Embracing The Holiday Weight Gain

I was lost for words when I stumbled across a vilely titled article last year by the Daily Mail, written by a woman, reporting on Jennifer Aniston’s apparent honeymoon weight gain.

Not only is it ridiculous, as Jennifer can’t be over a UK size 8 and was possibly photographed from a few bad angles or after a meal. But again, it highlighted the pressure on women to obtain an unrealistic body shape in our image-obsessed society. Most recently, Jennifer has penned an article for the Huffington Post expressing her frustration at the way she is picked apart by the press, magazines, and mass media. And who can blame her?

Embracing a balanced lifestyle AND mindset

There appears to be an ever increasing guilt mentality attached to letting ourselves ‘go’ occasionally, and enjoying the food and drink we want to eat, within reason. Personally, I don’t feel the manipulated images we see on Instagram, and the sensationalised practices of photographing celebrities at their worst in tittle-tattle magazines, or the DM ‘sidebar of shame’ are helping this overwhelming feeling of guilt. I’ve also experienced friends and peers who relentlessly beat themselves up if they eat a meal deemed ‘naughty’ or gain some celebratory pounds. But why? Shouldn’t life be about enjoying ourselves and experiences?

For me, I used to fear holidays and going out to restaurants at the height of my bulimia, the eating disorder I suffered from for much of my teens and twenties because I was constantly on a diet. Believe me; I was miserable, and if there’s one thing I aim to do with that experience after my recovery is to use it for good. To inspire people to embrace a healthy lifestyle AND mindset. Nourishing our bodies with healthy foods the majority of the time, but not depriving ourselves of the things we may occasionally want, especially on holiday.

Of course, we can make informed food choices when we’re away, or we’ve numerous celebrations in a row and don’t want to feel groggy. And yes, it’s a different matter if you’re gorging on the holiday buffets eating beyond comfortable fullness, then unable to move off the sun lounger (come on, we’ve all been there!).

But spending a week away and never enjoying cultural cuisines, to me feels like a very depressing way to live. Let’s face it; once home and we eat less indulgent food again, that weight will drop off again.

People’s weight can go up and down for many reasons

Equally, there are times in our life where we gain and lose weight, and it’s fascinating to me how people are judged off the back of it, particularly in celebrity culture by the media. We need to be mindful that there are many emotional experiences, life events, illnesses, and medications that can lead to weight loss or weight gain, that have nothing to do with laziness or wanting to look aesthetically pleasing to the world.

In particular, I went on the dreaded contraceptive pill again last October and my body ballooned and I felt far from sexy. After completely ruining my moods, and playing havoc with my body I came off the pill and my body is getting its balance back.

Back in the height of my eating disorder, the weight gain would have freaked me out, and I’d be crash dieting left right and centre. As someone who gains weight easily after screwing up my metabolism with an eating disorder (and inheriting a slightly heavier gene from my father’s side), I have learned to embrace those extra curves through different periods of my life. I believe there’s a real sense of strength that comes from that mindset, the kind of strength I never had in the past.

I think the point I’m trying to make here, is that our weight can go up and down, and we need to stop judging each other and judging ourselves when that happens and enjoy a balanced lifestyle. We are all different shapes and sizes, and our weight does not define us, or make us unworthy of success or love. Believe me; weight isn’t always an indication that someone is truly healthy or happy in their body or mind.

So PLEASE embrace the fun things in life, and enjoy the occasional celebratory moments outside of a healthy balanced diet. Life is short, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t ever want to get to the end of it and think ‘God, I was miserable because I deprived myself of fun, food, and experiences. But bloody hell, at least my body looked epic.’

Now, I need to be careful here because I don’t want to stoop to the Daily Mail journalist’s level, but I’m pretty sure Jennifer Aniston had a bloody brilliant honeymoon, enjoying beautiful food, the odd cocktail and devouring her husband.

I’d be interested to see how said journalist feels about her body, how she now feels about tearing apart another woman’s beautiful body, and how comfortable she is with the negativity she pushed out into the public domain.

Natalie Grover is the founder and editor of Balanced Being, an online health and lifestyle magazine that’s ethos focuses on living a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

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