Textbook Outrage

This semester I am in a class all about health and fitness. Believe me, this was not my choice. It is a required course, and being a senior, I could not put it off any longer. I dreaded taking this course not because I dislike learning about health and fitness but quite the opposite. I have been so obsessed with this subject for so long that I am currently trying not to focus my efforts on it. But having to take this class for graduation, I thought it would not be that bad. I was sure it would discuss a healthy balance of food and exercise-probably explain the importance of carbs and protein, maybe tell a story of a young girl Karen who joined the soccer team just to have fun, but little did she know she was doing her body a favor with exercise. That would have been nice. Instead I found myself reading this:

"Janice is going on vacation for a week. Unfortunately, this means she will be unable to  engage in her usual exercise program. She should..

	-accept that her exercise program will be off track and start anew in a few months.
	-enjoy her break from exercising and pick it up again the following week.
	-attempt to find a convenient way to exercise while gone, but not make it a priority.
	-bring her resistance bands and go on runs if her hotel does not have an  exercise room.

If you are in a bad mood or do not feel like exercising, you should

	-exercise anyway.
	-exercise when you feel better.
	-exercise even harder than normal to show yourself you can do it.
	give yourself permission to take a break from any type of exercise. The bold sentences are the "correct" answers. I was appalled. This textbook is telling me that  it is wrong to go on a ONE WEEK vacation and not exercise? Excuse me? After years of  speaking with dietitians, I know this is not true. If you feel you need to "bring resistance bands  and go on runs" while on vacation, then you have a problem. I am not saying exercising on  vacation is a bad thing at all. It is the motive behind it, which brings me to my next point of  frustration.... The second question bothered me even more. This book is now telling me I should force  myself to exercise no matter what. I have spent too much of my life forcing myself to workout. If you do not feel like exercising, then you do not have to! That is something I have been taught, and am in the process of learning now. Your body does not always need exercise. If  you do not feel like it, there might be a reason- you might be lacking sleep and a nap would be better for your body, or you might just need to rest! Contrary to everything society tells us, it is ok to give your body rest! It needs it! Constantly exercising is not healthy.  This textbook is an outrage. The "correct" answers to these questions are clearly disordered,  and I cannot believe it is considered a trusted source for health and fitness education.

A Common Misconception: Moderation

Moderation. Moderation. Moderation. That is all I keep hearing from health magazines, yet why is this so contradicting to everything else these magazines publish? One article tells us to eat dessert to prevent a binge later, while the front page gives us the nutritional breakdown of said dessert in an attempt to convince us otherwise.

Today I came across an aggravating ad, not to mention an oxymoron. The article's description to draw readers in was, "it is fine to indulge once in a while but these offenders are just not worth it." The "offenders" included frosting, bagels, bacon, soy sauce, maraschino cherries, and jarred tomato sauce. A peculiar combination of foods that can never be consumed. The reasons for banning these horrific edibles included everything from calories, fat and sugar content, sodium and artificial flavors. Why were these specific foods singled out? If it comes down to grams of sugar, doesn't a cookie have more sugar than jarred tomato sauce? What about funnel cake? We can eat funnel cake but not maraschino cherries? 

There is no specific list of foods to avoid. The point of moderation is MODERATION for EVERYTHING. No foods are excluded in this statement. As one who has been in the recovery process for awhile now, it angers me greatly to see "health" magazines try to promote a balanced lifestyle, while publishing articles such as the one mentioned above. 

Introduction

Welcome to my blog!

Just a bit about what my blog will entail- I have struggled with taking things to extreme measures with both eating and exercise for many years. However, I do not want to go into detail about my struggles or focus on my past because that is not helpful to me, and I believe it is triggering for others. I want this blog to be about my current journey; my journey to living a truly balanced life- without food or exercise controlling me, as well as an educational and (hopefully) encouraging tool for others struggling with the concept of moderation.