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Being positive has become a new form of moral correctness

Personal Well-Being

The Pitfalls of Positivity

February 12, 2018 by Valerie

When I listened to Susan David’s recent TED talk, The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage (below), it really spoke to me. One thing I love about the online fitness community is how positive everyone is. Everyone is supportive of one another’s goals, encouraging when someone hits a roadblock, and always positive. But, there’s also a good amount of false positivity, where some people don’t believe it’s helpful to be sad, or angry, or have any non-positive thoughts. Dr. David refers to this kind of positivity as “a new form of moral correctness.” She’s absolutely right, and it’s absurd.

Food Health

Whole30 Week 4 in Review: So Glad It’s Over

February 2, 2018 by Valerie

I’m officially done with Whole30! These are words I never thought I would say, both before I attempted Whole30 and while I was doing it. Of course, it’s not really over because I still have the re-introduction period, but I finished those 30 days of eating clean (and limited) foods. I plan on writing more in depth about it later, but here’s the skinny.

Do I feel that it was worth it?

Food Health

Whole30 Week 3 in Review: What I Ate, and How I Felt

January 24, 2018 by Valerie

In my third week of Whole30, I:

Realized my joints are not as inflamed
Have significantly less pain in my neck (residual from a herniated disc)
Successfully stopped myself from sticking my face into a cake and eating all of it (like I wanted)
Realized that my acne has improved

The question I get asked the most is, “Do you have more energy?”

Food Health

Whole30 Week 2 in Review: When Cravings Strike

January 20, 2018 by Valerie

Week 2 of Whole30 is when the cravings hit me. After not having many in the first week, I thought that I must be so strong-willed to not even have cravings in my second week of Whole30. Turns out, that was not the case at all. I had very, very strong cravings. Also, my bloating came back, which I think might be related to the sausage I ate most mornings. By the end of the week, I decided to change what I was eating for breakfast to see if that was the case, and I think it was.

The question I get asked the most from people is how different I feel doing Whole30.

Food Health

Whole30 Cravings Are Real

January 13, 2018 by Valerie

Okay, I know I said that I wasn’t really having strong cravings in my first week of Whole30, and I really didn’t. But boy, on Day 10, the Whole30 cravings hit me HARD. All I could think about was rice, and rice noodles, and how much I wanted Pad Kee Mao. Rice is a weird thing for me to crave, because usually, I will crave bread. On Days 10 and 11, though, I mainly wanted rice and rice products. All I could think about was the texture of biting into those wide rice noodles.

Food Health

Whole30 Week 1 in Review: Ready, Set, GO!

January 9, 2018 by Valerie

I’ve tracked everything I could think of for my first week of Whole30, and I’ve broken out day by day how I felt, what I ate, and what exercise I did–and the dreams I had about food. If you’re considering doing a Whole30, this is what the first week was like for me, what I ate, and how many calories I consumed. I’m already feeling better!

Health

Starting My Whole30 Journey: Preparation Stage

January 1, 2018 by Valerie

I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to complete Whole30, but I’m going to try, starting on January 2. I tried to do paleo last year, and I lasted three and a half days–not a great record. Every year, my best friends do a January cleanse of either paleo or Whole30, and every year I thought they were crazy and that there would be no way I would join. This year, however, I’m going to give it a shot. To do that, I have needed to prepare myself with strategies to overcome the challenges I know lay ahead. This is how I’m preparing for Whole30, from a complete beginner.

Why now? I’m sick of feeling like shit.

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