk of an eating disorder. When I had my eating disorder the first time at age 13, I thought that if I just looked like this skinny soccer player in my school, I’d be popular, her boyfriend would like me, I would play better soccer, and I’d be faster. But that wasn’t the case.
Are your goals realistic?
Is it achievable? Have you done it before? Do you know what you need to do to get there? If you get there, is it sustainable? Do you feel excited about it, or does it stress you out?
As stated above, I was trying to be something I wasn’t and the result was that I lost energy, I got worse at the sport, and I was then the girl with problems. The girl I was trying to be was much shorter than me, she had a faster metabolism, and there was no way to look like that and have enough energy to play a sport. It wasn’t realistic for my body.
Do you think “healthy” is too expensive?
Cooking food is actually really inexpensive. When you buy fresh food in a store you can make more than one meal at once — with leftovers which results in less expense. You don’t need to start out or ever even go to an organic or healthy grocery store to eat healthy. Guess what, general fresh food is also healthy with a lot of nourishing value. We all have to start somewhere.
Everybody is different and everyone is going through their own experience with health and what that means for themselves. Being realistic with myself has been one of the most helpful things in understanding myself and my body. I can check that one off the list of things that lower my self esteem. I know what I am capable of and I am ok with that. I can always test my limits because I know where I can return. My hope for you is that you will be able to do the same.
https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/help-support/contact-helpline
